Episode 152 PREMIUM: Does PMI follow the PMBOK® Guide on their own Projects?

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This is a Premium Episode that is available to everyone. Normally, our Premium episodes are only available to our paying premium subscribers. A paid subscription gets you

- Access to all episodes starting from #1
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Every now and then, we release a premium episode for everybody, so that free listeners can hear what they are missing from the premium version. This is one of them.

In this interview we meet once again with Brian Weiss (PMI's Vice President Product Management) and Mark Emery (he is the business owner of the new CCRS). The reason why we meet them again is a simple one: Have you ever wondered how PMI manages their internal projects? I mean we all heard the old saying that "The cobbler's children have no shoes". This saying refers to the fact that a busy cobbler will be so busy making shoes for his customers that he has no time to make some for his own children.

So the question is then... does PMI get so busy defining and publishing standards in project management that they forget to apply these standards on their own projects?

Let's find out in our interview.

Episode Transcript

Below are the first few pages of the transcript. The complete transcript is available to Premium subscribers only.

Podcast Introduction

Cornelius Fichtner: This is The Project Management Podcast™. We bring project management to beginners and experts. Find us on the web at www.pm‑podcast.com or send your emails to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Cornelius Fichtner: Hello and welcome to this Premium Episode #152. I am Cornelius Fichtner. This is The Project Management Podcast™, nice to have you with us.

This is another Premium Episode. Normally, our premium episodes are only available to our paying premium subscriber and as a paying subscriber, you get access to all episodes starting from #1, a new episode usually once per week, you get a PDF transcript of all our interviews that’s starting with Episode #136 and as a Premium Subscriber, you’re also automatically entered in all our promotional giveaways.

But every now and then, we release a premium episode for everybody so that free listeners can hear what they are missing from the premium version. And this here is one of those free premium episodes, so to speak.

In the interview today, we meet once again Brian Weiss. He is PMI’s Vice President of Product Management; and Mark Emery. He is the business owner of the new CCRS. The reason why we meet them again is a simple one: Have you ever wondered how PMI manages their internal projects? I mean we all heard the old saying that “The cobbler’s children have no shoes,” and this saying refers to the fact that a busy cobbler will be so busy making shoes for his customers that he has no time to make some for his own children. So the question is this then: Does PMI gets so busy defining and publishing standards in project management, like the PMBOK® Guide, that they completely forget to apply these standards on their own internal projects?

Let’s find out in our interview:

I introduced Brian Weiss to you before in last week’s episode. So here is more about Mark Emery:

Mark Emery is the Director of Integrated Services at PMI where he is responsible for member and certification holder contact centers around the globe, including PMI application processing and exam delivery. He and his team are recognized throughout the organization for providing world-class service to PMI’s customers with a consistent focus on customer advocacy and delivery. Prior to coming to PMI in 2005, he has held a variety of operations positions in the healthcare, publishing and information technology industries for more than 10 years. He holds a B.A. degree in Political Science from Rutgers University and an M.S in Public Administration from West Chester University of Pennsylvania. He is a native of Pennsylvania and currently resides in Chester County, Pennsylvania along with his beautiful wife and daughter who will be starting kindergarten this fall.

Enjoy the interview.

Podcast Interview

Female voice: The Project Management Podcast’s feature Interview: Today with PMI’s Brian Weiss and Mark Emery.

Cornelius Fichtner: Brian Weiss, Mark Emery, welcome back to The Project Management Podcast™! Thanks again for your time!

Brian Weiss: It’s great to be here.

Mark Emery: Good to be back.

Cornelius Fichtner: So let’s get the most pressing question out of the way right at the start before we even say what this project is all about. On this particular project that was done PMI internally, did PMI follow the framework that it has outlined in the PMBOK® Guide?

Brian Weiss: 100% yes!

Cornelius Fichtner: Really?! How happy then are you with the result?

Brian Weiss: Extremely happy because as our Value Project Manager and Resource told us, there’s no one way to do project management. But the PMBOK® Guide like it does for thousands of times, thousands of practitioners around the globe and thousands upon thousands of organizations, he creates the framework by how and which we want to practice project management here at PMI because as you know, the way you practice, project manager changes based upon your company culture, your company orientation, what geography, the way your work force is dispersed, so we 100% utilize the principles down within the PMBOK® Guide. I’m not sure why you’ll do anything else. It’s how most people practice the profession most of the time and we apply it within PMI’s context.

Cornelius Fichtner: Okay. Had you considered, after all this is a software development, a web development project, had you considered using any of those upcoming hip methodologies like Scrum, Agile, extreme programming, anything of that?

Above are the first few pages of the transcript. The complete PDF transcript is available to Premium subscribers only.