4squareviews

Essential Integral, Lesson Two—Quadrants

1.  Introduction

Ken Wilber came up with his quadrant model for categorizing the four dimensions of all phenomena within the universe, or what he refers to as the Kosmos.  This was not an invention of his, but rather a synthesis of the contributions of those that came before.

These four dimensions are irreducible, meaning that there is no way to reduce them to a single dimension, and they are co-arising, meaning that beings evolution not just in one dimension of the universe, but in all four dimensions at once.

This is not just an abstract concept, but something you can have direct experience of.  At this very moment, you can get in touch with your

• Feelings, thoughts, and emotions (Intentional)
• Behaviors and physical characteristics (Behavioral)
• Sense of shared meaning with those you care about (Cultural)
• Various social groups that you are enmeshed in, such as your family or your company (Social)

These are the quadrants of your life and experience.  They are also perspectives through which you can approach any issue in a more holistic way, such as “why has religion been the source of so much violence?”  If you focus on just one perspective, and exclude the other three, you are engaging in a partial, rather than an integral, discourse.  If you engage in an integral discourse, on the other hand, you give yourself the tools for weaving simplicity out of complexity.

One of the reasons why the first portion of the AQAL model to be taught in Integral Theory is that dealing with the quadrants is because quadrants

• Keep you honest, in that they hold you to a standard of integrity, and help you recognize your tendency toward taking a partial way.
• They encourage wholeness and discourage fragmentation, helping you to always see the forest for the trees.

The other elements of the Integral Model, the lines, levels, states, and types, occur in every quadrant.

2.  Interior vs. Exterior

The first distinction one can make to understand the quadrant model is that between interior and exterior.    Graphically this distinction is made between the left side of a square and the right side of a square, with the interior being represented on the left side and the exterior being represented on the right side.   These two regions of the square represent two different dimensions of reality.    Interior refers to phenomena that have no simple spatial location, like √-1, the mathematical quantity known as i, the so-called imaginary number, or the shared feeling of happiness.   None of these exists out there, but rather in one’s mind or one’s awareness.    Rather than looking for them outwardly with one’s senses, you need to look inwardly through your mind’s eye in order to perceive them.   You access interior phenomena through interpretation.

Exterior on the other hand refers to phenomena that do have a spatial location and can be perceived through our senses.    An atom, the behavior of social systems, and brain wave patterns are all observable through our senses or through instruments that extend our senses.   You access exterior phenomena through observations or facts.

So your brain is observable, although it is within your head, and is therefore part of the exterior, whereas the contents of your mind, such as thoughts, cannot be observed directly but instead must be felt or interpreted, and therefore your mind is part of the interior.

A scientist looking at the brain of someone experiencing an interior emotion of happiness may see indicators that are observable such as increased levels of dopamine, and an increase in alpha brain waves.   On the other hand, if you had never personally experienced the emotion of happiness, just knowing that someone had increased levels of dopamine and an increase in alpha brain waves, would you really be able to understand what “happiness” was?     Those data that you were observing would be the biological and chemical processes associated with happiness, the exterior of the phenomenon of happiness.   You would not be able to understand the interior of the phenomenon of happiness except through direct, personal experience of the emotion.

Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment »

1.   Introduction

On October 19, 2013, the Nathan Manilow theater at Freedom Hall in Park Forest, IL, sponsored an performance by the Tibetan monks of Drepung Loseling Monastery.   The monastery was established near Lhasa, Tibet in 1916 as a spiritual institution dedicated to preserving and transmitting ancient Buddhist scholarly and contemplative traditions.

When the Chinese took over Tibet in the 1950s and destroyed the monastery, the monks fled to Southern India and reformed their community.    Since then, the Drepung Loseling Monastery has devoted itself to spreading the word about these ancient Buddhist traditions to all parts of the world.

My first encounter with the Tibetan monks of the monastery was through an appearance of a video showing one of their outdoor performances of their ceremonies in the Power of Myth, a series of six hour-long programs containing interviews between the journalist Bill Moyer and the mythologist Joseph Campbell.    As an illustration of the difference between the personal conception of God, which is common to the Western religious traditions stemming from the three Abrahamic faiths, and an impersonal or transpersonal conception of God, which is common to the Eastern religious traditions stemming from Hinduism and Buddhism, Joseph Campbell said that the ceremonial dance and music as performed by the Tibetan monks illustrated in a visceral way the power that the conception of an impersonal or transpersonal God could have for people.    He described the Tibetan conception of God as more “elemental”, i.e., tied to the power of the elements that form the universe.

2.  Multiphonic technique

Then the video showed the monks chanting in the multiphonic way that seems strange or eerie to Western ears at first, and you could almost feel the energy of the universe vibrating behind the vibrating vocal cords that produced the chants.   In multiphonic singing, the monks shape their vocal cavities to create overtones which are heard over the deep bass rumbling of their chants.     When I saw the Tibetan monks in person at the concert, it was literally mindblowing.  The resulting sound reminded me of winds blowing through canyons and creating echoes as they funnel through the vast complex stonescapes surrounding them.

After the concert, I started to muse about the difference that this chanting had on me as compared to the effect of traditional Western music.

3.  The Beautiful

To get a clue to the power behind the Tibetan monks’ performance, I turned back to Joseph Campbell, who talks about the two philosophical concepts associated with the field of aesthetics, that of the beautiful, and that of the sublime.    Now we have a pretty good idea of what is meant by the beautiful in every day–or at least we should have a good idea.    In his lectures on James Joyce, Joseph Campbell talks about the experience of beautiful as described by Stephen Dedalus’ character in Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.    The three terms the character uses to describe the experience of beauty when contemplating a work of art come from Aristotle’s work The Poetics, and they are (in the Latin version of the terms from Greek)

• Integritas
• Consonantia
• Claritas

Integritas is taking a frame and putting it around the work of art.    A pile of bricks is just a pile of bricks.   Put it in the corner of an art gallery and put a rope around it or put it in a glass case, with a note by the side labeling and giving the name of the artist and voila!    It is now a work of art.     The integritas component of a work of art consists of the rules and formalisms of the artistic medium.

