#program

Bill Holmes

Dec 22, 2022
2 min

How Much Should We Trust Experts?

“Having the data is not the same as having the expertise to look through the data - if it were, everybody with a smartphone would be a doctor or a scientist.” Abhijit Naskar, Mucize Insan: When The World is Family “Without the opinion of an expert there's no such thing as certainty.” Joanna Ruocco I intentionally picked these quotes because they show two common misperceptions about experts: Expertise in a domain isn't the same as expertise in data analysis. Experts seldom b

The Process Groups Practice Guide replaces the predictive portion of the PMBOK® 6th Edition

Bill Holmes

Nov 25, 2022
2 min

The Process Groups Practice Guide replaces the predictive portion of the PMBOK® 6th Edition

“There are only two options: make progress or make excuses.” Tony Robbins “Progress is man’s ability to complicate simplicity.” Thor Heyerdahl PMI retired the 6th Edition of the PMBOK in March 2022, however the current version of the Project Management Professional® (PMP) exam preparation course material extensively references that retired document. I pointed that out in a post on October 19. You can link to that post here: https://www.projectmanagementforum.net/post/time-fo

Time for a "Master Project Manager" Certification?

Bill Holmes

Oct 19, 2022
3 min

Time for a "Master Project Manager" Certification?

“No one learns as much about a subject as one who is forced to teach it.” Peter Drucker “No man ever reached to excellence in any one art or profession without having passed through the slow and painful process of study and preparation.” Horatius What is current state of PMI® credentials? Let’s start with Agile. PMI has had the PMI-ACP® since 2011, and it is currently the third most popular certification. In 2017 they published the Agile Practice Guide, but it wasn’t unt

What will PMI® do with the 6th Edition of the PMBOK®?

Bill Holmes

Oct 4, 2022
2 min

What will PMI® do with the 6th Edition of the PMBOK®?

“The sales department isn’t the whole company, but the whole company better be the sales department.” Philip Kotler “I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions.” Stephen Covey What will become of the 6th Edition of the PMBOK®? What will PMI use as a reference for future iterations of the PMP® Exam? Prior to the latest exam change, the PMP certification was heavily weighted toward a predictive approach to project management. It was based primarily

Bill Holmes

Sep 3, 2022
3 min

How I Overcame Writer’s Block

“Don’t waste time waiting for inspiration. Begin, and inspiration will find you.” H. Jackson Brown Jr. “Writing about a writer’s block is better than not writing at all” Charles Bukowski I enjoy writing, and my blog provides an opportunity to hone my skills and get feedback from a wider audience. It is a labor of love. I don’t get paid for it and anyone who is interested can subscribe for free. I have posted a minimum of twice a month for years, and have covered topics rang

Scoring my COVID Predictions Part 5 – Skepticism about Experts

Bill Holmes

Jul 5, 2022
3 min

Scoring my COVID Predictions Part 5 – Skepticism about Experts

“Always listen to experts. They'll tell you what can't be done, and why. Then do it.” Robert A. Heinlein, Time Enough for Love “Philosophers are people who know less and less about more and more, until they know nothing about everything. Scientists are people who know more and more about less and less, until they know everything about nothing.” Konrad Lorenz Prediction 5 – People will no longer blindly follow expert’s advice. We want to follow the advice of experts. That's w

Scoring my COVID Predictions Part 3 – A Shift in Education

Bill Holmes

Jun 2, 2022
2 min

Scoring my COVID Predictions Part 3 – A Shift in Education

“I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.” Mark Twain “I did then what I knew how to do. Now that I know better, I do better.” Maya Angelo Prediction 3 – High school and college education will adopt a lower cost online model. With notable exceptions! My thesis for this prediction was that colleges need the constant inflow of tuition payments, and all but the top tier schools would adopt remote learning as they realized the profit potential. With constant

Scoring my COVID Predictions Part 2 – Remote Medicine

Bill Holmes

May 1, 2022
3 min

Scoring my COVID Predictions Part 2 – Remote Medicine

“Doctors are great–as long as you don’t need them.” Edward E. Rosenbaum “Don’t misinform your doctor nor your lawyer.” Unknown As I reviewed this prediction, I realized this was one of my best researched posts. There were multiple examples of how technology was positively impacting healthcare delivery, and all of the data led to the logical conclusion that both experience and technology were driving us to more efficient and cost-effective delivery of healthcare services. M

Scoring my COVID Predictions Part 1 – The Rise of the Remote Worker

Bill Holmes

Apr 10, 2022
3 min

Scoring my COVID Predictions Part 1 – The Rise of the Remote Worker

“I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can’t accept not trying.” Michael Jordan “We like to give people the freedom to work where they want, safe in the knowledge that they have the drive and expertise to perform excellently, whether they are at their desk or in their kitchen. Yours truly has never worked out of an office, and never will.” Richard Branson The COVID-19 pandemic taught us that for the right type of work, working remotely can be incredibly ef

COVID 19 Predictions – How Accurate Were They?

Bill Holmes

Apr 3, 2022
2 min

COVID 19 Predictions – How Accurate Were They?

“Our words reveal our thoughts; our manners mirror our self-esteem; our actions reflect our character; our habits predict the future.” William Arthur Ward “Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future.” Niels Bohr In early 2020 as the pandemic was just beginning to sweep across the United States, I recognized that we were witnessing a profound event that would dramatically alter the lifestyles and habits of large segments of our population. Through March, Apri

Could Risk Management Techniques Have Helped With The Vaccination Decision?

