On Brian Kooyman’s Viewpoint Article
and the PMI Global Congress North America
January 11 , 2007
Dear Editor;
Last month, Brian Kooyman wrote from Australia in your PMWT Viewpoint section in his "Reflections of a Long Distance Journey":
"On reflection the Seattle PMI Conference was a good conference, although I noted that many of the PMI Fellows and old friends were not there. This seems to me a great shame, and some way of assisting attendance for Fellows and veterans (as well as students and some international attendees) could perhaps be considered by the PMI Board as the cost of registration for the Conference, accommodation and travel becomes quite onerous to those who are not supported by a company and have to personally incur the costs."
Yes, Brian is right, the show by Fellows was a little disappointing.
But then Seattle is tucked far away in the top left hand corner of the US. But that was the very reason why I felt obligated to show up in Seattle since it is close to us in Vancouver, BC. But I am not sure that the cost of attending is the sole reason for joining in the conference hoopla. Personally, I have two reasons for not attending the presentations:
(a) For me, I just don't consider it to be cost effective and
(b) I just cannot stand sitting on my butt for that length of time
Item (a) could certainly be mitigated by a much reduced fee, while item (b) could be alleviated by a more active participation. After all, as Brian suggests, we as Fellows should be able (allowed?) to give rather than take.
This same theme was echoed by Rebecca Winston, when in the same issue in her article "Mentoring: Is it Nice to do or is it a Duty?" she wrote:
"The career is not just mine but again it is ours. We are project managers who share and grow with one another and better one another.
I believe that mentoring is part of being a professional. Mentoring is to be a wise and trusted counselor to others during our professional lives. I think it is part of why we can claim we are professionals."
Perhaps the answer would be a PMI-sponsored booth on the show room floor, manned by Fellows and experienced project managers, who would be willing to provide (no more than) 15 minutes of free consulting advice to their less experienced colleagues?
R. Max Wideman
Vancouver, BC, Canada
max_wideman@sfu.ca
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On the Value & Possible Usage of
the PMForum.org Global Team
January 10 , 2007
Dear Editor:
It is pleasing to see the PMForum supported by such a strong team. Now the question is: How can this group provide the greatest value to the PMForum (with minimum effort!)? In this context, it crosses my mind that it might not come amiss to conduct a sustained promotion and discussion of some of the basic concepts of project management that seem to be overlooked.
For example: the difference between categorizing projects by industry and by areas of application as recently articulated by Bob Youker. Or renaming WBS to PBS where appropriate as advanced by Russ Archibald and others, or promoting "project life span" as a better term than "project life cycle" and what it should look like (by me) and so on. And, of course, I should like to finally debunk that wretched "triple constraint, or "iron triangle" once and for all! Would this not be of great value to the discipline?
Then after that we might get into the serious discussion of project portfolio management, what it really means and how it should work (PMI's Standard is only half the story.)
Just a few thoughts!
R. Max Wideman
Vancouver, BC, Canada
max_wideman@sfu.ca
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On the Subject of Capturing PM History
January 8 , 2007
Dear David,
A while back someone, I can't recall the name, wrote to you about articles on PM experiences written by old timers - or perhaps a panel of such. Max Wideman thought it a good idea but comments about "quality control” I fully endorse. Let me propose an alternate. How about contacting a University that teaches PM and suggesting one of their professors engage a group of students to participate in a project to capture PM history, chronicles, tid-bits, experiences, wisdoms, advice, "don't evers", etc. thru interviews and inputs from a selection of experienced "real" PM practitioners?
The first step would be to have them develop a list or set of pertinent topics and questions (related to the desired end/aim) to be asked of all participants. This list could/be vetted , for example, by PMForum's group of advisors, for relevance, accuracy of statement, assurance of clear understanding, ability to "translate" correctly into several languages, and of likely interest to the full range of PM practitioners.
Once settled and agreed on the vetted list, the students could proceed to contact a list of individuals suggested/offered by PMForum; this list could cover as many varieties of the PM species as desired and should be international. It perhaps should be an effort spread over several years or even undertaken by several schools in parallel once the vetted list of topics and questions was complete.
The student interviews should be in depth and probably best done verbally; and personally so the interviewee is not restricted by keyboard capabilities AND the possibility of instant amplification of viewpoints and discussion is practical. Doing it this way would also enable the use of recorders with some assurance of accuracy and that nothing was missed. The results offered should be raw and NOT AT ALL edited - even for grammar. Hopefully the University would offer credit to the students for their work; PMForum could offer publication and widespread attention.
It is even possible (maybe probable) that some companies such as HP, GM, AT&T (the new one), IBM, insurers, NASA, etc, might fund the cost of the personal contacts and maybe even some short trips to provide personal interviews. An alliance of universities geographically disperse would provide wider coverage faster and likely reduce the costs and/or expand the extent of in-person interviews.
Best regards,
Eric Jenett
Houston, Texas, USA
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