Consonantia is the relationship between the parts and the other parts, and the parts to the whole of the work of art.   Once a fortunate relationship has been struck that creates a resonance within the viewer, then the final magic of art happens, namely …

Claritas, or the radiance of the work of art which “speaks” to the person who is viewing it.    The consonantia is what is created within the art work, but the claritas is what leaps out from the art work and connects with those viewing it.

The Western tradition of art, with its emphasis on the aesthetics of the beautiful, is very congruent with the Western conception of a personal God, where man relates to God, for example, in Christianity, through the symbol of a person (Jesus) with whom one can relate.

4.   The Sublime

What happens if God is not conceived as a person, but almost like a force of nature?   Then you get the experience of the sublime, the fundamental awe in front of the mystery of being.     The word “awe” is onomatopoetic if you think about it.   If you are in “awe” of something, you will have an open-mouthed expression on your face that mimics the position of the mouth you have when you are saying the word “awe.”

Very little in Western Art, according to Joseph Campbell, is in the mode of the Sublime as opposed to the Beautiful.   There are some passages in the book of Job where it describes the voice of Yahweh coming out of the whirlwind, where the sense of the Sublime is reached.    In fact, one of the points of the book of Job is that mankind will always fail when he tries to describe the creator in human terms because of the tremendously unbalanced nature of the relationship.

In Tibetan art, the notion of God is not that of a personal God, but more of the impersonal of transpersonal mystery of Being.    There you cannot relate to it as an equal, or do as we do in the West, and pray to God expecting the deity to intervene in our personal affairs.    There the conception of God is more elemental, as Joseph Campbell says, so rather than praying to it, it’s as if the ceremonies of the Tibetan monks are getting you to relate to get in tune with that mystery.

You can speak in conceptual terms about these things, but if you listen to the chanting the monks do, together with the crashing of cymbals and sounding of the deep bass long horns, you will experience what it is like to ride on a wave of acoustical energy.

When I saw that video years ago, I never imagined I would experience it in person.    I am glad that the Nathan Manilow Theater at Freedom Hall in Park Forest took the bold and adventurous step of introducing the people of the south Suburbs of Chicago to this thrilling event!

Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment »

1. Introduction

In this next series of posts on memorizing the processes, we move on to the final step 6, which is memorizing the INPUTS & OUTPUTS associated with each of the 47 processes.   In order to breakdown the memorization into more bite-size chunks, I am breaking down the processes in the 10 knowledge areas into 2 or 3 posts each.

This post covers chapter 6 of the PMBOK® Guide, which covers the Time Knowledge Area. This knowledge area contains 7 processes, six of which are in the Planning Process group, and the last of which is in the Monitoring & Controlling Process Group.

(I am splitting the discussion of the Inputs & Outputs into three different posts; this post will cover Processes 6.6 Develop Schedule through 6.7 Control Schedule.)

2.  Review of processes 6.6 through 6.7 ITTOs (Inputs, Tools & Techniques, and Outputs)

There are a total of seven processes in the Time Management Knowledge Area.   Because of the large number of inputs and outputs, I am splitting my discussion of the inputs and outputs into three different posts, each one of which will cover two of the processes.    In that way, I can describe the inputs and outputs for these processes in a little bit of detail without the post becoming too long.

Here is a chart which shows the sixth and seventh processes, 6.6 Develop Schedule and 6.7 Control Schedule together with their tools & techniques (which are discussed in a previous post) and their inputs & outputs.

NOTE:  the generic inputs known as Environmental Enterprise Factors and Operational Process Assets are given by their acronyms EEFs and OPAs, respectively.

3.  Outputs for processes 6.6 through 6.7

The outputs are more obvious to understand than the inputs, so I start with those.

a. Schedule baseline (6.6 Develop Schedule)

The main output of the Develop Schedule process is the schedule baseline, which is defined as “the approved version of a schedule model that can be changed only through formal change control procedures.”   It is used as the basis of comparison with the actual results.   It is one of the performance baselines, and is one of the components of the overall project management plan.

The reason why PMI insists on calling it the “schedule model” rather just “the schedule” is because the schedule model is affected by the assumptions that go into its creation.    The term “project schedule” is considered the output of the schedule model.   If the assumptions that go into the “schedule model” are changed, the output (the project schedule) will also be changed.

b. Project schedule (6.6 Develop Schedule)

As mentioned in the previous paragraph, the project schedule is the output of the schedule model.     It can be represented in different forms, such as bar charts or as project network schedule diagrams.

c. Schedule data (6.6 Develop Schedule)

The information used for describing and controlling the schedule, which includes the following:

• Schedule milestones
• Schedule activities
• Activity attributes
• Identified assumptions and constraints
• Resource requirements by time period (often in the form of a resource histogram)
• Alternate schedules (worst case, best case, etc.)
• Scheduling of contingency reserves

d. Project calendars (6.6 Develop Schedule)

Identifies working days and shifts available for scheduled activities.

e. Project management plan updates (6.6 Develop Schedule and (6.7 Control Schedule)

The schedule management plan and the schedule baseline may be updated as a result of these processes.

f. Project documents updates (6.6 Develop Schedule)

• Activity resource requirements (resource leveling may have an effect on preliminary estimates for the types and quantities of resources required)
• Activity attributes (may be updated to include any revised resource requirements)
• Calendars
• Risk register (may be updated to reflect opportunities or threats perceived through scheduling assumptions)

g. Work performance information (6.7 Control Schedule)

