Ok Grasshopper ... When you can take this pebble from my hand...

On the Merits of Certification:

At its very core, Certification is a piece of paper that says you have been exposed to or have been trained to a certain level of proficiency in a certain body of knowledge.

I won't question the value of the certification. I for one think that there is intrinsic value to being trained and certified, Certified Scrum Master (CSM), Project Management Professional(PMP) whatever. For me the issue is that the connotation that one can be certified in something like the PMP or the CSM and they walk away a master in the art/discipline is specious.

All PMPs are not created equal all CSMs are not created equal. All those credentials really mean is that they have exposure and ideally a better than average understanding of what the methodologies offer as value propositions to an organizartion and how to implement them, to what levels of success may vary.

In the case of the CSM, I think the real weakness of the certification is that because its "Agile" it is some how easy and fast a panacea of sorts. This connotation sets erroneous expectations of what someone walking around with a CSM is or is not capable of. Maybe a more hardcore approach to the certification is warranted. Hopefully the discussion with the village elders of the Agile Community will come up with something that better protects the integrity of the skilled practitioner and brings more value to the table.

For the PMP, while the certification is much more rigourous with the concept of an auditable period of time before qualifying and continuing education requirements, that really only scratches the surface of what it means to run a project or be a project management professional or a leader in general which is really what project management provides at its basest level, and any leader worth is salt will tell you no one can just magically wave their leader wand and bam you are a leader, something about blood, sweat, and tears needs to get mixed in there,

Let's use a metaphor for this issue (everyone loves metaphors), I look at it like the mall strip Karate Studios and how many people have black belts these days? 2k and 1 year and bam you get yourself a black belt. They were certified in "attaining" knowing a certain level of skill, practiced it in a prescribed time, and a governing body approved said level of skill.

I have studied and trained for more than half of my life never got more than a brown belt at any one school of martial arts. To the uneducated many would discount me as a dabbler or amateur until they check my references as a closed door student to several highly respected masters of the martial arts, renown by blood and by deed. Maybe one day I will pony up 2k and join the certification class but then the master's would look at me funny and say so what's this about you want to start your own school too huh? (like that?... yeah like that and all it implies.)

Certifications are always nice to haves. I for one am far more concerned with practical skill and experience than fancy papers even though they can make me look really cool. My real value lies in how I apply my skills and expertise not whether or not I have a pedigree and I sleep-walked through it all. Black belts like that get weeded out eventually, usually by a kick to the neck and a short nap on the canvas.

Does that mean I don't value a certification process? No but I do check under the hood and kick the tires a couple of times just to be sure things are where they are supposed to be.

Remember in Kung-Fu the series Grasshopper's journey didn't end when he was able to take the pebble from his masters hand... It was only the beginning. Oooooo...Zen-esque Mystical stuff now what would be the billable for that?

- Optimal Optimus