@Andrew
Thanks for your perspective. With your background in engineering and large-scale project delivery, I can fully appreciate where you're coming from.
That said, I respectfully but firmly disagree with the statement that the PMP has no practical value.
The value is precisely in its practicality. The PMP framework, rooted in the PMBOK Guide, is not about memorizing obscure terms. It's a structured approach built on decades of
real-world project experience across industries. And it offers something many professionals don’t have the time or opportunity to build informally: a comprehensive, methodical foundation
for managing projects in a repeatable, scalable, and communicable way.
Just a few practical examples from the PMP toolkit:
Stakeholder management: Understanding influence, interests, engagement strategies. It’s not just theory. It comes with tools like stakeholder maps and communication models that help
prevent misalignment from the start.
Risk and issue management: Identifying, assessing, and mitigating risks in a structured way before they become costly issues. Whether you're building infrastructure or implementing
new systems, risk discipline is fundamental.
Scope management and change control: Defining what the project is and what it is not. This helps avoid scope creep and keeps teams focused. The concept of a scope baseline and formal
change processes is something I’ve used in nearly every engagement.
Lessons learned and continuous improvement: Capturing insights and feeding them forward. It's one thing to deliver a project. It's another thing to learn from it systematically.
The PMP approach institutionalizes that.
Regarding the exam itself, it's not a vocabulary test. The current PMP exam is highly scenario-based. You're not being asked to recite definitions. You're being asked to demonstrate how you
would act in real, complex project situations. It's not about language. It's about mindset, structure, and decision-making in the face of uncertainty.
Of course, experience in the field is invaluable. No exam replaces that. But what the PMP offers is a way to reflect on that experience, connect it to a broader body of knowledge,
and operate with a common language across teams, sectors, and borders.
If someone says they’ve never used the PMP framework, I’d argue they probably have, just without realizing it had a name.
That doesn’t make the certification unnecessary. It makes it even more helpful. Because it brings clarity to what many professionals are already doing instinctively and helps elevate that
into something teachable, repeatable, and scalable.
BR,
Markus