The calculated SV (schedule variance = EV – PV) and SPI (schedule performance index = EV/PV) time performance indicators for WBS work packages and control accounts.

h. Schedule forecasts (6.7 Control Schedule)

Predictions of conditions and events in the project’s future based on information and knowledge available at the time.

i. Change requests (6.7 Control Schedule)

Schedule variance analysis may result in change requests to the schedule baseline and other components of the project management plan.   These outputs of this process are then input into the 4.5 Perform Integrated Change Control process for analysis of the change requests and either acceptance or rejection.

j. OPAs updates (6.7 Control Schedule)

• Schedule data
• Project Schedule
• Risk register (may be updated based on risks that arise from schedule compression techniques)

4.  Inputs for processes 6.6 through 6.7

a. Schedule management plan (6.6 Develop Schedule)

Identifies the scheduling method and tool used to create the schedule, and how the schedule is to be calculated.

b. Activity list (6.6 Develop Schedule)

Identifies the activities to be included in the schedule model.

c. Activity attributes (6.6 Develop Schedule)

Provides the details used to build the schedule model.

d. Project schedule network diagrams (6.6 Develop Schedule)

Contain the logical relationships of predecessors and successors that will be used to calculate the schedule.

e. Activity resource requirements (6.6 Develop Schedule)

Identifies the types and quantities of resources required for each activity used to create the schedule model.

f. Resource calendars (6.6 Develop Schedule)

Contains information on the availability of resources during the project.

g. Activity duration estimates (6.6 Develop Schedule)

Contains quantitative assessments of the likely number of work periods that will be required to complete an activity that will be used to calculate the project schedule.

h. Project scope statement (6.6 Develop Schedule)

Contains assumptions and constraints that can impact the development of the project schedule.

i. Risk register (6.6 Develop Schedule)

Provides the details of all identified risks and their characteristics that affect the schedule model.

j. Project staff assignments (6.6 Develop Schedule)

Specifies which resources are assigned to each activity.

k. Resource breakdown structure (6.6 Develop Schedule)

Provides the details by which resource analysis and organizational reporting to be done.

l. EEFs (6.6 Develop Schedule)

The EEFs used as inputs for 6.6 Develop Schedule may include

• Scheduling standards
• Communication channels
• Scheduling tool to be used in developing the schedule model

m. OPAs (6.6 Develop Schedule and 6.7 Control Schedule)

The OPAs used as inputs for 6.6 Develop Schedule may include

• Scheduling methodology
• Project calendars

n. Project management plan (6.7 Control Schedule)

In particular, the two elements that are used as inputs for 6.7 Control Schedule are:

• Scheduling management plan–describes how the schedule will be managed and controlled
• Schedule baseline–used as reference to compare to actual results to determine if a variance exists, and if a change is necessary

o. Project schedule (6.7 Control Schedule)

The most recent version with notations to indicate updates, completed activities, and activities started as of the indicated date.

p. Work performance data (6.7 Control Schedule)

Information about project progress such as

• which activities have started
• progress (percent complete, actual duration of activity,remaining duration of activity)

q. Project calendars (6.7 Control Schedule)

A schedule model may require more than one project calendar to allow for different work periods for some activities in order to calculate the schedule forecasts.

e. Schedule data (6.7 Control Schedule)

Will be reviewed and updated in the Control Schedule process.

5.  CONCLUSION

The way to review inputs and outputs is take one sheet of paper for each process, label each with the name of the process and put it in front of you on a table.    Take index cards and write down the inputs and outputs.    Then shuffle the cards, and draw one at a time, and try to identify which process they go with.    If you understand the processes and the tools & techniques that are used in them, then you will probably get a majority of them correct.

Alternately, take flip charts that consist of tear-off sheets like post-it notes and stick them on a wall, one for each process.    Then take smaller post-its and use them for the inputs and outputs which will be stuck on the giant post-it sheets that contain the processes.   

In any case, don’t try to actively remember the list of inputs and outputs, but rather be able to passively recognize from a list of possible inputs or outputs which one is more likely to go with a given process.   That is what you will have to do for the PMP or CAPM exam.

Next will I will start on the inputs and outputs associated with the cost management knowledge area, which is covered by Chapter 7 of the PMBOK® Guide.

Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment »

1. Introduction

In this next series of posts on memorizing the processes, we move on to the final step 6, which is memorizing the INPUTS & OUTPUTS associated with each of the 47 processes.   In order to breakdown the memorization into more bite-size chunks, I am breaking down the processes in the 10 knowledge areas into 2 or 3 posts each.

This post covers chapter 6 of the PMBOK® Guide, which covers the Time Knowledge Area. This knowledge area contains 7 processes, six of which are in the Planning Process group, and the last of which is in the Monitoring & Controlling Process Group.

(I am splitting the discussion of the Inputs & Outputs into three different posts; this post will cover Processes 6.4 through 6.5.)

2.  Review of processes 6.4 through 6.5 ITTOs (Inputs, Tools & Techniques, and Outputs)

There are a total of seven processes in the Time Management Knowledge Area.   Because of the large number of inputs and outputs, I am splitting my discussion of the inputs and outputs into three different posts, each one of which will cover two of the processes.    In that way, I can describe the inputs and outputs for these processes in a little bit of detail without the post becoming too long.

Here is a chart which shows the fourth and fifth processes, 6.4 Estimate Activity Resources and 6.5 Estimate Activity Durations together with their tools & techniques (which are discussed in a previous post) and their inputs & outputs.

NOTE:  the generic inputs known as Environmental Enterprise Factors and Operational Process Assets are given by their acronyms EEFs and OPAs, respectively.

