What errors have you found in PMI’s PMBoK Guide?

Several discussion threads on LinkedIn have suggested that one problem with project management today is that people are following the guidance in PMI’s PMBoK Guide, and that the guidance contained therein is “wrong.” Basically, they are suggesting that following that guidance leads to disaster.

My personal opinion is that they’re all wet. I do think there are some errors: heck, I’m responsible for some of them due to some things I messed up in the 1996 version that still haven’t been corrected. And I’ve identified some other things that I think are wrong in previous posts (e.g., the inclusion of requirements as a project management process and the use of process groups as project life-cycle phases).

Now as the primary author of the first PMBoK Guide, I’m obviously biased because much of what I wrote for that version remains in the 4th edition. So if the document is wrong, that may imply that my understanding of project management is also wrong. And if so, I’d really like to correct that understanding and make it right.

So here is your chance to prove me wrong. If you think there are errors in the 4th edition, please post a comment below and describe what you think is wrong. As well, try to identify the magnitude of the wrongness: wrong for all types and sizes of projects? Or just wrong for some?

Exclusions: critiques of the document as a whole; anything related to the PMP credential or the PMP exam; comments related to whether or not project management is a profession; and anything else that I judge to be not germane.

And to keep the lawyers happy … PMI and PMBoK are trademarks of the Project Management Institute, Inc. I have no connection whatsoever to PMI. None of the information presented here will be shared with PMI by me. Your posts become part of the public domain unless you place a copyright notice on them.

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Tags: books on pm, books on project management, pm context, pm maturity, PM methodology, PMBoK Guide, Process groups, project management, project management methodology, project reporting, project selection, project success

This entry was posted on April 25, 2011 at 7:19 pm and is filed under Good project management practice. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

One Response to “What errors have you found in PMI’s PMBoK Guide?”

What errors have you found in PMI's PMBoK Guide? « PM Theory into … - PMP Certification Resource - PMP Blog Says:
April 27, 2011 at 9:40 pm | Reply
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