A message to PMI: let's start a much needed dialogue. First post

Why PMI style project management is different and why should we care? Continues...

Given the brouha about my last post, I thought I'd give my self some posts to clarify where I think the big differences are between Agile project management and the PMI-style project management (this last one I will affectionately call old-skool, because I too was once an old-skool project manager).

I will try to be fair and balanced, but my bias (borne out of experience) is towards Agile project management, so be warned. This series will not be an account of how PMI-style (or old-skool) project management is good, which it no doubt has been, but is more likely that this series will be seen as an account of the old-skool project managment's Swan Song.

The odissey starts

When thinking about this series of posts (of which this is the first), and how to convey the message I have in the best possible way I could not come with a better way then to just start by stating it up-front:

Embrace change!

If there’s one thing that I would like you to take with you after this series of posts is this: The world has changed, and project management has changed, and will continue to change with it. You should embrace that change.

There are many reasons to embrace this change in project management.

I give you only 3:

1. Your are more likely to succeed if you change
   
2. And it is more Fun to succeed.
   And if the previous 2 reasons did not convince you here’s one more:
   
3. If you don’t change others will, and soon you will be out of business
   

So, in this series of posts I’ll try to cover some things of what I think any project manager (PMI or not) needs to know in this new world of project management for software projects. I’ll look at the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) from Project Management Institute – which is an ANSI standard in the US and I’ll try to tell you what new you need to know regarding the 9 areas of knowledge in the PMBOK.

The first area we will focus on one is Project integration management (or project planning for those that are not familiar with PMBOK): This area includes Project plan development, project plan execution and integrated change control (and some other items).

Check back tomorrow for my comment on how an Agile project manager should look at Project Integration Management.

Image credit: Louisville Joe @ Flickr