Does Certification Limit Learning?

Mike Griffiths is an experienced project manager, author and consultant who works for PMI as a subject matter expert. Before joining PMI, Mike consulted and managed innovation and technology projects throughout Europe, North and South America for 30+ years. He was co-lead for the PMBOK Guide—Seventh Edition, lead for the Agile Practice Guide, and contributor to the PMI-ACP and PMP exam content outlines. Outside of PMI, Mike maintains the websites www.LeadingAnswers.com about leading teams and www.PMillustrated.com, which teaches project management for visual learners.

  Career Development   Using PMI Standards  

It seems ironic, but I wonder if the process of creating a curriculum and multiple choice-based testing procedure leads to an over-simplification of the subject matter and inhibits learning? Maybe it is the process of creating a credential or people’s inbuilt desire to simplify ideas, but we seem to have lost practical project management guidance on dealing with uncertainty.

Industry practice is full of different approaches, overlapping and sometimes conflicting recommendations. That’s just part of the rich tapestry of having so many different problems to solve, across varied industries with diverse organizations and stakeholders. Yet, if you are creating a certification, we need a single, clear process to test against. It allows for “What comes next?” and “What is the best thing to do?” type questions based on a short scenario description. Answers like “It depends” and “There may be several things to consider” cannot easily be assessed via a four-option, multiple-choice quiz.

My local PMI chapter had its annual professional development conference recently with a “Back to the Future” theme. I presented on how projects used to manage uncertainty and how we do it now (Slideshare file here). Using examples like the Manhattan Project, the original Waterfall Lifecycle paper, the Polaris project and real …

Please log in or sign up below to read the rest of the article.