3.  Outputs for processes 6.4 through 6.5

Outputs are listed first because they are generally easier to understand than the inputs.   You can generally tell what dish a cook is going to make by looking at a list of ingredients; it takes a more experienced cook to taste a dish and tell you all the ingredients that went into it.    So let’s discuss the outputs for these two processes …

a.  Activity resource requirements (6.4 Estimate Activity Resources)

This identifies the types and amounts of resources available for each activity.   Optional information may include

• the basis for the estimate of the amounts of resources available
• assumptions made in determining the types of resources to be applied
• availability of resources (when during the project are they available, and when are they “offline”)

b.   Resource breakdown structure (6.4 Estimate Activity Resources)

This is a hierarchical representation of resources available arranged by category and type.    Categories of resources include

• Labor
• Material
• Equipment
• Supplies

and types of resources include skill level and grade level.

c.  Project documents updates (6.4 Estimate Activity Resources)

These three types of project documents are inputs to the process, and they get updated as a result of this process.   For example, the activity resource requirements (described in paragraph a above) are used to update the activity list and activity attributes.

• Activity list
• Activity attributes
• Resource calendars

d.  Activity duration estimates (6.5 Estimate Activity Durations)

This is the main output of the 6.5 Estimate Activity Durations process.   Activity duration estimates are quantitative assessments of the likely number of work periods that are required to complete an activity.   The estimate may include some indication of the range of possible results, such as 2 weeks ± 2 days.

e.  Project Documents updates (6.5 Estimate Activity Durations)

• Activity attributes (duration estimates will be added)
• Assumptions made in developing the activity duration estimate (such as skill levels and availability)
• Basis for estimates for durations (based on historical information, commercial databases, etc.)

4.  Inputs for processes 6.4 through 6.5

a.  Schedule management plan (6.4 Estimate Activity Resources, 6.5 Estimate Activity Durations)

The elements of the schedule management plan that are relevant to the process 6.4 Estimate Activity Resources and 6.5 Estimate Activity Durations are

• Level of accuracy of estimates
• Units of measure for the resources to be estimated

b.  Activity list, c. Activity attributes (6.4 Estimate Activity Resources, 6.5 Estimate Activity Durations)

The activity list and the activity attributes are the next level down in specificity from the WBS and the WBS dictionary.   However, the WBS consists of deliverables which are nouns, and the activity list contains activities which are verbs (used to create the deliverables in the WBS).

The activity list is used to identify those activities that need resources.   The activity attributes provides primary data used in estimating the resources required for each activity in the activity list.    These inputs are used for both processes 6.4 Estimate Activity Resources and 6.5 Estimate Activity Durations.

d.   Resource calendars (6.4 Estimate Activity Resources, 6.5 Estimate Activity Durations)

This identifies the working days and shifts of the project on which each specific resource (human resources, equipment, or material) is available.    The type of resource available will have an affect on the estimate of the duration of activity; for example, an experienced staff member may be expected to take less time than a relatively less experienced staff member.

e.   Activity resource requirements (6.5 Estimate Activity Durations)

This input to process 6.5 Estimate Activity Durations is an output of process 6.4 Estimate Activity Resources.   The types of resources available may have an impact on the estimate of the activity duration; for example, lower-skilled resources may take longer to do a particular activity than more experienced resources.

f.   Activity cost estimates (6.4 Estimate Activity Resources)

The cost of resources may impact resource selection.

g.   Risk register (6.4 Estimate Activity Resources, 6.5 Estimate Activity Durations)

Risk events may impact resource selection and availability.

h.  Project scope statement (6.5 Estimate Activity Durations)

The assumptions listed in the project scope statement that may affect the estimate of activity durations are

• Existing conditions regarding availability of resources
• Availability of accurate information regarding type of resources available
• Length of reporting periods

The constraints listed in the project scope statement that may affect the estimate of activity durations are

• Available skilled resources
• Contract terms and requirements

i.   Resource breakdown structure (6.5 Estimate Activity Durations)

This input to process 6.5 Estimate Activity Durations is an output of process 6.4 Estimate Activity Resources.  The resource breakdown structure or RBS  provides a hierarchical structure of the identified resources by resource category (labor, material, equipment, supplies and resource type (skill level and grade level).

j.  EEFs (6.4 Estimate Activity Resources, 6.5 Estimate Activity Durations)

The resource location, availability, and skill levels may influence the Estimate Activity Resources process.   The following may influence the Estimate Activity Durations process

• Databases and other reference data for estimating durations
• Productivity metrics
• Published commercial information on activity durations
• Location of team members

k.  OPAs (6.4 Estimate Activity Resources, 6.5 Estimate Activity Durations)

• Policies and procedures regarding staffing
• Policies and procedures regarding rental and purchase of supplies and equipment
• Project calendars
• Scheduling methodology
• Historical information regarding types of resources used for work on similar projects in the past

These are the inputs and outputs for the fourth and fifth  processes.   The next post will cover the inputs and outputs for process 6.6 Develop Schedule and 6.7 Control Schedule.

Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment »

1. Introduction

In this next series of posts on memorizing the processes, we move on to the final step 6, which is memorizing the INPUTS & OUTPUTS associated with each of the 47 processes.   In order to breakdown the memorization into more bite-size chunks, I am breaking down the processes in the 10 knowledge areas into 2 or 3 posts each.

This post covers chapter 5 of the PMBOK® Guide, which covers the Time Knowledge Area. This knowledge area contains 7 processes, six of which are in the Planning Process group, and the last of which is in the Monitoring & Controlling Process Group.

(I am splitting the discussion of the Inputs & Outputs into three different posts; this post will cover Processes 6.1 through 6.3.)

2.  Review of processes 6.1 through 6.6 ITTOs (Inputs, Tools & Techniques, and Outputs)

There are a total of seven processes in the Time Management Knowledge Area.   Because of the large number of inputs and outputs, I am splitting my discussion of the inputs and outputs into three different posts, each one of which will cover two of the processes.    In that way, I can describe the inputs and outputs for these processes in a little bit of detail without the post becoming too long.

