PMI - Are some more equal than others?

‘All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others’

This was an article that I published back in 2016 - but it is still completely relevant I would argue and I thought, with all of the 'conversation' about the future leadership of PMI I would put it back out there for thought... I have updated it in some places but the essence remains as when I first put it out there on the world-wide web of wonderment.

That was a proclamation in the novel Animal Farm, by George Orwell and I offer up, not a proclamation but a declaration, followed by a disclaimer, but beginning with a statement – and that statement is ‘I am a worried man, no let me correct that, I am a worried project manager’.

Worried that I am speaking too much, that others (like myself) are speaking too much, that we as a group might have become boring, irrelevant and potentially be doing detriment to the profession that we all love; which is the main reason we speak at events and conferences and congresses in the first place after all, at least I hope that is why…

And the declaration is I am challenging all of the project management organisations and publications around the world, to be very clear I am not just attacking PMI.

And finally the disclaimer; whilst it is true that I have presented at four PMI Congresses in the past (Amsterdam 2009, Milan 2010, Washington 2010, Dallas 2011) it is now 8 years since I have spoken at any of the regional congresses, apart from PMI Australia and PMI New Zealand and, as such, I hope to be looking at this in an objective way, as an attendee rather than part of the presentation team.

So what is my concern and why am I mentioning PMI? Well I’m not just focusing on PMI but the behaviour I am concerned about seems to be rather more prevalent within PMI and PMI Congresses than others. More prevalent please note, but the rest are not free of all guilt in this matter.

Let me explain.

I go to project management conferences, a lot. I go to speak sometimes and I always go to listen and when I go to listen then I want to be entertained, educated, challenged and enthused. Often I am and occasionally I’m not. And it was through thinking about how to select the best speaker and topic that I suddenly realised that perhaps I, and therefore PMI, was playing it way too safely. Perhaps, even worse than that, they were playing a dangerous game that could all end in tears.

PMI’s global membership currently exceeds 500,000, impressive of course. But then how many of these members are represented or have an opportunity to ‘take to the stage’ at the local events, national events or regional events? Very, very, very few I would say – perhaps 200, perhaps less?

I was struck recently by a project management peer who stated ‘there is a danger of devaluing these events through lack of change and diversity of speaker, message and approach’, this is from someone who proudly describes themselves as a ‘regular attendee of PMI events around the world’.

Now I considered this a very interesting thought, and one that offered up some challenges to myself personally as clearly I am ‘out there’ and I am a ‘regular speaker’ at project management events around the world. As a representative from PMI UK stated not so long ago, I am ‘on the circuit’.

But clearly people do speak at these events, apart from myself, and you and I could probably quickly bring to mind some names of people we have seen in the past, perhaps more than once, perhaps more than a few times. And it was at this point I got worried. Yes I could easily name some people and yes I could remember seeing them more than once at congresses and yes they were interesting and ticked all of the boxes I listed earlier for defining a good speaker but … what about all of the other project management professionals out there, why don’t they have a voice? Why do the same people seem to get the chance to speak their thoughts and not the majority?

Any project organisation should not be perceived as a 'club' who indirectly 'help to promote' certain individuals/organisations as 'experts' time and again. They instead should be seen as a safe haven for those who wish to raise their voice and be heard on their experiences and their challenges.

Now I have to be honest, at this point the natural personal instinct is to stop and say nothing, after all it is in my own interest to bury this and not highlight something that I am a party to.

But those of you who know me will realise that once I start something I have to finish it, and so we must continue our journey my fellow conference attendees. There is no escape from reality now.

Based on my ideas and this feedback I checked out the PMI congresses in EMEA and NA and APAC since 2010 and guess what? Yes, lots the same faces turning up year after year, all over the world. If you just check the 2018 EMEA agenda you can easily find more than one person who has spoken at the same event in the last few years for example, I can spot 9. But no names, it is not about anyone in particular but more about a concerning trend.

