March 17th, 2009
PMI at the Scrum Gathering
Gregory Balestrero’s much-awaited keynote speech at the Scrum Gathering was something of an anti-climax. It was safe and generic, offering neither resistance nor support for Scrum beyond the usual “let’s all work together” rhetoric. Even so, it had a little more punch than the earlier talk by CMMI guru Dr. Mark Paulk, which was overly long and sadly dull. Dr Paulk would have done well to talk more about his research and less about what Scrum is. The phrase ‘teaching your grandmother to suck eggs’ comes to mind.
Having both CMMI and PMI representation at the gathering was an odd choice, and given the energy and creativity often found at Agile conferences these guys had much to do to impress. No easy task, especially given the resistance from many (including this blogger) to their very presence. It seems reasonable that when in enemy territory, so to speak, a person would tread with caution. Fair enough, but reasonable people rarely inspire and that was the case here. Nevertheless Gregory Balestrero’s talk was not without value.
In describing the work of the PMI Mr Balestrero mentioned that the new version of the PMBok has a chapter on iterative development and incremental delivery. Bear in mind that IID has actually been practiced in software companies since the 1970s. That it has only come to the attention of the PMI recently is odd, to say the least. IID is not the same as Agile, of course, it is one small part. Still, progress is progress, and credit to the speaker for seeking alignment between Scrum and PMI values.
The one thing that jumped out at me from the talk was Mr Balestrero’s announcement that since he took over as CEO of the PMI seven years ago the organization has become more focused on value. This is good news, as Agile is, and has always been focused on value, so we can all see alignment there. Of course, the question this raised for me was “what was the PMI focused on before that time?” I decided to ask. As there was limited time in the session for questions I waited to speak with Mr Balestrero after the keynote was complete. With all the powerpoint events of the morning I was hungry for some actual dialog. In the event my question turned into an hour-long conversation about the nature of management.
Raffi Simonian (CSP), Alan Cyment (CST), Jesse Fewell (PMP) also took part in the discussion. Raffi’s particular interest was on how a CSP could fast-track his way to becoming a PMP, given that there was some cross-over of skills, and to their credit the two PMI representatives didn’t shoot this idea down, but instead offered Raffi a number of direct contacts with which to further explore the idea of how CSP and PMP could dovetail. The gesture offers potential for open dialog, for collaboration. All good.
— As an aside, Gregory Balestrero publicly congratulated Raffi and his co-worker Anu on the excellent PMO set up at their organization, saying it was one of the best there was. In fact, Raffi and his team have been slowly working over the past few years to remove this same PMO as it is actually considered an impediment. —
Back to my question, what was the PMI focused on before it decided to focus on value? Gregory Balestrero explained that the PMI was originally set up to focus on value (of course it was, what else would its purpose be?) but over the years lost that focus and became transaction-orientated, focusing on delivering certification to the individual rather than supporting organizations in successful outcomes. This seems to have resulted in a large group of people with impressive knowledge of how to manage projects, but perhaps with some loss of focus as to why they needed to do this. Seven years is a long time, and many of us in this community do not yet see that focus on value over certification. Big ships take a long time to turn around.
Mr Balestrero went on to say that when he joined the PMI he asked the question “do we need project management?”. Good question. Apparently the answer was “Duh, yeah!” I challenged that answer. Perhaps the “duh yeah” applies when the processes we use cry out for management. Upfront requirements, definition, work-breakdown structures, dependency charts, critical path analysis, efficient assignment of resources… all of this needs to be managed. Sure.
But what about an agile process? I suggested that management, as we know it, is inappropriate, and that instead projects need support and guidance through a process of visioning, reflecting, facilitating and inspiring. Does the PMI teach that, I asked. The answer was vague.
I felt that Gregory Balestrero didn’t understand Scrum beyond the concept of iterative development and possibly collaboration, so in the short time we talked Alan, Raffi and I introduced some of the underlying values of Scrum to him. He listened (he appeared to listen). What if we took away the names PMI and Agile and Scrum, I asked, what if we went right down to underlying values and principles: openness, trustfulness, visibility, courage, self-organization, collaboration, beauty, inspiring visions… early delivery of working software. Are we seeking the same thing?