Here is a chart which shows the first, second and third processes, 6.1 Plan Schedule Management, 6.2 Define Activities and 6.3 Sequence Activities together with their tools & techniques (which are discussed in a previous post) and their inputs & outputs.

NOTE:  the generic inputs known as Environmental Enterprise Factors and Operational Process Assets are given by their acronyms EEFs and OPAs, respectively.

3.  Outputs for processes 6.1 through 6.3

a. Schedule management plan (6.1 Plan Schedule Management)

It should be obvious than the main output of the process 6.1 Plan Schedule Management is the Schedule Management Plan.   What are the important elements of the Schedule Management Plan?   These include …

• Project schedule module development (scheduling methodology and scheduling tools)
• Level of accuracy (used in determining realistic activity duration estimates)
• Project schedule module maintenance (used to update status and record progress of the project)
• Control thresholds (agreed-upon amount of variation to be allowed before action takes place)

b. Activity list (6.2 Define Activities)

Includes all schedule activities required on the project.

c. Activity attributes (6.2 Define Activities)

The activity attributes are the identifiers for each activity that include who is going to do the activity, the resources and costs required to do the activity, and other helpful descriptions of the activity.    These have the same relation to the activity list that the WBS dictionary has to the WBS.

d. Milestone lists (6.2 Define Activities)

This is a list of significant points or events in the project.    Milestones may be required by contract, or may be optional, based on historical information (what was done on previous projects).

e. Project schedule network diagrams (6.3 Sequence Activities)

This is a graphical representation of the logical relationships (also called dependencies) among the project schedule activities.   This output is crucial for figuring out the critical path of a project, which represents the longest path through a project, which determines the shortest possible duration that the project will require to be completed.

f. Project documents updates (6.3 Sequence Activities)

The documents that may be updated are the

• Activity list
• Activity attributes
• Milestone list

which are the outputs of the 6.2 Define Activities process, but updated to include for each activity the predecessor and successor activity, after the 6.3 Sequence Activities process has been completed.

4.  Inputs for processes 6.1 through 6.3

a.  Project management plan (6.1 Plan Schedule Management)

In particular, the following parts of the scope management plan are the most important inputs from the project management plan:

• Scope baseline (project scope statement, WBS)–used for defining activities and duration estimation

b.  Schedule management plan (6.2 Define Activities, 6.3 Sequence Activities)

In particular, the prescribed level of detail necessary to manage the work.

c.  Project charter (6.1 Plan Schedule Management)

Defines the summary milestone schedule and project approval requirements that will influence the management of the project schedule.

d.  Scope baseline (6.2 Define Activities)

The WBS contains the deliverables which must be broken down into the activities required to achieve them.

e.  Activity Lists, f. Activity Attributes, g. Milestone lists (6.3 Sequence Activities)

Activity lists includes all schedule activities required on the project.

Activity attributes are the identifiers for each activity that include who is going to do the activity, the resources and costs required to do the activity, and other helpful descriptions of the activity.    These have the same relation to the activity list that the WBS dictionary has to the WBS.

Milestones are a list of significant points or events in the project.    Milestones may be required by contract, or may be optional, based on historical information (what was done on previous projects).

These three are outputs of process 6.2 Define Activities are the inputs of the process 6.3 Sequence Activities.   This is the usual pattern of inputs and outputs, where the outputs of one process become the inputs of the following process.

h. Project scope statement (6.3 Sequence Activities)

Contains the product scope description, which may include product characteristics that affect the sequencing of the activities.   The project deliverables, project constraints, and project assumptions may also affect activity sequencing.

i. EEFs (6.1 Plan Schedule Management, 6.2 Define Activities, and 6.3 Sequence Activities)

The EEFs that are used as inputs in 6.1 Plan Schedule Management and 6.2 Define Activities are:

• Organizational culture and structure
• Resource availability and skills
• Project management information system
• Organizational work authorization systems

j.  OPAs (6.1 Plan Schedule Management, 6.2 Define Activities, and 6.3 Sequence Activities)

The OPAs that are used as inputs in 6.1 Plan Schedule Management and 6.2 Define Activities include:

• Policies, procedures, and guidlines for formal and informal schedule control
• Schedule control tools
• Lessons learned database

These are the inputs and outputs for the first three processes.   The next post will cover the inputs and outputs for process 6.4 Estimate Activity Resources and 6.5 Estimate Activity Durations.

Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment »

1. Introduction

In this next series of posts on memorizing the processes, we move on to the final step 6, which is memorizing the INPUTS & OUTPUTS associated with each of the 47 processes.   In order to breakdown the memorization into more bite-size chunks, I am breaking down the processes in the 10 knowledge areas into 2 or 3 posts each.

This post covers chapter 5 of the PMBOK® Guide, which covers the Scope Knowledge Area. This knowledge area contains 6 processes,

2.  Review of processes 5.5 and 5.6 and their ITTOs

NOTE:   ITTOs is an acronym for Inputs, Tools & Techniques, and Outputs

There are a total of six processes in the Scope Knowledge Area.   Because of the large number of inputs and outputs, I am splitting my discussion of the inputs and outputs into three different posts, each one of which will cover two of the processes.    In that way, I can describe the inputs and outputs for these processes in a little bit of detail without the post becoming too long.

Here is a chart which shows the fifth and sixth process, 5.5 Validate Scope and 5.6 Control Scope, together with their tools & techniques (which are discussed in a previous post) and their inputs & outputs.

NOTE:  the generic inputs known as Environmental Enterprise Factors and Operational Process Assets are given by their acronyms EEFs and OPAs, respectively.

