Chapter Seven - Lessons Learned and Value Recreation
When we celebrate the tenth anniversary of PMITW’s establishment, as well as the advocacy and promotion of project management in Taiwan , we look both to the past, and to the future. We were the original champions of this idea, and we are very proud to say that both PMITW and NPMA have helped to directly or indirectly advocate project management to at least a half a million people from the government, commercial sector, schools, and just about everywhere else throughout Taiwan
As of July 2009 the number of PMPs in Taiwan reached 7,358 (from less than 5 in 1999), which places Taiwan as one of the top ten countries with the most PMPs in the world! If we calculate this number versus the population, there are 3.2 PMPs for every 10,000 people in Taiwan (23 million people), and such numbers would then move us up to the top five!
Not all of this stunning achievement was contributed by PMITW. We certainly appreciate all those REPs, schools, training centers, as well as other PM-related NPOs that have been involved in this business making creating such beautiful numbers that are still growing as this is being written! However, like I always say “To get a PMP is one thing, but to know how to do a project and be a good project manager is another.” We still hear negative feedback and critiques about the value of PMP from the Internet. It is also disappointing to find that the majority of people in both the public and private sectors still have not fully embraced the project management discipline after our 10 years of effort.
So, as we celebrate our success, we humbly review what we could have done better. We continually ask ourselves how we can improve (or re-create the value of project management) as well as build the trust in the PMP certificate. According to my observations, as well as direct and indirect feedback from many different organizations, I am pleased to generate six major reasons that may have contributed to the depreciated value of the PMP. They are as follows:
1. The exaggerated promotion of PMP – Many training providers overstate the value of the PMP certificate in the job market with such claims as “the guarantee of high annual income”, which of course not true. Actually, to possess a PMP has become a “MUST” rather than a “PLUS” in seeking a career in project management. Some REPs consider PMP training as a “commercial product” that allows them to create their own profits rather than teaching students the “professional code of ethics and practical application” that is the responsibility of every PMP. As a result, many PMPs become severely disappointed and dismayed because they cannot be relied on for doing a project well, never mind having a better salary and career.
2. Overemphasis on how soon and what rate of passing the PMP Exam - I personally believe that a good project management training program should be composed of both knowledge transfer and practical exercises that can help trainees to know how to apply what they have learned to his/her actual project. Nobody would deny that to eventually to pass the exam for a PMP-seeker is important; however, if a training provider is only concerned about “how fast” and “how high” to pass the PMP without considering “how capable” and “how practical” a PMP can be trained, it is certainly a dereliction of the REP’s duty.
3. Poor quality control of the training providers as well as loose qualification audits of the PMP examinees - I was a REP AG, so I know PMI-GOC has a very diversified but loose rule to control the quality of REP, and completely no control for all the non-REPs. As a long-term supporter of PMI, I can understand that it is not necessarily bad to lower the bar to become a PMP, especially by changing the auditing process to a randomly select 10% of the applicants’ application, rather than auditing all of the applicants’ qualifications. Such changes really helped to increase the number of PMP in the world dramatically.
However, what the PMP that used to certify before 2001 was much more complicate but reliable. At that time, every examinee should spend 7.5 hours taking the test’s 320 questions (five select one multiple choices), and only the person that has first passed the exam should be allowed to submit his/her application demonstrating his/her professional background, (with three recommendation letters to the reviewing committee), and later to be announced that the applicant did receive the PMP certificate. I remembered when I was awarded my PMP (after twice failing the exam!) in May 1998, I felt even happier and more honored than when I received my Ph.D. degree!
I am not saying that I profess a preference for the old way, but I am just stating the fact the persons who get the PMP would be the beneficiary of a robust testing procedure that would confirm his/her qualifications of the PMP. In contrast, there is a high portion of current PMPs who have never done a project, who were trained by “certificate-driving” rather than “practical skills-driving,” and who have a problem of self-confidence while at the same time presenting their credentials as a well-qualified PMP.
4. Vicious competition and intellectual property infringements among training providers - I read, “Whenever crammed schools are involved in the training of a well-known certificates, the certificate instantly becomes depreciated.” Competition such as lowering the pricing for this valuable asset has served to dilute the PMP training. This circumstance is getting worse and has the very real possibility of destroying the image of the professionalism, ethics, and integrity of the PMP. I have always believed in the valuable lesson that if any product or service in the market can be easily imitated without suitable regulation and legal protection of its intellectual property rights, this product will soon lose its value. This is the problem of PMP that is currently perceived by the public.
5. Incompetent trainers and their negative impacts – There has always bee an erroneous assumption that as long as one can be a PMP, one can be a trainer of project management. In reality, it takes many years of dedication and practice to create skillful trainers and facilitators. Unfortunately, one can find hundreds of incompetent instructors who are teaching project management and PMP prep courses everywhere. As a consequence, there are significant misinterpretations and misunderstandings of the knowledge and skills that have been mass-produced and broadcasted that eventually pollute the proper standards of PMP professionalism. The phenomenon of trainers who can only read their slides without sharing practical experiences, cases, as well as providing their own professional thinking and vision with good presentation skills is now unfortunately considered as the norm. What a pity! In my view, such incompetent trainers have seriously deteriorated the value of PMP.
