I did everything the PMBOK says and yet my project was still a failure. What went wrong?

First and foremost, it is a major - MAJOR - mistake if you think that the PMBOK is THE one and only project management bible that will solve every problem in every situation. Even PMI has a section in its book that says “Anyone using this document should rely on his or her own independent judgment or, as appropriate, seek the advice of a competent professional in determining the exercise of reasonable care in any given circumstances”.

Second, if you did everything the PMBOK says - chances are you don’t really know what you are doing. The PMBOK is very helpful in providing the industry with tools and best practices that you may and can use to help you in managing your project BUT you have to use your experience, knowledge of the project and sensibility to know which tools would be the most appropriate to use for a particular job. Imagine that you are a carpenter and you have a truckload of tools - would you use all or even most of them - say to put up a drywall? Of course not. Same with the PMBOK.

What can help make your project a success then?

1. Know as much as possible about what you and your team need to deliver.
2. Be extremely familiar with the environment you will be working in and what assets and resources are available to do the project
3. KNOW who should be on your team and we are not talking here about simply knowing their names and roles. You should know them sufficiently enough to know how to lead and manage them to success
4. KNOW yourself, your capacity, your experience and what is required of you as a leader and manager to deliver your objectives with your team
5 Understand the tools and know which tools you need and how to use them properly to help in executing the project.


Ultimately, it is not the PMBOK that determines the success of a project but the project manager.




“PMI”, the PMI logo, “PMP”, “PMBOK” are registered marks of Project Management Institute, Inc. Excerpt from PMBOK above copyrighted 2008, Project Management Institute, Inc.