3.  Outputs of processes 5.5 and 5.6

a. Accepted deliverables (5.5 Validate Scope)

The process 5.5 Validate Scope is one where the customer takes the verified deliverables (internally checked by the organization doing the project through the 8.3 Control Quality process), and then checks them or validates them based on the acceptance criteria set forth at the beginning of the project.    That is why accepted deliverables (accepted by the customer, that is) are the main output of this process.

b. Change requests (5.5 Validate Scope)

What happens if the deliverables are NOT accepted, or only PARTIALLY accepted?   That is where the change request comes in.   If there are nonconformities that are discovered in the 5.5 Validate Scope process, then a request for defect repair may occur.

c. Work performance information (5.5 Validate Scope and 5.6 Control Scope)

After the customer has done an inspection of deliverables, then information on which deliverables have been finished so far, and which have been accepted by the customer, is documented for communication to stakeholders.

d. Project management plan updates (5.6 Control Scope)

If change requests are made and approved, the updates may include:

• Scope baseline updates (if project scope statement, WBS and/or WBS dictionary are revised)
• Schedule, cost baseline updates (if scope changes cause corresponding changes in schedule and/or budget)

e.  Project documents updates (5.5 Validate Scope and 5.6 Control Scope)

For the 5.5 Validate Scope process, the outputs that may be updated could include:

• Product completion status report
• Approvals of deliverables from customer or sponsor

For the 5.6 Control Scope process, the documents that may be updated could include:

• Requirements documentation
• Requirements traceability matrix

f.  OPAs updates (5.6 Control Scope)

• Causes of variances (the result of the main tool & technique of this process, Variance Analysis)
• Corrective action chosen based on the cause of variance
• Lessons learned from project scope control (for use on future projects)

4.  Inputs of processes 5.3 and 5.4

a. Project management plan (5.5 Validate Scope and 5.6 Control Scope)

The elements of the project management that are inputs to the process 5.5 Validate Scope are

• Scope Management Plan–specifies how formal acceptance of the completed project deliverables will be obtained
• Scope baseline (project scope statement, WBS, & WBS dictionary)–used as a basis for comparison between the actual deliverable and the approved scope

The elements of the project management that are inputs to the process 5.6 Control Scope are

• Scope baseline (project scope statement, WBS, & WBS dictionary)–compared to actual results to determine if changes are necessary
• Scope management plan–describes how scope will be monitored and controlled
• Change management plan–describes process for managing changes on the project
• Configuration management plan–defines those items that require formal change control, and outlines process for controlling changes to those items
• Requirements management plan–describes how the requirements will be managed

b. Requirements documentation (5.5 Validate Scope and 5.6 Control Scope)

Lists all the various types of requirements for the product and the project, as well as their acceptance criteria.  Well-documented requirements make it easier to detect any deviation in the scope agreed for the project or product.

c. Requirements traceability matrix (5.5 Validate Scope and 5.6 Control Scope)

Links the requirements to their origin and tracks them throughout the project life cycle.  Helps detect the impact of any change or deviation from the scope baseline.

d. Verified deliverables (5.5 Validate Scope)

Deliverables that have been internally checked through the 8.3 Control Quality process or verified, and are ready to be sent to the customer to be checked through the 5.5 Validate Scope process or validated.

e. Work performance data (5.5 Validate Scope and 5.6 Control Scope)

This may include such relevant data for 5.5 Validate Scope

• degree of compliance with requirements
• number of nonconformities
• degree of nonconformities

For 5.6 Control Scope, may include

• Number of change requests received
• Number of change requests accepted

f.  OPAs (5.6 Control Scope)

• Policies, procedures, and guidelines for formal and informal scope control
• Methods and templates used to monitor & control scope

As I have mentioned before in other posts, do not try to memorize the lists of inputs and outputs.   If you know what the process does, and you know what the tools & techniques of that process are, then if you are presented with a list of inputs and/or outputs, you should be able to pick out which ones belong to that process.    This is what you will have to do on the exam.    A way to test to see if you are sufficiently conversant in what inputs and outputs go with what process, take six pieces of paper and write down the names of the six processes in the Scope Management knowledge area.    Take a series of index cards (or post-it notes) and write down the names of the inputs and outputs.   Then shuffle these cards (it’s harder to shuffle post-it notes) and then look at the inputs and outputs one by one and try to match them with the process you think it belongs to.    Then check with the PMBOK® Guide to see how many you got right.   You’ll be surprised at how many you get right the first time, IF you have taken the trouble to understand the process and the tools & techniques that are used in the process.

The next post will start a series of three posts on chapter 6, which covers the 7 processes of the Time Management Area.   I will cover processes 6.1-6.3 in the first post, 6.4 and 6.5 in the second post, and finally 6.6 and 6.7 in the third post.

Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment »

1. Introduction

In this next series of posts on memorizing the processes, we move on to the final step 6, which is memorizing the INPUTS & OUTPUTS associated with each of the 47 processes.   In order to breakdown the memorization into more bite-size chunks, I am breaking down the processes in the 10 knowledge areas into 2 or 3 posts each.

This post covers chapter 5 of the PMBOK® Guide, which covers the Scope Knowledge Area. This knowledge area contains 6 processes,

2.  Review of processes 5.3 and 5.4 and their ITTOs

NOTE:   ITTOs is an acronym for Inputs, Tools & Techniques, and Outputs

There are a total of six processes in the Scope Knowledge Area.   Because of the large number of inputs and outputs, I am splitting my discussion of the inputs and outputs into three different posts, each one of which will cover two of the processes.    In that way, I can describe the inputs and outputs for these processes in a little bit of detail without the post becoming too long.

Here is a chart which shows the third and fourth process, 5.3 Define Scope and 5.4 Create WBS, together with their tools & techniques (which are discussed in a previous post) and their inputs & outputs.

NOTE:  the generic inputs known as Environmental Enterprise Factors and Operational Process Assets are given by their acronyms EEFs and OPAs, respectively.

