Moderator: Let’s Debate… Process vs Principles, Which Approach is Better?
Abstract: This debate is about whether starting with principles or processes is the best way to form standards and drive project management excellence. Project Management Institute just switched in PMBoK 7 to principles, but in all previous standards had used processes. Principles can provide flexible decision making support, but don’t offer a way of getting there leaving project managers stuck with unachievable outcomes and no guide or basis for improvement. Meanwhile processes offer how to do project management, but they aren’t universal by nature and don’t encapsulate on their own the value we’re delivering nor the goals of project management. We know no project is exactly alike and tailoring processes would seem to be somewhere in the middle – but which provides us the best starting point? What should be the standard used by PMI or any organization as we aim for excellence in project management?
Join us as we dive into the details and hear from two experts in educating project managers on which is the best approach: Principles or Process?
PMI Talent Triangle: Business Acumen
Presentation: Value Management in the Public Service: More than ROI, Manage for Return to Mission
Abstract: We don’t get full value out of many projects in the public service, of which IT is a large category. While the road to “sub-value IT” may be wide (lack of persistent business integration, failure to reinvent workflows, failure to support full use, adoption and uptake of new systems), the bullet train to failure is the lack of IT’s contribution to mission success. The problem is that we count the wrong things, focusing on attributes of projects such as cheaper, better, faster. By not focusing on outcomes generated by the investment of time and money on projects, we can at best deliver what the executives asked for, but not what the customer needs.
The situation calls for a new analysis and new approach project design: We can move past cost management, Return on Investment and our traditional focus on efficiency of the DevOps cycle (in IT for example) to an economics of value, achieve Return to Mission (RTM). With a Value Economics mindset, we can manage for value, pushing past “delivering projects” or even User/Customer experience, to user impact. It’s about planning for outcomes generated by the use, adoption, or uptake of the products and services we as PMs produce. Employing processes of value design, value accounting and value delivery, Value Management improves IT systems’ design, enables analysis for decision-making, and improves mission outcomes by intent.
This is a call to action for PMs. Value Management we can validate the benefits of the project, answering, “is it worth it?” By measuring the right things, defining the right units of outcomes, federal and nonprofit executives can make the implicit (“we want to improve mission performance”) explicit and visible (“we can show user benefit”). It’s about customer value, and it’s what our executives expect when they budget for projects, when they give us investments to manage. Projects deliver on mission and strategy…it’s time we measured it.
PMI Talent Triangle: Strategic and Business Management (Business Acumen)
Biography: With over 25 years of experience in the federal government and as a consultant, Kendall Lott is the CEO/President of M Powered Strategies, Inc, a change management consulting firm in Washington DC that supports organizations in public service. He has been owner of the company since 2008. His professional background includes government service as a Presidential Management Fellow and as a career civil servant at the Departments of Agriculture and Justice, as well as service as a Peace Corps Volunteer (Micronesia). His government consulting career has included extensive tours in Jordan, India and Malaysia. His professional interests and experiences are in:
- economic analysis of projects
- business process reengineering and design
- organizational change management
- program design
- facilitation (strategy, risk, process design, organizational design)
- management coaching
A certified Project Management Professional (PMP®), he served as a volunteer in management and executive positions with Washington DC Chapter of the Project Management Institute (PMIWDC) for over a decade, and has been the COO and CEO of PMIWDC. Other volunteer roles include: the Executive Director of the Project Management Day of Service, the Chairman of the Board of the PM4Change non-profit organization, and the host and producer of the PM Point of View® podcast. Since 2021 he has been the host of PMI Southern Maryland Chapter “True Talks” talk show series. He has won volunteer leadership awards with PMI at the regional and nation level.
Kendall is a Gallup certified StrengthFinders® , DiSC® and Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) ® coach. He holds a Master of International Relations from the School of Global Policy and Strategy at the University of California, San Diego, and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Political Science from Indiana University, Bloomington.
