This week I debuted my PMI-ACP class to the Washington DC/Baltimore area. Because this was my first time offering the class, I had a little trepidation. Would my students take to my teaching methods?
As I walked into the training center, I passed another classroom. It was a five-day PMP exam boot camp. Knowing how these types of classes are presented, I knew I didn’t want the same for my class.
I want to do more than teach people how to pass a test. I want them to walk away with an understanding of concepts like self-organization, adaptive planning, continuous improvement, and value delivery. For this first class, I planned to spend a lot less time lecturing and a lot more time engaging my students with discussions, simulations, and games.
Over the course of the next three days, we held lengthy discussions on real-world topics. I would introduce a concept and ask questions like, “Now that I’ve talked about Concept A, how can you apply it at your organization?” The class would then compare and contrast different scenarios from each of their perspectives. But, I have to admit, some of the best moments of the class came when we played games. Activities ranged from building paper airplanes, to playing the “ball point” game and building a town out of Legos. I can’t express the satisfaction I felt while witnessing each student’s “lightbulb” moment.
One of the attendees just wrote me an email, saying,
The class was excellent! This has been the most valuable class I have had relative to understanding Agile and applying it to my organization.
We had six early-adopters at the first class, all of whom offered up some excellent feedback. I know the next class will be even better. Anyone have some Legos for sale?
