Why I thought the RMP would be easy

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Hi ,

I passed the PMP® above target in every domain.

So when I decided to go after the PMI-RMP®, I figured it would be an easy add-on.

Risk management is a chunk of the PMP®, right? How hard could the full version be?

Then I sat down for training with Harry Hall, the Project Risk Coach. Harry retired from teaching last year, and I’m glad I caught him before he did.

Nothing dramatic happened the class. Harry wasn’t doing anything fancy.

But what he was teaching caught me in a different way than what I had learned on the PMP®.

He was just teaching the material straight from the Exam Content Outline, the way it’s meant to be taught.

And inside the first day, I realized I didn’t know as much as I thought I did.

Take the Delphi technique.

On the PMP®, I knew it was an anonymous way to gather risk information. That’s all the PMP® asks you to know.

But Harry went into the how-to behind it, and I had to admit I could define Delphi but couldn’t actually run one.

I didn’t feel embarrassed.

I felt motivated.

I wanted the details, the how and the why behind every process, not just the overview.

Now, let's get Proactive Over Reactive!

“When you can’t keep up with the plan, you feel like you failed. When in reality, the plan you had is what failed you.” —Russ Parker

That’s the difference between the PMP® and the RMP®

The PMP® covers so many topics that you never master any single one. It’s a mile wide and an inch deep.

The RMP® is built to make sure you’re a master of your trade.

It hits the same concepts from 10 different angles, and if you don’t understand a process from start to finish, you’ll struggle.

Here’s what “start to finish” looks like with Delphi. It’s the best way I know to pull input from senior stakeholders who can’t make your brainstorming sessions:

1. Email your stakeholders with a few questions, and use the BCC line so nobody knows who said what.
2. Compile their answers and send the summary back out for reactions.
3. Repeat until they reach consensus on the top-level concerns.

Then you walk into your session with everyone else already knowing what your senior people worry about.

That’s identification, strategy building, and stakeholder engagement in one technique, and the PMP® gives you a single line on it.

I’ll say this to every student, including the ones with a PMP® already: this exam is harder than the PMP®. Plan for it.

And this is why I push back when people ask how to speed up their studying.

Speed gets you information.

But will it get you the results you need?

I know people who earned a certification and can’t do the work, because they studied to pass instead of studying to learn.

Three takeaways:

• A certification you’ve already earned doesn’t predict how deep the next one goes.
• Learn the how and why of every process, not just the definition.
• Give yourself a plan that fits your real life, so you aren’t tempted to rush.

The Bearded Risk PM on YouTube Watch the full video on: "PMI-RMP Exam: My 90 Day Study Plan for Busy Professionals" Don't Forget to Like the Video, Subscribe to the Channel, and Leave any Questions You Have in the Comments!