Got the following email this morning from the Project Management Institute. For those who don't know, PMI is an organization of project managers, though in recent years, it's become clear to me that the focus of the organization has shifted toward extracting as much money as possible from project managers by offering a more and more elaborate scheme of certifications and sub-certifications most of which seem fairly irrelevant to 90+% of businesses, including the vast bulk of those who don't do government business and aren't subject to ridiculous government acquisition rules. (It is no mystery to me that PMI is Washington based and the most heavy users of their stuff tend to be in the defense establishment. You know, those people who always deliver 10 years late and 5x over budget but claim the program was successful because the changes were approved along the way...)
But I digress.
PMI has a new brand. Unlike most normal organizations, they can't just say, "we have a new branding statement" or even "we have a new slogan." PMI has instead developed a new "branding standard." That makes it sound much more official. Left to these guys, my cat would need to follow a "daily tongue-based coat self-cleansing and beautification standard." That would make the regular licking of her backside seem so much more important. So much for using clear simple language and avoiding jargon with this group.
Apparently, this new "brand standard" states that as a member I am supposedly: "Precise and creative. Organized and passionate. Disciplined with urgency."
Not only that, but they seem to feel that a nice little exercise in nazi-style conformity is called for. I am supposed to "engage in this leading community of more than a half a million: by posting to my social media site the following:
I am precise and creative, organized and passionate. As a PMI affiliate, I make project management indispensable for business results.
[The PMI justification for this is that if changes are approved, the "baseline" moves and therefore we're no longer measured against the original commitment. This ignores how decisions are made in real life. The launching of a program is usually done with great fanfare, public announcements, public votes in congress and lots of slapping each other on the back and congratulating ourselves on how great a job we're going to do. The "approved changes" happen in back rooms dominated by self-interested parties and usually buried in the 1000th page of some huge appropriations bill or corporate budget that is as carefully hidden and disguised as possible. Then 10 years down the road, all the people who were so vocal about supporting the project in the first place are shocked and what became of it.]
To me, being a project management professional means knowing the difference between the various situations and applying the right tools for the job, whether they are the PMI-blessed ones or not. Project management, after all, is a set of tools, not a religion.
Besides, if I'm so creative and passionate, (which I am) why would I want to use their statement about what my personal brand and value is? I can surely come up with one of my own that would be far more descriptive and focused on what I do.
I've posted the following:
I am precise and creative, organized and passionate. As a PMI affiliate, I am increasingly aware that the organization is run by a bunch of nazi-type hacks who apparently now think it's cool for all of us to post cut-and-paste "affirmations" to our social networks, as if we were North Koreans bowing in unison to the ghost of Kim Il Sung. Is goose-stepping to PMI meetings their next great idea for showing solidarity?
Yeah, not exactly what they wanted, but that's what you get with creative passionate people like their members. Sorry.
Well, not really sorry.
-mg
