Making the PMBOK Relevant

As a certified Project Management Professional, what I'm about to say is considered sacrilege: I do not find the PMBOK to be relevant.  It is supposed to be our project management canon with five phases of a project, ten knowledge areas, 49 process groups, and numerous formulas to unlock the secret to an on time and under budget project..  What I've found in practice is the PMBOK is general a guide for  what not to do.  Sure, for companies who are very process oriented the PMBOK provides the tools that will allow you check all the boxes and deliver documented proof that you executed the project using a standardized process.  For most other projects, the PMBOK prescribed model is overbearing and can actually lead to project failure if followed blindly.  I do see the value in studying the PMBOK if you are completely new to the field in order to get a baseline understanding of project management in general. I would like to see the information updated to be more relevant to a larger range of environments and projects.  So many new professionals see this as "the way it has to be done" they miss out on how to actually add value in their current project context.  I would love to see more information on how to apply the principles of the PMBOK in non-waterfall environments.  What process groups provide the most bang for your buck?  What can be combined?  Are there tools that implement the framework to take some of the manual labor out of the process?  I'm happy to see the PMBOK 6 is bringing in the concepts of agile in a section titled "Approaches for Agile, Iterative and Adaptive Environments".  It looks like PMBOK 7 is going to take a huge step in the right direction by focusing on principle based standards rather than process based standards.  As our profession evolves, so should the canon of knowledge guiding us.  It is our responsibility to evaluate that canon to determine what is not only relevant, but beneficial to the task at hand and leave behind activities that are detrimental.  I look forward to participating in the evolution of the field.

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