PMBOK 4th edition: A first look

The 4th edition of the PMBOK was released earlier this year, given that quite a considerable number of people worldwide visit my PMP prep page I took it upon myself to both purchase and read the guide to update the site. I've been quite busy both professionally and personally so I have not had a chance to review it with any level of detail till recently. On a first reading it seems pretty much the same as the 3rd edition with some minor changes to the ITTOs in the process areas and knowledge groups. I have a page here that outlines and summarizes the changes: PMBOK4 vs PMBOK3

Rather than give a detailed summary, I found a pretty good one on the PM Docs website. Like previous versions and with any worldwide recognized standard/methodology you will find both supports and detractors of the standard. I found a pretty fiery one here by James T Brown who runs a commercial PM consulting site and is kind of ironic given that the company is a PMI registered provider:

My opinion is that the PMBOK® is as out of control as your most nightmarish stakeholder. Always changing things… hoping to make it better… when in fact they have seem to add complexity with little or no additional value. As Voltaire stated "The perfect is the enemy of the good."

Project Management is nothing but structured organized common sense!

Here is the problem…if you try to document every single common sense thing and every factor or process that contributes to the successful execution of common sense the result is gobbledygook! Does gobbledygook rhyme with PMBOK®? It is tough to define gobbledygook but you know it when you see it! Judgment cannot be legislated with bureaucracy; there are too many variables and circumstances.

The real challenge in project management is not identifying the common sense things to do, but having the individual or organizational discipline to do the common sense thing.

It is not a standard if it is always changing!

PMI is calling something a standard and then they change it. Maybe they should consider using WIP for Work in Progress instead of standard. If the PMBOK® were an 8 ounce cup every three or four years the world would have to revise all the recipes to comply with their new definition of a cup. More importantly, PMI is at risk of devaluing the PMP certification because now you have project managers certified on different sets of terms. When an organization hires a newly certified PMP based on the fourth edition of the PMBOK® they may not know the term triple constraint. A standard doesn't have to be perfect, but a standard must be a standard to effectively serve its purpose!

PMBOK® Huggers Beware!

Before we get discouraged let's remember that most of humankind's greatest project management achievements happened before the PMBOK® existed. The principles of successful project management are timeless and if you know them and use them you will be successful regardless of whether the PMBOK® chooses to include it or what the PMBOK® chooses to call it.

While I can understand his sentiment and do agree that the standard at times feels as though too much complexity has been added that don't seem to add direct value, I will hold to what I posted before about the rationale for getting a PMP certification:

Aside from these ideological battles, from a practical point of view, it will benefit a project manager more than harm him/her to get it and for the investment of around $1,200-2500 I definitely think it is worth it. Many PM jobs highly recommend and even require this designation, and if that helps you get a better paying job then the investment is worth it in my opinion. In addition, the certification has recently acquired ISO certification which is a world wide standardizing body and is the first certification to acquire it, which should help solidify the certification's global as well as domestic standing.

The good news is that the 4th edition has incorporated many improvements which allows the profession of project management to evolve best practices and standards consistent with the proactive cycle of continuous development and improvement needed in today's fast paced world.