Preface

There is no profession more interesting or challenging than modern project management. Because of the nature of projects, the project manager will be working in environments where change is occurring, where there is uniqueness to the management, and where time constraints guide the work to be done. Project management has been used for thousands of years with almost all of the projects including some aspect of building. From the pyramids of Egypt to the great cathedrals of Europe, projects involving thousands of people and sometimes hundreds of years have been completed.

While there were de facto project managers all throughout history, the formalization of project management did not really begin until the second half of the twentieth century. As large organizations, such as the U.S. military, began to run larger and more expensive projects, there was a need for the discipline and common knowledge base that is the hallmark of a profession. Some sort of passing on of best practices and common language that would make each successive generation of project managers able to have much the same skill set and background information as the previous one was needed to make project management professional.

In 1969, a group was formed that was dedicated to making project management a profession. The Project Management Institute (PMI) was formed in that year and later brought out a book, the Project Management Body of Knowledge or PMBOK, that began to codify information concerning the various unique factors of project management.

A validation of the status of the PMBOK came in the year 2000 when the American National Standards Institute declared the PMBOK the official publication of project management and the work was set up as the standard for project management in this country.

PMI instituted a certification test so that there would be a standardization of information and a knowledge base that could be transferred and used by people coming into the project management arena. Because of its very nature, project management is a job that is serendipitous. Most people come to it by chance, not by planned education or career path intention. So the one place that all aspiring project managers can go that has been accepted by ANSI is the PMI certification test leading to the designation PMP, or Project Management Professional.

The aim of this book is twofold. First, the book and CD-ROM are designed to help anyone taking the certification examination to pass it. (See Appendix C for details about the CD.) This is the driving force of the book. However, the manner in which the book is presented is also useful for information that can be used long after passing the exam. Anyone who has been a project manager will recognize the two uses of the book. It is both a primer for the exam and a textbook for project managers to use as they project manage.

I am often asked what the key to taking the exam is, and the best answer is "Know the material." Taking this exam is not about knowing answers to questions; it is about having the depth of knowledge that will be useful in future endeavors. If you have the knowledge base, you will pass the exam. I have enjoyed writing this book because of the dual nature of both passing the exam and then being a professional project manager. As you use the book, I hope that it is helpful in both ways and that when you pass the exam, you understand you are starting, not finishing, your education in project management. The project management profession is ongoing and can be fascinating, demanding a large range of skills for its practitioners. If this book helps people find new careers and challenges, then it will be worthwhile.

Good luck on the exam and in being a project manager.

Rudd McGary
Columbus, OH
April, 2005