This week I was in Chicago attending the PMI Annual Conference 2017. Below are a few photos I took from two of my favorite seminars at the conference.
But first, here are a few key themes & trends I noticed threading through many of the seminars.
TRENDS:
1. AGILE!
Clearly the #1 trend was how much Agile has come to dominate the conference this year! Over the past 5 years, I’ve seen the percentage of agile-related sessions increasing steadily at PMINAC. But this was the first year that it felt like Agile has actually beaten out Waterfall as the leading PM modality.
2. New Names: “Predictive” vs. “Adaptive“
Two new names were heavily in-use at the conference (substituting for two old names) and both appear that they will catch on around the PM world:
- “Predictive” is the new term for Waterfall (for projects where the scope can be planned out pretty thoroughly in advance), and
- “Adaptive” is the new term for Agile (for projects where the scope is largely incomplete at the beginning, and will be progressively elaborated through the project’s life-cycle.
As Mike Griffiths put it in his presentation:
“We’ve started calling it ‘Predictive’ because the term: ‘Waterfall’ had taken on a pejorative quality. Everything Agile people don’t like, they’ve started calling it Waterfall!”
– Mike Griffiths, PMINAC 2017
3. The Rise of Agile in the PMI Model
- Agile In The New PMBOK® – For the first time, Agile terms, concepts, and best practices were included in PMI’s PMBOK (Version 6, released September 12, 2017)
- PMP® Exam – For the first time, Agile will be tested for on the PMP® Exam (effective March 26, 2018) along with Waterfall, per the new PMBOK V6.
- CAPM® Exam – For the first time, Agile will be tested for on the CAPM® Exam along with Waterfall (date TBA by PMI, probably 2nd Quarter 2018, since the CAPM® test historically is updated the quarter following the PMP® upgrade).
- Spiking Interest In The PMI-ACP (Agile Certified Practitioner Certification). This was the first PMINAC I’ve attended where the PMP certification was less of a focus of interest. Many of the presenters this year were credentialed in both the PMP and the PMI-ACP. It seems that the PMI-ACP is trending stronger and stronger. And it seems possible that one day, the PMI-ACP may even surpass the PMP as “the one to get” for PM professionals.
My Two Favorite Presentations At The Conference
The 2 best seminars I attended were both about Agile and its place in the new PMBOK:
1. The Agile Practice Guide® – Advancing The Mindset, Supporting The Practice
Co-Presenters:
- Jesse Fewell
- Mike Griffiths (first 3 photos below)
(Apologies to Jesse Fewell — I didn’t get any photos of Jesse, but his photo is at the top of this post, and his part in this presentation was excellent!)
2. The Future Of I.T. – Agile In I.T. Infrastructure
- Andrew Stewart (shown below, taking a question from an audience member, followed by two of his slides)
And My 3 Favorite “Personal Moments” At The Conference
1) I got to have a dinner (really more of a feast!) with Cornelius Fichtner, President of OSP International, and best-known as the host of “The Project Management Podcast” and for his leading-edge PMP Prep and PMI-ACP test tools.
2) I got to have lunch with one of my students who traveled all the way to the conference from NYC, Arthur Benoit, PMP®.
3) And I also got to have lunch with Charlotte Ashlock, Executive Editor at Berrett-Koehler Publishers. It was very exciting to see my book, “The Project Management Answer Book”on the Berrett-Koehler Publishers poster at the conference Expo Hall (below).
My book also on the Berrett-Koehler Publishers bookshelf at the conference (below).
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE TO SEE:
1) My PMP Book: The Project Management Answer Book, 2nd Edition
2) My Upcoming PMP Prep & other classes at NYU and Fordham University in Manhattan
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