GamingCertifications

I have let all my certifications lapse. I don't have a PMP even though I teach project management and am writing a book about project management.

In my experience, a certification means a person has verifiable experience doing something. And has paid a bunch of money to the certifying body. But it doesn't mean that the person is any good at that thing.

I have not yet tried to game a certification, I just keep walking away. Have you gamed a certification? -- JohannaRothman 2006.01.09

I'm not tracking the question, JR. "Game a certification" meaning what? I "game" certifications all the time, by saying things like: "Bully for you. That and a clue will allow you to write decent code. That and $ .50 (or $ 3.00 out here in Seattle) will get you a cup of coffee. I wonder. Can I get the coffee without the cert, or without the three bucks?"

I'm pretty sure this isn't what you mean by "gaming."

-- JimBullock 2005.01.10 (Certifiable, but not certified . . . )

I may have triggered this inadvertently by mentioning my reaction to my employer�s certification rule, on the FollowTheRules thread.

Steve, you asked about this. I didn�t actually game the certification. I gamed the situation, by playing along and trying to cherry-pick the bits I thought would be valuable to me (like useful courses), while avoiding doing any of the totally useless required grunt work for the certification. I did this rather than saying �no� up front because I wanted to keep my options open for a while with this company. Also, I�ve (alas) grown out of fighting every just fight that comes my way, and battling a faceless monster company is pointless and wasteful. But my heart really wasn�t in the pretence. I knew exactly what I wanted, and it wasn�t to get a silly certification and have someone send me a fatuous congratulatory e-mail.

So I said �no�. My manager wrote on my performance review last month, �Fiona is not interested in seeking certification.� � thereby sensibly covering her ass. Certification might be a condition of employment. I guess I�ll find out, one way or the other. So far, though, nobody is paying me to go away. -- FionaCharles 10-Jan-2006

Thank you, Fiona. I appreciate you for sharing your story. We are still on the same page, paragraph and sentence, although your experience has helped me arrive on the first and last word on the certification subject: "No."

SteveSmith 2005.01.11

Updated: Wednesday, January 11, 2006