PMI Announces Acquisition of Disciplined Agile

Anthony, This is a very interesting article. I just noticed you mentioned the following:

“Scott said that he considers DA an Agile BOK for software development.”

Is DA really heavily IT or Software Development based ?

DA is definitely technology-focused but the process decision making framework of DAD could be extended fairly easily to cover non-technology initiatives as well.

Kiron

Hi Rami, you raise a good point. As I mentioned in the article, I am no expert on Disciplined Agile. My read of the DA site reflects that it is very much directed to SW Development or IT. And in fact, here is what it says on the DA site:

"Disciplined Agile Delivery (DAD) is a people-first, learning-oriented hybrid agile approach to IT solution delivery"

Scott did mention Lean Startup which might imply something other than IT. But I think the focus is on technology.

Is your question about whether you can have an AgileBoK that doesn't address all needs of PMs or work outside IT?

Thanks,
Anthony

Interesting - This makes me feel like PMI is focused on IT / Software project management more than anything else.

If all I had to go by was online forums like LinkedIn or this page, I'd think the same thing.

I have no insider knowledge, but I suspect some of this is a result of PMI trying to expand into an industry (IT) where they're not as well represented, and sometimes actively disliked. Perhaps they're making similar efforts in other industries (construction, pharma, etc.) and I simply don't see it because I'm not there.

I hear your point Wade but PMI as a project management organization should not be bias towards a certain industry and if they are over represented in an industry, it is the IT Industry and I find that they are under represented in others like Healthcare and Construction.

Thanks Anthony. I am excited that PMI acquired DA as D was on my radar but my concern is PMI becoming bias towards a certain industry like IT / Software Development. I am not sure if this is their strategy or not but we shall wait and see - I have no clarity on this for now.

I'd be interested to know what kind of data PMI has on this. It may not be as simple as it sounds, though. IT spans almost every industry, for example, and PMs can be tasked across a wide variety of projects, so a healthcare PM could potentially support an IT project.

I thought I'd be able to find something from PMI, but I haven't found it yet. The closest thing I can find is this "Project Manager of the Future" from 2018 (link below). On page 11, it shows that more PMs are practicing "lean agile" (I hate that term) and Scrum than "waterfall" (I hate that term, too). Kanban is a close 4th, after waterfall. Perhaps this sheds some light on why PMI is investing so much in Agile.

https://www.pmi.org/-/media/pmi/documents/...sc_lang_temp=en


Certainly PMI needs to expand and adapt, but my fear for PMI, as I've often stated, is that they'll focus so much on what others (agilists) are already doing that they'll lose focus of the things PMI has done very well (predictive life cycles).