I learned, from PMI, that there was a 1 in 5 chance of speaking at any congress based on a ratio of submissions to available slots (this was the figure for the 2015 congresses). I assumed that this has increased over time due to a growth in membership and interest in speaking at these events, therefore for simplicity let us say that there has been a 1 in 3 chance of being selected anytime from 2010 to 2018. I presumed that perhaps it was lower in the early days and it is higher now but for simplicity, as I said, we will go for a 1 in 3 ratio. Keeping it simple as ever.

So for Peter ‘The Lazy Project Manager’ Taylor to be selected, as previously covered, (Amsterdam 2009, Milan 2010, Washington 2010, Dallas 2011) means 1 x 3 x 3 x 3 x 3 which gives us an 81 to 1 probability, I am quite liking those odds, put me down for ten pounds, it is a reasonable gamble.

Now hold on to your hats and check out these odds… (using this 1 in 3 chance ratio as numbers as per 2016)

• One person to speak at 5 out of 6 of the last 6 EMEA Congresses – 243/1
• One person to speak at 5 out 6 of the last 6 EMEA and NA congresses – 59,049/1
• One company to speak (using multiple speakers) at the last 7 EMEA and NA Congresses – 4,782,969/1
• One company to speak (using multiple speakers) 26 times at 13 Congresses in last 7 years – 2,541,865,828,329/1

I’ll take that wager, one pound down to win and I can retire tomorrow! In fact, a quick check of the later agendas, up to 2018, shows this is not stopping, they are there year after year! the odds are astronomical.

And for some balance:

• Chances of winning the UK lottery 13,983,816/1

I put my concerns to PMI a while ago and I was advised, at that time, that the PMI process went along two streams, in fact one was that speakers could be ‘invited’ to speak and not have to go through the call for proposals process. Now this was news to me.

So are some more equal than others?

We are where we are but I am more worried about where we end up. I started this article by saying ‘I am a worried man, now let me correct that, I am a project manager and I am worried’.

The question comes back down to not what is good for any one speaker or company or organisation with regards to project management, and not what is good for myself or that Lazy Project Manager guy (who always seems to follow me around) come to think of it, but rather what is good for the project management profession as a whole and that I strongly feel is ‘diversity’.

I don’t believe you can argue against the facts I laid out about speaker selection (or pre-selection in some cases) and the mind-boggling chances of speaking that often by chance (or blind selection). I was particularly taken aback by the comment from a PMI representative that ‘people known to PMI (generally someone who is a Fellow of the Institute, or has some specific background as an Institute-level volunteer)’ are most often welcomed, This seems to suggest that once you are in the club then you are in for good and potentially there is no room for anyone else to join.

Of course there are new speakers at these conferences, I have seen some of them so I know they exist, but I question is that enough?

I’m probably doing myself out of some work here but why not go the ‘presidential’ route and say you get to speak at (for the sake of argument) three regional or global conferences and that is it, beyond that you make way for others, and no ‘special passes’ for the select few.

Or maybe, in order to nurture new speakers, those who have presented and reached their limit might be allowed to co-present with one or two new speakers to help them on their journey, perhaps do this no more than a couple of times in order to avoid this being a new route to seeing the ‘same old same old’ again.

After all if ‘we’ are the acknowledged ‘good’ speakers of today (I am just putting myself out there, it is really your decision if I am any good or not) then where do the good speakers of tomorrow come from if we stop them getting a chance to share their ‘voice’?

I feel that we might just need something radical here to stop us all ending up talking to and listening to each other in a small room somewhere in the world, with a large banner that reads ‘Global Project Management Conference’ whilst the rest of the project management profession, in their millions, gets on with the ‘day job’.

We started this with a George Orwell quote from ‘Animal Farm’ and here is another Orwell quote but from his ‘1984’ book instead:

'He who controls the past controls the future. He who controls the present controls the past.'

The future isn’t ours now is it?

What do you think?