I think this is a question that Gregory Balestrero will need to consider if he is serious about PMI and Scrum collaboration. The sense I had from our discussion is that perhaps he will. Time will tell.
Jesse Fewell captured (and captioned!) the discussion. Take a look.
March 18th, 2009 at 2:58 pm
“In describing the work of the PMI Mr Balestrero mentioned that the new version of the PMBok has a chapter on iterative development and incremental delivery. Bear in mind that IID has actually been practiced in software companies since the 1970s.”
Please read the older versions of the PMBOK, it’s IID all the way, from 2000 and before.
March 18th, 2009 at 11:15 am
As I’ve said often in the last few days as a lot of Scrum critisicm comes up:
Agile has no projects but flows of stories.
Implications:
- If you have projects you’re (not you the author) are doing something wrong
- There are no projects to fail
Cheers
Stephan
http://twitter.com/codemonkeyism
March 18th, 2009 at 1:41 pm
Tobias, I’m thinking of framing the photo Jesse Fewell took of you listening (albeit skeptically) to Mr. Balestrero. I’m impressed you were willing to listen and even find some common ground.
I recently met Jesse in one of my New York classes and was impressed with him also.
–mj
Response: Jesse ran a session at the Scrum Gathering entitled “PMP? ScrumMaster? which included a very interesting discussion on the nature of project management, and an exploration of what we, as Scrum practitioners, are attempting to do to change the nature of organizations. I was impressed with Jesse’s open-mindedness, and his excellent facilitation skills, keeping the conversation moving forward, and keeping us all out of entrenched positions. You’d have enjoyed it
March 18th, 2009 at 3:56 pm
Value needs to be perceived as such by the customer. The idea of a backlog that prioritizes features based on risk and ROI is great, that’s one of the primary reason to use an agile approach, however some projects are not that long and customers don’t want you to come to then and ask what do you want first, I want to give you value. The customer just want the project done. There is a difference between getting things done and giving value.
PMI is looking more into challenging the customer with value. Progressive elaboration is in the definition of a PMI project. PMI is growing into a more Agile approach. The agilista animosity towards their dragon head can only make this union to happen slower. Let’s understand each other and help each other benefit from all approaches.
March 18th, 2009 at 4:54 pm
Tobias,
As always, you make valid comments and ask good questions.
Regarding a relationship between the Scrum Alliance and the PMI, I think it is more interesting the consider the members of the PMI as people we can and should help to play their role in “transforming the world of work” by engaging with them as individuals.
I have just purchased Michele Sliger and Stacia Broderick’s book “The Software Project Manager’s Bridge to Agility” and hope personally to use this and the PMI presence at the Orlando Scrum gathering as enablers towards more fruitful conversations with PMP’s about Agile and Scrum.
Regards, Peter (also in Orlando)
March 19th, 2009 at 7:31 am
Hello Tobias, I completely understand you. I had an opinion similar to yours, before understanding PMBoK and agile principles.
Let me ask you a question. Have you ever read the PMBoK? And ever you understand it?
PMI isn’t a community of project managers working only in software, they came from many industries. If you have the time to read, and understand, PMBok, then you’ll find out by yourself that PMBOK does not prescribes any methodology and also stresses that the project team, according to the project complexity, environment, etc, has the responsibility to choose the processes for manage the project. It never talks about how you should build your product(Software in this case). So you can use any Agile methodology, processes, technique or whatever to build your product and apply the valuable knowledge from PMBoK to manage your project.
I see a lot of criticism about PMI and I completely disagree with that. My personal feeling is that people don’t make the required effort to understand what other people have to say and sometimes they lose ground in the field.
I used to be skeptical as you are. I’m a PMP. I apply agile and principles everyday to build software and I also apply the knowlege I have from PMBoK to manage projects.
