Celebrating Our First 15 Years

February 14, 2011 | by J. Kent Crawford

Since it is Valentine’s Day, let me just say … I love my work! This month marks 15 years since we founded PM Solutions, and reflecting on the achievements of our associates and the rewarding professional relationships we’ve developed makes me want to share some heartfelt thoughts about the changes that the company and our profession have experienced over the past decade and a half.

I am really amazed at the way project management and PMOs have moved into the mainstream of business. Beginning as a little-understood but important specialty, the profession has proven its value again and again, and project management practitioners have learned to communicate this value, making the PMO – once a rarity – a common feature of forward-thinking organizations, and in many organizations, a key player at the strategic level. I am very proud and excited about the successes we’ve seen and also the excitement that continues to brew in this still-growing profession!

It has been wonderful to see organizational leaders and executives embracing project management to an unprecedented level. I’ve always believed that our discipline held the key to better business outcomes, and having the chance to produce research to prove this point, and helping companies to implement organizational improvements based on that research, has been its own reward. I am very proud that PM Solutions and PM College have worked with premier leaders in global industry as they have developed capabilities, maturity, and lasting results using project management.

I believe the next 15 years will bring even greater proof of the great results companies achieve when applying project management principles. We’ll see companies implement measures that tell them precisely how much project management is affecting their organizational performance. We’ll see project managers rise to the highest levels in companies. I think we will cease to hear the question: “How can I convince my executives of PM’s value?”

So, thanks to all our associates and clients for participating in the journey. I look forward to the road ahead.

About the Author

J. Kent Crawford

Kent Crawford is the founder and CEO of Project Management Solutions, Inc. (PM Solutions) and PM College. His experience spans more than twenty five years, where he has been responsible for the development of systems requirements and the functional design of integrated project management systems for a number of Fortune 500 organizations. He is the Former President and Chair of the Project Management Institute (PMI®). During his tenure in office, Mr. Crawford implemented innovative programs, which resulted in an astounding fifty percent membership growth for the Institute. His leadership in PMI has been widely recognized as a primary driver in PMI's success. Mr. Crawford is a recipient of the PMI Fellow Award, PMI's highest and most prestigious individual honor. A prolific speaker and advocate of the profession, he is also the award-winning author of The Strategic Project Office: A Guide to Improving Organizational Performance (for which he won a David I. Cleland Project Management Literature Award from PMI), Optimizing Human Capital with a Strategic Project Office, Project Management Maturity Model: Providing a Proven Path to Project Management Excellence, and Project Management Roles & Responsibilities.

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4 Comments on Celebrating Our First 15 Years

Paul Lombard says:

Kent
  Thanks to you for your vision and for your commitment to the people and customers of PM Solutions and PM College.

  Paul

Posted on February 15, 2011 at 12:21 pm

Orlando Lugo says:

Congratulations and thank you!. 

After partnering with Kurt and the rest of your team while at the New York Times, I was finally able to find my place and refocus my career….  I can now say that I have had the opportunity to create/improve the PMO’s at 4 different companies and have always used PM Solutions as an example of what a partner should be…

Wishing you continued success!

Orlando

Posted on February 15, 2011 at 4:08 pm

Debbie Crawford says:

Under your leadership, Kent, PM Solutions has been a real catalyst to bringing about an awareness of project management over the last 15 years! Through all the articles, white papers, case studies, and books, a new interest and awareness has emerged.  I can’t help but remember a funny story.  About 10 years ago, I wrote an article for the PM Network titled “What Do You Do Again, Mommy?”  The article was about how my daughter was asked by a teacher what I did and all she could say was “She types”. Now that same daughter is studying project management as part of her MBA, along with her sister, and her younger brother, who is studying project management as part of his undergraduate Finance curriculum!  Now, if that’s not change!  The world is embracing project management in all industries…and being part of this has made the last 15 years so exciting!

Posted on February 16, 2011 at 5:51 pm

Raji S says:

Kent,
    Your words and this website paves a storng road for existence and developemnts of Project management… Here were the history grows for Project managements….. You are A valuble resource to our industry

Posted on March 3, 2011 at 11:29 am

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