Executive's Guide to Project Management: Organizational Processes and Practices for Supporting Complex Projects

Emertxe Project Management

The solution is known but the goal is not. Don't be tempted to dismiss this as the ranting of those professional service firms who claim to have the answer to your problem whatever your problem might be. They are out there and you probably know who they are. All you have to do is state your problem and they will come to your rescue armed with their solution! That is not where I am going with this discussion.

Definition of Emertxe PMLC Models

An Emertxe PMLC (MPx) Model is one that proceeds from iteration to iteration based on a very limited specification of goal and solution. Each iteration learns from the proceeding ones and redirects the next iteration in an attempt to converge on an acceptable goal and solution. At the discretion of the client an iteration may release a partial solution.

Examples of Emertxe PMLC Models include:

• Adaptive Project Framework
• INSPIRE

Characteristics of Projects that Use an Emertxe PMLC Model

These approaches are for those MPx projects whose solution is completely and clearly defined but whose goal is not. This sounds like nonsense but actually it isn't. Trust me for now. I find it easiest to think of these projects as a backwards version of an extreme project, hence the name “Emertxe” (pronounced a-mert-see). The solution or some variant of it is used to help converge on a goal the solution or a variant of it can support and that hopefully has business value. So rather than looking for a solution as in the xPM project, ...