2.1. Project Life Cycles and Processes

You already know the difference between a project and operations, and between predictive and adaptive. This section pushes that knowledge from recognition into application — think of it like moving from knowing traffic laws to actually driving in traffic: the exam tests judgment in messy, scenario-based situations, not just the ability to recite a rule. It also covers two ideas Phase 1 didn't reach yet: how to review and critique a project's scope, and how the PMI Code of Ethics shows up in ordinary decisions — both flagged below with ⚠️ Exam Traps, because both are common places associate-level candidates lose points without realizing it.

The two subsections below aren't independent topics that happen to sit next to each other — they're sequential layers of the same skill. Classification (2.1.1) comes first because every constraint, every ethical judgment call, and every honest status report (2.1.2) implicitly assumes the classification underneath it was correct. Get the classification wrong — call ongoing work a project, or a program a portfolio — and the constraints and ethical obligations that get tested afterward inherit that error. Read them in order.