We all have so many knowledge in front of us, let us have an open mind and learn from all perspectives.
Response: Hi joao, and thanks for the comments. I recognize that the PMI represents many industries, and I have no issue with its recommendations for, and experience of, managing projects in many of those industries. It is necessary. The thing is, I have a fundamental belief that the creation of software should not be managed. — “[software] projects need support and guidance through a process of visioning, reflecting, facilitating and inspiring.” No matter how flexible the recommendations of the PMBOK are, the bottom line is that it is about management. Management is a mindset that I’d like to see go away from the field of software development.
March 19th, 2009 at 11:26 am
Hello Tobias,
Thank you for your response. Why do you feel that software projects shouldn’t be managed? What do you mean with that? I really would like to understand your perspective. I would, really, like to understand you and why you feel that “Management is a mindset that” you’d “like to see go away from the field of software development.”
Response: I see software development as a craft, not a process like manufacturing. and not an engineering practice like building a house or a bridge. Craftsmen tend to work in a highly collaborative way, being guided and inspired rather than “managed”. Management implies that someone is telling you what to do (and often how to do it). Every piece of software we create is brand-new-never-been-done-before, so by definition it is not a repeatable process. Think of creating a piece of theatre, the actors are not managed, they are guided and inspired by a director and supported by one another.
The PMI approach to management is not wrong; it has its place. Software development is not that place. It is time for us to reconceive our idea of what software is and how it should be created. Only then will we consistently build magnificent software, inspiring software, software to change lives and open hearts. Managing software projects will keep us and our products mediocre. That is my belief.
March 19th, 2009 at 1:21 pm
Hello Tobias,
I enjoyed this and your previous blog postings on this PMI topic. As always, you presented the passion and driving forces behind agile principles clearly. I have worked with a few PMPs in the past who inherently assumed that they had the background of being Scrum Masters (often after reading a few published articles about Scrum). It didn’t take long before the urge of “need to manage” to show up, thus throwing a monkey wrench into the project!! (for lack of a better word). I suspect this is because of the “command-and-control” style built-in. I do however think that it is worth while to listen to PMI folks since, they come from many other industries besides software. I actually see a possibility of Scrum-like agile methodologies making inroads into other industries. I for one, made a transition into software after working several years in the mechanical/electrical product development industry where the end product is a “working machine part” as opposed to “working software”. Understanding other industry mind-set will help the agilistas to spread the territory.
Just some thoughts.
March 24th, 2009 at 5:02 am
You really have to wonder about the opinons of people that do not feel strongly one way or another. I don’t believe you can accurately speak on a topic if you have no strong feelings one way or another. To me it would seem like you almost.. missed the point.
Regards,
David
June 17th, 2009 at 2:59 pm
This is a great discussion!
Question: If theater is not “managed”, then why does a Google search for “troupe manager” return 1.2 MILLION-plus hits?
English is far too flexible with respect to the connotations (implications) of many words. Just because a large number of people in the past have mangled the connotation of “managed” to imply a command and control structure, that does not mean that we have to keep making those same assumptions. However, it is can also be easier to use a different term as opposed to trying to change the mental picture invoked by the former word.
The practices asserted by agile practitioners are not new, and have been espoused by many people for thousands of years. The Bible, the sayings of Confucius, and Sun Tzu’s Art of War all contain admonishments to follow the principles stated in the Agile Manifesto. More recently, the Theory-X and Theory-Y approaches reflect two “management” views – the former more command and control, and the latter more like agile.
I see very little in the PMBOK that stands in opposition to agile practices, and when I am talking with a customer who is predisposed to operating in a command and control framework, I can and have used the PMBOK as a starting point to open their minds to more agile thinking.
September 30th, 2009 at 11:45 pm
[...] and a PMP”. One from Brazil, one from Poland, one from Toronto, one from Calgary. Even PMI skeptic Tobias Mayer stopped by and complimented me on my flipchart…and let me tell you, Tobias doesn’t [...]