Bill Holmes

Jan 22, 2022
3 min

Could Risk Management Techniques Have Helped With The Vaccination Decision?

“Who are you going to believe? Leading authorities on medical science, or 800 memes on your cousin’s Facebook page?” Samantha Bee “Covid-19 vaccine is the new baptism.” Nkwachukwu Ogbuagu “I am alive, well and fully vaccinated, despite pledging allegiance to no authority. Listening to experts is not complacency, it's just an act of common sense humanity.” Abhijit Naskar Those three quotes capture the dilemma that we all faced when making the vaccination decision. Early in

Bill Holmes

Jan 6, 2022
3 min

The Science of the Trashcan Fire

“He who works with his hands is a laborer. He who works with his hands and his head is a craftsman. He who works with his hands and his head and his heart is an artist.” Saint Francis of Assisi “If any man tells you he loves America, yet hates labor, he is a liar. If any man tells you he trusts America, yet fears labor, he is a fool.” Abraham Lincoln My mother and father were forged in hard times. My father lived through the Great Depression and joined the US Army when he

Project Management Basics – Chapter 16 – Agile – Product Roadmap

Bill Holmes

Jul 15, 2021
2 min

Project Management Basics – Chapter 16 – Agile – Product Roadmap

“Always plan ahead. It wasn’t raining when Noah built the ark.” Richard Cushing “A good plan is like a road map: it shows the final destination and usually the best way to get there.” H. Stanley Judd The product roadmap is a recurring source of confusion for students aspiring to the Project Management Institute Project Management Professional (PMP®) certification. I believe it is because we describe the roadmap as a document that describes the vision and strategy, helps align

Project Management Basics – Chapter 14 – Agile Rituals – The Daily Scrum

Bill Holmes

Jun 19, 2021
3 min

Project Management Basics – Chapter 14 – Agile Rituals – The Daily Scrum

“The human soul can always use a new tradition. Sometimes we require them.” Pat Conroy, The Lords of Discipline “We are our culture and tradition; if there is no culture or tradition we are no one.” Tamerlan A Kuzgov The rituals of agile matter. Several weeks ago there was a survey posted on LinkedIn that asked about the daily scrum. It specifically asked if the daily scrum was necessary for agile development. I can’t recall the survey results, but one my colleagues commented

Project Management Basics – Chapter 10 – Three Pillars of Agile

Bill Holmes

May 6, 2021
3 min

Project Management Basics – Chapter 10 – Three Pillars of Agile

“Agile is to continue delivering, with quality; ASAP and AEAP; as soon as possible; as easily as possible.” Vikrmn: CA Vikram Verma, Agile Able: Project Management Simplified “Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change.” Stephen Hawking Agile uses the iterative approach of repeating a series of structured development cycles where knowledge is gained about the final product, and an incremental approach by providing working software to the customer after each development cy

Project Management Basics – Chapter 9 – Core principles of predictive projects

Bill Holmes

Apr 23, 2021
3 min

Project Management Basics – Chapter 9 – Core principles of predictive projects

“It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near one.” J.R.R. Tolkien “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” Abraham Lincoln A predictive approach is used when you know how to deliver the stated business benefits of the project. This is “traditional” project management. A charter establishes high level scope, cost and schedule and the project manager (with the project team) develops a detail

Project Management Basics – Chapter 8 – Predictive, Iterative, Incremental, Adaptive

Bill Holmes

Mar 28, 2021
3 min

Project Management Basics – Chapter 8 – Predictive, Iterative, Incremental, Adaptive

"Let our advance worrying become advance thinking and planning." Winston Churchill "Plans are worthless. Planning is essential." Dwight D. Eisenhower I think this is one of the topics that the PMBOK® makes unnecessarily complicated. Here is a quote from page 19 of the PMBOK, 6th Edition: “Project life cycles can be predictive or adaptive. Within a project life cycle, there are generally one or more phases that are associated with the development of the product, service, or r

Project Management Basics – Chapter 7 – The Business Analyst

Bill Holmes

Mar 17, 2021
3 min

Project Management Basics – Chapter 7 – The Business Analyst

“To think or not to think? That is the new question.” Nadina Boun, The Thinking Man, Paralysis by Analysis “The only people who see the whole picture are the ones who step outside the frame.” Salman Rushdie, The Ground Beneath Her Feet A project has a start, a finish, and a unique outcome. The project manager normally helps to write the Charter, and that document sanctions the project and allows the organization to expend resources. The project manager then develops and exec

Project Management Basics – Chapter 6 – The Benefits Management Plan

Bill Holmes

Feb 28, 2021
3 min

Project Management Basics – Chapter 6 – The Benefits Management Plan

“Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.” Sun Tzu “Strategy is a commodity; execution is an art.” Peter Drucker Organizations should have a strategic planning process and use that to identify threats and opportunities. The threats and opportunities are used to develop a “to be” state, and a gap analysis should be conducted to identify the delta between that and the current state. Projects are then initiate

Project Management Basics – Chapter 4 – Product Metrics

Bill Holmes

Feb 7, 2021
2 min

Project Management Basics – Chapter 4 – Product Metrics

“Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts” Albert Einstein “What gets measured, gets managed.” Peter Drucker Last week I asked the question “Can I have a well-run project that delivers an unwanted product?” Sadly, the answer is “yes”. It happens all the time because organizations either don’t know project management basics or because management intentionally rejects good practices. Project should be initiated because someone has

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