WELCOME
By David Pells
Managing Editor
Addison, Texas, USA
Welcome to the November 2026 edition of the PM World Journal (PMWJ), our 170th monthly edition. This month’s PMWJ is another diverse and interesting edition, with 50 new works by 60 different authors representing 24 different countries. The new additions this month bring our totals to 6,065 works by 2,440 different authors representing 90+ countries published in the PMWJ to date and archived in the PM World Library.
Introduction and Centennial Tribute
Before introducing the contents in this edition, it is my pleasure to announce to all of our readers that 6 November was a very special day for Alan Stretton, long time contributor to the PMWJ and a true pioneer in the project management field. Friday was Alan’s 100th birthday. Happy Birthday, Alan! Wow, what a milestone. Alan has been contributing articles and papers for PMWJ publication from our first edition in 2012 through this month. See his newest article in the Commentaries section this month. At 100, Alan is still as lucid and informative as anyone I know.
Working for one of the largest and most innovative building companies in Australia in the 1950s and 60s, Alan was involved with some of the earliest applications of modern project management methods in Australia. A founding member of the Project Manager’s forum, the forerunner of the Australian Institute of Project Management (AIPM), Alan took an early and active interest in the development of project management standards. He was Chair of the Standards (PMBOK) Committee of the Project Management Institute (PMI®) from late 1989 to early 1992. He held a similar position with AIPM, and was elected a Life Fellow of AIPM in 1996. He was an early member of the Core Working Group for the development of the Australian National Competency Standards for Project Management.
After 38 years in the building and construction industries in Australia, New Zealand and the USA, Alan retired, then joined the University of Technology Sydney where he developed their first master’s degree in project management. He contributed to several other Australian universities who were also moving into project management, while maintaining an active engagement with PM societies and thought leaders around the world. He was a contemporary and colleague of the founders and leaders of now the world’s largest project management associations, PMI in the United States and APM in the UK.
I first met Alan at an IPMA (at the time called INTERNET) global congress in Florence, Italy in 1992. I met Alan again along with his wife Ailene at the PMI global congress in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1994. He was a contributor to the late David Curling’s pmforum.org website in the late 1990s and early 2000s. He became a contributor to the PM World Today eJournal that I edited from 2007-2012. Over the last 20 years, he has not only become our most frequent author and contributor but also a friend and advisor. With his deep experience and vast knowledge about program and project management, he has become a close friend and trusted colleague. I try not to bother him too much anymore, but he has been a wonderful sounding board for ideas and plans, now including the future of the PMWJ and library.
Over the years and through today, his writing has been so good, so well structured, carefully written, clear and pointed. In recent years he has made significant contributions on the relationships between strategic management, project management and operations. The themes that he has developed through his PMWJ articles and papers will help students and professionals for years to come. I believe his authorship and support have been major positive factors for the positive growth and reputation of the PMWJ, for which I will be forever grateful.
More…
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How to cite this work: Pells, D.L. (2026). Welcome to the November 2026 PMWJ; PM World Journal, Vol. XV, Issue XI, November. Available online at https://pmworldjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/pmwj170-Nov2026-Pells-Welcome-to-the-November-2026-pmwj.pdf
About the Author
David L. Pells
Managing Editor, PMWJ
Managing Director, PMWL
David L. Pells, PMI Fellow, HonFAPM, ISIPM, PMA is Managing Editor and publisher of the PM World Journal (www.pmworldjournal.com) and Managing Director of the PM World Library (www.pmworldlibrary.net). David is an internationally recognized leader in the field of professional project management with nearly 50 years of experience on a variety of programs and projects, including engineering, construction, energy, defense, transit, technology and nuclear security, and project sizes ranging from thousands to billions of dollars. He recently acted as a program management advisor for two major U.S. national nuclear security programs.
David Pells has been an active professional leader in the United States since the 1980s, as founder and president of several PMI chapters, founder of PMI’s first SIG (Project Earth), and member of the PMI board of directors twice. He was founder and chair of the Global Project Management Forum (1995-2000), an annual meeting of leaders of PM associations from around the world. David was awarded PMI’s Person of the Year award in 1998 and Fellow Award, PMI’s highest honor, in 1999. He is also an Honorary Fellow of the Association for Project Management (APM) in the UK; the Instituto Italiano di Project Management (ISIMP) in Italy; and Project Management Associates (PMA) in India.
Former managing editor of PM World Today, he is the creator, editor and publisher of the PM World Journal (ISSN: 2330-4880) and creator and curator of the PM World Library. David has a BA in Business Administration from the University of Washington and an MBA from Idaho State University in the USA. He has published widely and spoken at conferences and events worldwide. David lives near Dallas, Texas and can be contacted at editor@pmworldjournal.com.
To see other works by David Pells, visit his author showcase in the PM World Library at http://pmworldlibrary.net/authors/david-l-pells/
