What has been your favorite project and why?

My "favorite project" was as a Project Controls Manager for the Negev Airbase Constructors, Ovda, Israel. This project was a 2-year project from 1981 to 1983 as part of Jimmy Carter's "Camp David Peace Accords," where the US Corp of Engineers, US Air Force and the Israeli Air Force constructed two complete airbases in the Israeli portion of the Negev Desert to replace two airbases Israel had built in the Egyptian part of the Negev.

Why did you join The PMO Leader community?

I think the site is well-designed and appears to address many of the weaknesses in "woke" media sites such as Linked In.

Who is someone you’d like to meet within our industry?

Anyone who is fed up with entry level exam based credentials such as the PMP and instead want to focus on COMPETENCY development and assessment.

When did you first know you wanted to be a PMO Leader or Project Manager?

Having come up through the trades as a Union Carpenter, from Apprentice through Journeyman, Master Craftsman to Master Builder, "project controls" is now and always has been a core business competency. Around the late 1980s, the risks of contracting outweighed the potential rewards and I became a Primavera Dealer in Alaska which led to both training and consulting, which turned out to be far less risky and much more profitable than contracting or selling software.

What is something about you not many people know but you’d like to share with the community?

I have little or no use for the "project management" professional societies, in particular, PMI and APM/APMG.

I honestly believe PMI has done more damage to the practice of project management than they have done any good. The fact that PMI is "retiring" their PMBOK Guide after 35+ years stands as prima facie evidence that even they had to finally admit the PMBOK Guide was fatally flawed.

To quote Industrial Psychologist Elliot Friedsen- "The only difference between the trade unions and the professional societies lies in the sanctimoniousness of the latter."

Who is someone you’d like to have share their story and why?

As both of these people are in their 90s, it is essential we capture their experiences and knowledge. Dr. Ken Smith, PMP, Col, USAF Retired/US AID retired Raf Dua, Microplanner International