3.  Outputs of processes 5.3 and 5.4

a. Project scope statement (5.3 Define Scope)

Just as a general reminder, the description of the scope goes through the following development:

Project statement of work (SOW) –> Project charter –> Project scope statement

The project scope statement is the most detailed description of the scope, and it constitutes one of the three components of the scope baseline, the other two components being the Work Breakdown Structure or WBS (created in the next process 5.4 Create WBS) and the WBS dictionary.

Here are the components of the Project scope statement:

• Product scope description–detailed description of the product, result, or service described in the project charter and requirements documentation
• Deliverable–any product, result, or service, and their corresponding project management reports and documentation
• Acceptance criteria–what conditions must be met in order for the deliverables to be accepted
• Project exclusion–what is explicitly NOT included in the project
• Constraints–limiting factor that affects the execution of a project (e.g., predefined budget, imposed deadlines)
• Assumptions–factors in the planning process that are assumed to be true; includes analysis of potential impact of those factors if they are prove to be false.

One understated component of the project scope statement is the “project exclusion”.   By stating up front what is NOT going to be in the project, it helps, as PMI notes in the PMBOK® Guide, to manage stakeholders’ expectations.  But it also helps to prevent unnecessary change requests, another benefit to the project which is not mentioned in the Guide.

b. Project documents updates (5.3 Define Scope and 5.4 Create WBS)

Project document updates that are outputs of the 5.3 Define Scope process may include:

• Stakeholder register
• Requirements documentation
• Requirements traceability matrix

c. Scope baseline (5.4 Create WBS)

Once the WBS and the WBS dictionary are created as an output of the process 5.4 Create WBS, they form, in combination with the project scope statement (the output of the process 5.3 Define Scope), the scope baseline.

4.  Inputs of processes 5.3 and 5.4

a.  Scope management plan (5.3 Define Scope and 5.4 Define WBS)

This establishes the activities for developing the scope and creating the WBS.

b. Project charter (5.3 Define Scope)

This provides a high-level project description, product characteristics, and project approval requirements.

c.  Project scope statement (5.4 Create WBS)

This is an output of process 5.3 Define Scope, and becomes an input to the following process.   This is the usual pattern for inputs and outputs, where the output of the preceding process becomes the input to the following process.

d.  Requirements documentation (5.3 Define Scope and 5.4 Create WBS)

This is used to select the requirements that will be included in the project, and what needs to be done to deliver the project and its final products.

e.  EEFs (5.4 Create WBS)

Industry-specific WBS standards may be inputs to this process.

f.  OPAs (5.3 Define Scope and 5.4 Create WBS)

The OPAs used as inputs in the 5.3 Define Scope process are:

• Policies, procedures, and templates for the project scope statement
• Project files from previous projects (as samples of project scope statement)
• Lessons learned from previous phases or projects

These two processes are relatively straightforward in terms of their inputs and outputs because the processes they describe, the creation of the project scope statement and the WBS, are central to the project planning process and should be familiar to most project managers.

The next post will cover the final two processes of the Scope Management knowledge area, processes 5.5 Validate Scope and 5.6 Control Scope.

Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment »

After going through the Brief Theory of Everything by Ken Wilber, and summarizing the basic 20 tenets of Integral Theory in a series of 12 posts on this blog, I have decided to purchase the first Core Integral Course to study Integral Theory in more depth.    There are a total of three Core Integral courses:   course 1 (Essential Integral), course 2 (Advanced Integral), and course 3 (Postmetaphysics).    The first course, Essential Integral, is designed to give the person taking the course a thorough grounding in the basic factors of integral theory, and consists of 7 lessons, one introductory lesson, five lessons on the basic factors of Integral Theory, a lesson that integrates them all (naturally), and a summary review lesson.    I am going to cover one lesson each week for a total of 8 weeks it takes for me to complete the course, after which I will take the test and (hopefully) pass it!

Note:   These are my summary notes, and I hope that they give an idea to those wanting to learn about Integral Theory.  For those wanting to take the course themselves, I recommend going to 

https://www.coreintegral.com/programs/courses 

to purchase the course as software to be installed or downloaded.    Reading my blog should not be considered as a substitute for taking the course, but as an “enticement to the excitement” of taking it yourself.

LESSON 1:  INTRODUCTION TO INTEGRAL THEORY

1.  The Integral Vision

What are the factors that are common between the various types of growth that a human being goes through in a lifetime, whether it be cultural growth, spiritual growth, psychological growth, or social growth  development.  One way to study this is to look at the various world traditions.  Is there a way to put together these various stories of human emergence into an all-inclusive or integral map that takes into account not only their similarities but also their differences?

The search for this map in the past few decades has

• spanned various academic disciplines, from cognitive science to systems theory
• crossed cultures from both Eastern and Western traditions
• included experience gleaned from both physical and spiritual training disciplines

The integral map of these traditions can be distilled into five basic factors that hold the key to unlocking and facilitating human evolution.  These five factors of the integral map describe the contours of the various dimensions of your being.  By investigating these factors, you can help unlock more effective and more compassionate ways of being yourself, of being human.  You can use it in the service of solving problems from the personal all the way to the global scale.

2.  Meaning of Integral

One definition of “integral” is “having or containing all parts that are necessary to be complete.”  The general idea of the integral approach to solving problems is to consider the various approaches to a problem, and not exclude any one approach just because it does happen to perfectly fit with the others.  The starting point of the integral approach is the understanding that any entity that you consider is both a whole and a part of a larger whole.  Another crucial concept of integral theory is the realization that if you investigate that entity using different approaches, you may encounter different experiences and phenomena.

