I recently attended the Scrum Alliance Gathering in Orlando, Florida. I attended with Mark Langley, PMI Executive VP & COO at the urging of David Prior, Chair of the Board of the IT&T SIG. The intent of the visit was to bridge the gap between the Scrum Alliance and PMI. But I guess the real reason we attended was to dispel the myths that surround the PMBOK® Guide and Agile practice. There is a widely held opinion that the PMBOK® Guide and Agile don't mix... they can't be "shaken, nor stirred" together. It surprised me that such an opinion was held since the PMBOK® Guide - 4^th Edition recognizes Agile in several areas -  perhaps without direct attribution -  but nonetheless, it is recognized.

I could go into an explanation of agility, agile PM or Scrum, but if you are interested, you can find it on PMI.org, or search Google. My concern was the apparent misperception that the framework in the PMBOK® Guide - 4^th Edition is not applicable to "PM Agilests."

I went with an open mind and actually had it filled with great information and dialog. It was enlightening. We met with Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland, the founders of the Scrum concepts, and Jim Cundriff, Managing Director of the Scrum Alliance. All were really receptive and eager for collaboration. Ken and Jeff in particular were striking in their passion for simplicity and agility, with fascinating backgrounds and rigor in the field of software development. They have committed their careers to speeding the development of software, and creating a PM movement that is based on iterative planning, speed, collaboration, and consistent vigilance to risk. They were definitely of the "explorer" variety and have done a lot to improving the speed to market for software development.

However, there was great anticipation among many Scrum gatherers that PMI was going to do something wrong. I accepted the fact that there were many who thought Mark's and my attendance was not a good sign, but rather a bellwether for competition and encroachment. It was based on skepticism, not cynicism, which is clearly not a bad thing...in fact, it might be a really good thing. Professional skepticism holds everyone accountable.

Well, my remarks were well received, and committed us to understanding one another and collaborating wherever we can. Many of the attendees really resonated on the desire to collaborate, and maybe recognized that there was a great deal of room to collaborate. The team of PMI volunteers that is putting together the new PMI Agile Forum was in attendance and was the driving force in getting us to attend the meeting. They too were energized.

There is no question that agile PM is a leading and emergent practice. It has great traction in software development and software installation. It is now moving into mainstream activities such as manufacturing in the telecommunications field. I was in Lima, Peru recently, and I spoke with many of the PM leaders there. Agile is on the move in Peru, where 60% of the GDP is driven out of small and medium sized companies. Agile approaches to PM are more the rule than the exception in these applications.

The movement in Extreme PM, Agile PM, and Scrum are movements which are critical to understand in reference with the standards developed by PMI. No doubt about it. And, the critical issue is to dispel myths and misunderstandings that would allow PM to prosper. There are zealots on both sides of the issue. In fact, I was as surprised of the number of PMI members who either misunderstood, or to the extreme, feared Scrum. So the issue is on both sides of the fence.

On the Scrum side, there was the perception that "the PMI way is incompatible with agile." And there is also a misperception that PMI "methodology" pushes against the movement of speed and agility in PM. Both sides of the proverbial fence share misunderstandings that needed correction.

I really hope the PM Agile Forum will clear this up and find a way to make PM continue to prosper to meet the needs of every organization. That just makes me crazy! I know that the PMBOK® Guide, at least the 4^th edition, is compatible with iterative planning, scalable WBS, etc. Yet, the misperceptions exists.

The issue that gets in the way of an agile approach seems less the issue of the PMBOK® Guide, but more the issue of organizational culture. High demands for accountability, detailed planning, extensive reporting, mechanistic approaches, and hierarchical controls, may very well be averse to an agile approach. Maybe, just maybe, there should be strategic principles and values that address management style, instead of viewing management, and in particular project management as a tactical approach for which someone else is responsible.

More later.