A Zillion Project Management Models & Why You Should Build Another One!


Check out the video:  
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 Question: What happens when you do a Google search for this phrase: "project management models, images?"

 Answer: You get images of "a zillion PM models!" (This video shows a bunch of these.) And what can you learn from such a search?
  1. That all these models constitute an "audit trail" of the thinking of many, many PM experts.
  2. It's liberating! It's clear that no one model is the only one you should use... Instead, you're free to choose.
  3. It's empowering! If so many people have taken their turn building unique PM models, then it must mean almost any project manager can do so. So why not you? Shouldn't you build one too and make your unique contribution! In fact, you are duty-bound to do so for your project team & your organization.

Loops & Hoops & Waterfalls: A PM Minimalist Perspective on Agile, Scrum & ... (Yada, Yada)

Google Search Results:
"project management models, images"
(CLICK HERE & SEE!)

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[Too impatient to read 4 paragraphs? OK. Scroll down to see a brief video (under 5 min.)]

 A quick Google search on the term "project management models" will produce lots of hits (literally "about 35 million results!"). One item in Google's list of suggestions is labeled "Images for Project Management Models." Click on the image above and you'll see -- Yikes!!! -- HUNDREDS of lovely LOOPS AND HOOPS AND WATERFALLS presented as valid PM Life Cycles! It would appear that there are as many of these things as there are consultants and certification bodies to sell them!

Quick cut to your office. You're minding your own business, practicing a Minimalist approach to your PM, when suddenly your boss (or worse yet -- a "born again PMP") shows up at your door and says, "Hey... why aren't we using the [insert 'PM Approach du jour'] for our projects?"  (BTW: These days, thanks to PMI's Agile Certification juggernaut & a cottage industry of related consultants & trainers, the "approach du jour" is likely to be Agile or Scrum or some consultant's patented, trademarked, certified, access-for-a-fat-fee variant of one of these.)   

Looking at your intruder, you quietly grimace... your heart rate and blood pressure both increase a little... and then you gather your thoughts and figure out how to respond.

This hasn't happened to you yet, you say? Well, it's only a matter of time until it does. And to help you deal with it, I've prepared the little video below. Enjoy! 

 (And remember Scarecrow from The Wizard of Oz. Like him, you probably already know everything you need to know… so trust your judgment!)


from PM Minimalist. 


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