![\"bingo\"](\"\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/bingo2-150x150.jpg\" "\\"bingo\\"")
<\/p>\nI recently learned about a new twist on an old game: Corporate BS Bingo.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Everyone creates their own bingo card with their most irritating corporate-speak terms.\u00a0 You know, those corporate terms that get so overused that they devolve into meaninglessness. \u00a0Throughout the course of a meeting or maybe the course of a week, players put tokens on the squares when they hear\u00a0each term.\u00a0 The first one to get a bingo shouts \u201cBS\u201d (or probably the more robust version of it).<\/p>\n
Synergy<\/em> is on my Corporate BS Bingo card \u2013 especially when someone talks about leveraging <\/em>it. \u00a0Leveraging synergy<\/em> sounds like such a fabulous idea.\u00a0 What the heck does it mean?<\/p>\n What\u2019s on your bingo card?\u00a0 Organic growth?\u00a0 Paradigm shift?\u00a0 Transparency?<\/em><\/p>\n Some words will never end up on a Corporate BS Bingo card.\u00a0 Take certification<\/em>, for example.\u00a0 There\u2019s no\u00a0overusing\u00a0that one.\u00a0 It was good yesterday, it\u2019s good today, and it will continue to be good tomorrow as we all seek ways to reinvent ourselves to remain competitive in today\u2019s highly global economy.<\/p>\n What does your next project management professional development step look like?\u00a0 If you see PMP\u00ae being added to your business card in the future, there\u2019s no better time than now to pursue that certification.\u00a0 With the PMP\u00ae exam undergoing significant changes effective August 31, 2011, taking the exam sooner rather than later is well advised.<\/p>\n Some details are available now pertaining to the exam changes, and more will be forthcoming in the coming months from the Project Management Institute (PMI).\u00a0 In the meantime, we know that two key things will change:<\/p>\n First, Professional and Social Responsibility, currently tested as a separate section in the exam, will be integrated into the exam as a whole.\u00a0 One the one hand,\u00a0that sounds like a huge change.\u00a0\u00a0On the other hand,\u00a0it\u2019s virtually impossible to test concepts around ethics and professional behavior without<\/em> other project management context.\u00a0 I could be wrong, but I’m inclined to think that this won’t\u00a0fundamentally change the exam experience from a test-taker\u2019s perspective.<\/p>\n Of greater interest is the second key\u00a0change which, according to PMI, will include new or\u00a0substantial changes and affect approximately\u00a030% of the exam content.\u00a0 I\u2019ll be spending time trying to better understand exactly what that means and will be publishing what I find in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n What I do know is that \u201cThe devil you know is better than the devil you don\u2019t,\u201d and right now there is as much known about the current exam as will be known, and the new exam will be terra incognita for awhile even after its release.<\/p>\n In short, if you\u2019re considering a redesign of\u00a0your email signature to include PMP after your name, get busy!\u00a0 Develop a plan, commit time every day to doing something to prepare, take a class, and take practice exams.\u00a0 Lots of them!<\/p>\n An internet search will yield a cornucopia of online practice tests.\u00a0 They vary in quality, style, and organization.\u00a0 Some require you to answer all of the questions before getting the correct answers, for example, while others allow you to get answers for each question as you go.\u00a0 Make sure any test you use is pertinent to the 4th<\/sup> Edition of the PMBOK\u00ae Guide<\/em>.<\/p>\n And remember that as with anything, you often get what you pay for, so shop around.<\/p>\n =========================================<\/p>\n Ready\u00a0to earn your PMP Certification?<\/p>\n