3.  Some Integral Pioneers

a.  James Mark Baldwin (1861-1934)

He is considered the first developmental psychologist who recognized that humans develop within three irreducible domains of experience:  the aesthetic, moral, and the scientific.  He made the first attempt to account for a development account of religious and mystical and religious experience.  His attempts to integrate religion and psychology were unmatched at the time; however, his accomplishments were overshadowed by psychology’s increasing focus on models that focused on external behavior rather than internal experience.

b.  Alfred North Whitehead (1861-1947)

He was a logician and mathematician who did pioneering work in the philosophy of science.  He opposed the “positivist” school of philosophy which championed the idea of reductionism, the idea that all perspectives could be reduced into one.  He insisted that interior perspectives on life are a necessary and irreducible aspect of the universe.  He also came up with an interesting definition of evolution, as a creative advancement into novelty.  Post-modernism, which developed after the 1950s, critiqued Whitehead’s metaphysics, but the perspectives afforded by integral theory can redeem his ideas for a post-post-modern world.

c.  Sri Aurobindo (1872-1950)

He was an Indian philosopher and sage who synthesized a philosophical and spiritual system called “Integral Yoga.”  He saw the world as divided into two philosophical camps, those who believed in the ancient wisdom traditions and distrusted the modern worldview, and those who subscribed to the modern worldview and distrusted the ancient wisdom traditions.  These are both fragmented and partial ways of viewing the world, and was one of the first philosophers who tried to bridge the two by showing a deep understanding of both the concept of evolution as described by modern science and the insights derived from the world’s ancient traditions.  His work was prematurely disregarded because of the dominance of materialism and, later on, the rise of post-modernism.

d.  Jean Gebser (1905-1973)

Jean Gebser was a philosopher who specialized in the theory of phenomenology, the study of consciousness, in addition to being an accomplished linguist and poet.  He became dissatisfied with materialist explanations of the differences between cultures, and theorized that human consciousness goes through novel transformations.  These transformations are experienced in a similar way even across different cultures.  Each new level of consciousness is different than the previous one in that it includes the previous level, but expands it and is more open to experience.  One example of the growth of consciousness can be seen in the development of the visual arts, which in the course of development from medieval to modern art took on the ability to incorporate different perspectives and even time itself into the depiction of the subjects of the painting.  His insights are now gaining more recognition as developmental studies are coming once again into the mainstream.

e.  Jurgen Habermas (1929-present)

He is one of the most influential philosophers in the world today.  His theory of communicative action recognizes that there are different domains of truth that are irreducible, not just the objective domain of science, but the subjective domain of experience, and the so-called “intersubjective” domain of culture.  Claims of truth need to be internally verified within the appropriate domain.

His theories were also influenced by development theorists like Jean Piaget.  One of his lasting contributions to philosophy was recognizing that post-modernism did result in crucial insights, but it also lead to certain philosophical excesses.  This balanced critique of post-modernism is a crucial legacy for Integral Theory. 

These five pioneers share some common traits:

• a fascination with growth, development and evolution
• an unwillingness to reduce the interior dimension to the exterior (i.e., a rejection of reductionism)
• a desire for a balanced understanding of the three domains of objectivity (represented by science), subjectivity (represented by consciousness),  and intersubjectivity (represented by culture).

3.  What is AQAL?

AQAL is an acronym which stands for “All Quadrants, All Levels”, the first two of the five basic elements or factors that compose Integral theory.  The five basic factors are

a.  Quadrants

b.  Levels

c.  Lines

d.  States

e.  Types

Each lesson will expound on one of these factors.  That means there are five more lessons, a lesson that integrates these five factors (naturally, given a course called Integral Theory), and final review lesson, for a total of eight lessons (including this introductory lesson).    Lesson #9 is actually the test of the entire course. 

4.  Course Introduction

The fourth section of the course contains the mechanics of how the course is laid out.

The next post will cover Lesson 2, the first factor of Integral Theory called “Quadrants”.

Filed under: Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

Today District 30 in Chicagoland is having its Fall Conference. Having moved from California to Chicago at the beginning of this summer, I was looking forward to the change of seasons that the Fall would bring.

As a transplanted Toastmaster to a new District, I was looking forward to the Fall Conference, which is being held today at the Willowbrook Inn in the Western suburbs of Chicago.

post to be completed after tonight’s conference

Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment »

On November 1st, the Chicagoland Chapter of the Project Management Institute held the 3rd annual Project Development Day Event in Rolling Meadows, IL.    The title of the event was “Going beyond the Triple Constraints”, and there were 4 tracks of educational programming offered.    I was the track lead for track #3 covering stakeholder management, procurement, and risk management, and I was responsible for getting 7 speakers from a wide variety of application areas, including IT, manufacturing, construction, and transportation, as well as project management consulting firms that specialized in everything from Lean Six Sigma, public speaking/leadership principles, and strategic planning.    During the next week, I intend to give summaries of the presentations that were given at the PD Day Event.

1.  Speaker Bio

Lucas Tryggestad, AIA, LEED®AP is an Associate Director within the Chicago office of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP (SOM). As a Studio Head and Technical Coordinator, he aligns design concepts with integral technical solutions and is responsible for overseeing a project’s technical development through construction administration.

Lucas recently completed the Trump International Hotel & Tower – Chicago and is currently working on large-scale mixed-use towers in Russia, Australia, and China. He has worked on several federal buildings with the General Services Administration (GSA) in various locations throughout the United States and has also been actively involved in Retrofit Chicago, a commercial buildings initiative aimed at reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions within existing infrastructure.

Lucas is a LEED accredited professional, a member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), an affiliate member of the Building Owners and Managers Association of Chicago (BOMA/Chicago) and a frequent guest lecturer at the University of Illinois School of Architecture and the Illinois Institute of Technology. He is also a 2013 recipient of the AIA National Young Architects Award.

2.  Presentation Summary

I am waiting for the slides of the presentation so that I can make a complete summary of this presentation.   Thanks for your patience!   I should have all the posts for the PD Day Event up by the end of next week, November 15th!

Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment »