PMBOK 7th Edition: Underneath the Surface

This set of vocabulary flashcards covers the evolution of PMBOK, the 12 principles of the 7th edition, various project management methodologies like Scrum and P3.express, and key leadership and quality concepts from the lecture.

Project Management Institute (PMI)

A not-for-profit organization formed in $1969$ that created the PMP certification and the PMBOK Guide.

Project Management Professional (PMP)

A certification program created by PMI in $1984$ formed around general project management knowledge.

PMBOK Guide 7th Edition

The newest edition of the guide, written from scratch with a principle-based approach instead of a process-based one, totaling $274$ pages.

Process Groups

Categories that organize processes based on their role in a typical project management life cycle: Initiating, Planning, Executing, Controlling, and Closing.

Knowledge Areas

Categorization of processes based on subject, including Integration, Scope, Schedule, Cost, Quality, Resource, Communications, Risk, Procurement, and Stakeholder management.

Cargo Cult Science

A concept by Richard Feynman describing a fundamental problem where people imitate the rituals or appearance of successful projects (like documents or labels) without understanding the actual essence or dynamics.

Stewardship

The first PMBOK 7 principle, which calls for being a diligent, respectful, and caring supporter focused on coordination, problem solving, and conflict resolution.

Value

Short for business value, defined in PMBOK 7 as the benefits-to-cost ratio used to justify project investment.

Loss Aversion

A cognitive bias where humans assign more weight to losing than gaining, typically by a factor of about $2.5$.

Systems Thinking

An approach to reasoning about complexity in a holistic way, focusing on non-linear interactions and critical thinking.

Tailoring

The principle that project management systems should be adapted to match their environment, culture, background, and specific project context.

Pair Programming

A proactive quality practice in IT where two programmers work together: one writes code while the other observes and comments, switching places every half hour.

Risk

Any uncertainty that can impact the project, either in a negative or a positive way.

Adaptive Approach

Also known as Agile, this method builds subsets of the output in increments to collect feedback and decide consecutive steps for products that cannot be fully predicted upfront.

NUPP

Stands for Nearly Universal Principles of Projects, an open, non-proprietary resource containing six principles like 'Always be proactive' and 'Use repeatable elements.'

P3.express

An open, minimalist project management methodology that uses monthly, weekly, and daily cycles and requires no upfront tailoring.

PRINCE2

A well-structured, general-purpose project management methodology that recognizes three levels of management (Directing, Managing, Delivering) and requires upfront tailoring.

Manage by Exception

A PRINCE2 system of delegation where managers set tolerances (thresholds) for time, cost, and risk, and only get involved when those thresholds are exceeded.

Scrum

A first-generation Agile framework for IT development with a single team of up to $10$ members, featuring roles like Scrum Master, Product Owner, and Developers.

DSDM

An Agile method designed for large, complicated IT projects with multiple teams, utilizing structures inspired by PRINCE2 and the MoSCoW prioritization technique.

MoSCoW

A prioritization technique standing for (M)ust-have, (S)hould-have, (C)ould-have, and (W)on’t have this time.

Critical Path Method (CPM)

A dependency-based scheduling method used to calculate task orders and start dates based on unavoidable relationships between project elements.

Meta-plan

A document describing how to plan, monitor, and control work, such as a risk management plan or procurement strategy, rather than the work itself.