DRILL.

deck 01 · PMI Basics

produce, don't recognize · misses come back first · 0 mastered / 0

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RULE 1"Documented / formal X" = a piece of paper.

PMI worships documents. Any phrase containing "documented", "formal" or ending in "plan / register / charter / case / report" is asking about a PAPER, not an activity. First question: which paper?

"Documented economic feasibility study" → the money-argument paper → business case.

RULE 2Read noun stacks BACKWARDS.

"Organizational process assets" — start at the end: assets (stuff) → process (how-we-work) → organizational (the company's). = "the company's existing how-we-do-things stuff."

"Work performance data" → data (numbers) → work performance (from doing the work) = raw numbers straight off the job.

RULE 3Swap the Latin verb for the baby verb.

authorize=allow · validate=check it's what the customer wanted · verify=check it's built right · facilitate=help happen · elaborate=add detail as you learn · expedite=hurry it up · procure=buy

"Progressively elaborated" = the plan gets more detailed as you learn more. That's it.

RULE 4The WHEN tells you the WHAT.

Before the project exists → business case, benefits plan, charter. While running → management plans, work data, change control. Measuring after → benefits realization, lessons learned, final report.

Question smells like "is it worth starting?" → business case. Smells like "did we get what we paid for?" → benefits management plan.

RULE 5Same-sounding options split by SCOPE.

Project = one endeavor · Program = related projects managed together · Portfolio = ALL the company's bets. If two options differ only in these words, ask: one thing, a family of things, or everything?

PMO types escalate by grip: Supportive suggests → Controlling checks → Directive drives.

RULE 6Two near-twins? Find the split word.

data vs information (raw vs analyzed) · quality vs grade (meets requirements vs feature level) · validate vs verify (customer vs spec) · risk vs issue (might happen vs already happening) · crashing vs fast-tracking (add people vs overlap tasks)

The exam LIVES on these pairs. When stuck, find the one word the options disagree on and decode only that.