What you don't learn in PMP: Learn Project Management basics which go beyond what you learn in PMP certification

by Rajat Gupta, Neha Gupta (Editor)

Whatever you learn in project management theory in PMP, Prince2, and various certifications, only 2% is applied in the day-to-day life of PM. So, I wrote this book to bridge the gap between 98% of the day-to-day PM activities and how to go about them. Certifications don’t provide you real-life experience. Basically, PM needs more organization, people skills, and common sense which is not very common. A PM must have emotional intelligence, deep respect, and appreciation for human behavior & group dynamics.Most of the time, one becomes PM accidentally. This happens when one doesn’t consciously decide one day to become PM but leads a team assisting PM, which is similar to a PM role. Hence, you become an “Accidental Project Manager”. You learn from your experiences and constantly better your game. Just grab the opportunity, whenever it arises and follow through on them to be a wonderful PM.In my career as PM, spanning more than a decade, certifications didn’t help me with certain more valuable skills required for PM i.e., Organizational, Planning & Social skills. These skills are required in all managerial jobs and are not exclusive only to PM. When you keep on handling more and more projects, you will gain these skills with experience. At the end of the day, the client doesn’t really care whether you have a certification or not! What matters to him is that you deliver the project on time, within budget, desired scope, and of a decent quality! Performance matters, not the certification.

56 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 30, 2021

About the author

Rajat Kumar Gupta was the leader of McKinsey & Company, Inc., from 1994 to 2003. He was also a board member of major corporations including Goldman Sachs, Procter & Gamble, and American Airlines and advisor to the United Nations, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the World Economic Forum. He served as chairman of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation advisory board, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and the International Chamber of Commerce, and was the founding chairman of the Indian School of Business, the American India Foundation, and the Public Health Foundation of India.

Born in Kolkata, West Bengal, in 1948, Gupta attended the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology Delhi and traveled to the United States to attend Harvard Business School in 1971. After graduating from Harvard, he joined McKinsey, where he would spend his entire thirty-seven-year consulting career, including his nine-year term as the firm's leader.

During his final years with McKinsey and after his retirement, Gupta transitioned from business leader to business statesman, bringing his wealth of experience to bear on some of the most pressing global issues around public health and education. His philanthropic endeavors impacted the lives of millions, and the institutions he created still thrive to this day. In 2011, Gupta was charged with insider trading and found guilty. He was sentenced to two years imprisonment, which he served at FMC Devens in Massachusetts.

Since his release in January 2016, Gupta has resumed his work in health and education, and added a new focus on criminal justice and prison reform. He lives in Connecticut with his wife, Anita, and is the proud father of four daughters and grandfather to four granddaughters.

Reviews

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sksk