Rewriting PMP will decrease value of PMI-ACP and give rise CSM?

Hi Andrew, thank you for your comment.

This issue caused some quite a bit strain in the class. There were software developers that were pursuing their PMP and a group of (very nice folks) that had worked all of their career building forklifts to exacting specifications. So, half the class could easily understand agile methods, but the other half simply couldn't see how you could design / test / deliver a production product that way. It really lengthened the class and (much to the dismay of the university) I elected to hold some Saturday sessions to try to get everyone on the same level of understanding.

The bottom line is that (if I were honest and didn't hold class off-campus) the course would have taken about 3 or 4 weeks longer than it did with version 5.

Clearly this is the direction we, PMI and the body of practitioners have chosen to go in. It just REALLY makes a Project Management class harder to teach with a mixed group of students. Some students were very confused --- the software folks with the waterfall talk and the forklift folks with agile approaches. AND! They really can't be split up since both are important for the exam.

Hi Andrew, thank you for your comment.

This issue caused some quite a bit strain in the class. There were software developers that were pursuing their PMP and a group of (very nice folks) that had worked all of their career building forklifts to exacting specifications. So, half the class could easily understand agile methods, but the other half simply couldn't see how you could design / test / deliver a production product that way. It really lengthened the class and (much to the dismay of the university) I elected to hold some Saturday sessions to try to get everyone on the same level of understanding.

The bottom line is that (if I were honest and didn't hold class off-campus) the course would have taken about 3 or 4 weeks longer than it did with version 5.

Clearly this is the direction we, PMI and the body of practitioners have chosen to go in. It just REALLY makes a Project Management class harder to teach with a mixed group of students. Some students were very confused --- the software folks with the waterfall talk and the forklift folks with agile approaches. AND! They really can't be split up since both are important for the exam.

If re-writing the PMBoK would include a completely different taxonomy to integrate those lifecycles, I could see that as problematic. An infinite number of taxonomies are possible, but some logical organizations of subject matter are easier to comprehend and manage than others. Some things fit nicely into certain groups, and others end up fractured and distributed among many groups.

As for the subject of people who don't "get" agile, I can completely relate. I come from a manufacturing industry where some parts have a several year lead time. There are aspects of a long predictive lifecycle necessary to make those projects succeed.

On the other hand, I've worked green field development, product improvement, cost reduction, problem resolution, process development, and a variety of other aspects of large programs where the agile concepts are very well suited. I can think of quite a few agile approaches I have used or seen over the years on mega-projects. Nobody called them agile, and everyone seemed to "get it" when we just explained how we were going to approach the solution to particular problems in a novel way.

Andrew -- thanks for the comment. I did take a look at it and what stands out is:

"About half of the examination will represent predictive project management approaches and the other half will represent agile or hybrid approaches." Perhaps Wysocki's 8th edition of Effective Project Management will be another book for PMP prep time, which covers TPM, APM and HPM.

But, I'm not following you on "... and their stance against CSM and others.". I view Scrum as a specific methodology under the umbrella of Agile (APM). PMI is not advocating or disavowing any particular approach to Agile's values and principles to my knowledge. Do you have information to the contrary?

On the PMP vs. ACP: I guess we will have to see how this plays out over the next couple of years. It would be helpful if PMI provided some clarity on certification roadmaps in the not-too-distant future.