6. Wrong perception and lack of the self-actualization of the PMP - Actually, I sincerely believe that the most significant reason for the devaluation of the PMP is the PMP him/herself! If the major goal of the majority of PMPs is just to seek their certificate rather than applying what they have learned to improve their project performance, how can they educate their bosses and co-workers to change the environment and organizational culture? Those PMPs who still do their work as they did before without proper procedures, no methodology, no written documents, and continually making the same mistakes by using their outdated philosophies for decision-making can never be trusted to be accountable. I have even heard that some PMPs don’t want it known that they have the PMP certificate because they don’t want to be examined and expected about their performance while running a project.
So whereas my experience has allowed me to see the areas where the PMP and the profession might suffer devaluation, let me humbly suggest my remedies for future development to elevate the profession to its highest calling:
1. Convene a gathering of all PM training providers to develop a “Convention” or “Treaty” that can improve the situations mentioned above via a common consensus. Such an agreement would establish professional standards and benchmarks for successful training and facilitation. All parties would sign a document of collaboration agreeing to follow the treaty and thereby reinforce the trust from the publics they serve. This would result in common standards, common language and common dedication.
2. Continually train the trainers to provide a renewed sense of passion and professionalism as well as a renewed sense of responsibility to their profession. We have already done this since 2008. PMITW has trained 25 instructors by a very meticulous and robust metric through a 48-hour course that not only teaches them to improve their presentation/public speech skills, but also to instruct them how to teach a professional project management course in a positive manner, with correct understanding of the requisite knowledge and skills, and to know how to design the modules and exercises of the class. I have dedicated myself to teach this part by sharing my 10 years of experience. As long as all trainers attend such a training course before they teach, it will definitely help students receive a correct perception of the subject matter via reliable and trustworthy teaching.
3. Encourage current PMPs who lack self-confidence to keep on learning both the “soft skills” of leadership, creativity, emotional intelligence, team learning, etc. as well as the ‘hard skills” of planning organizing, controlling, etc. that he/she is missing. PMITW helps to provide more lectures, events, practices, exercises, and any other creative leadership trainings that improve the PMP’s competence and project performance.
4. Lead those PMPs whose perception tends to be local in nature to embrace the global attributes of our profession by attending international conferences and events, as well as to join the PMI global community to increase their global view. PMITW has invited an incredible variety of world-class speakers to Taiwan to sharing their distinguished visions and experiences during the past ten years, and, as well, we have hosted international conferences (such as the IPMF), and related forums almost every year since our inception. We also have formed a team to monitor and even attend the most important overseas conferences and gatherings.
5. Provide more volunteer opportunities to the PMP and our members that can help them to contribute their talents and passion to this professional society. PMITW is planning to develop several special interest volunteer groups, such as campus service, professional training, government advocacy, and industry service, etc. as we go forward. We will definitely provide PDUs for those volunteers so that they will know that what they have received earns valuable returns that are honorable and respectable.
As I finish my writings in Part I, I am satisfied that I have recorded a very accurate and true accounting of PMITW from its birth to its current state. The process has had the unintended consequence of being my own personal memoir over the past decade – something that was never my intent at the beginning of this work.
I am the only person on our team who has been involved in almost everything associated with the growth and development of PMITW. So you can see, dear reader that what has happened in PMITW has become a very significant part of my life. Ordinarily we see people come and go as is always the case on any team, but I am the only one who has constantly and insistently stayed and lead this team to accomplish our vision ever since we started 10 years ago.
It may be hard for you to believe that this decade was an accidental journey for me. As I mentioned earlier, I was supposed to either stay in the military for a possible promotion as a general, or move to the US and be reunified with my family and select a teaching position at a California University or work for a start-up company. After I made up my mind to stay with PMITW/NPMA as an unpaid volunteer, and take over PSIG, my wife Carol and I sold our Virginia townhouse and brought my daughter back to Taiwan with me. It is so incredible that dear Carol accepted the reality that she would have to stand by her husband in supporting him in his accidental career! I am very fortunate for this.
I spent my most of my valuable middle age (45~55) dedicated to my belief in the success and growth of PMITW/NPMA. One of my best friends Joseph once asked me if this lifetime investment could ever be measured. What an interesting question – one that I decided to answer comprehensively.
My calculations based on my timesheet records show that I have donated more than 10,000 man-hours to PMITW/NPMA during the past decade (this number really did surprise me!). It therefore becomes very easy to calculate the so-called “opportunity cost” of volunteering that is probably valued, at the very least, a half a million US dollars. As I stated earlier, I also donated the computer test system worth 700,000 NT (USD 23,000) as well as my copyright of a textbook to NPMA that helped NPMA remain alive and grow stronger.
Although I can fair
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