Stop the insanity! Or not – I've decided to go back to school. I convinced my manager that we should both take classes at Brandeis, Information Technology Mgmt for him, and Project Management for me. With an overlap of three courses, we looked forward to studying together, starting with Fundamentals of Project Management. When I registered, I found out that my previous classes in the Software Engineering program apply, despite being older than three years. The content of the Project Management course hasn't changed, so Brandeis is going to allow me to transfer that credit from my Software Engineering certificate to the MS in Project and Program Management. The only other online course I could take in the program at this time was Risk Management.

Risk Management. Risk is an area I prefer to avoid. Unfortunately, I have found with most risks in life, you can notate them and plan for them all you want, but they are still coming at you like a freight train – and I often feel like a Cassandra telling of Troy's downfall. Risk Management, in practice, seems more like a CYA. The Project Manager writes down the risks, attempts to get the stakeholders to be aware of them (all in vain), and then when the freight train hits, the stakeholders are still p.o.'ed, but you can hold up that section of the project documentation and say "I told you so." To continue with the references to Greco-Roman culture, it's Pyrric Victory.

With luck, this course will open my eyes to real Risk Management.