The Pact Anna Mario's Arc Chapters Buy on Amazon
🇮🇹 Italiano 🇬🇧 English

Ottorino Luca De Bona · PMBOK® Guide 8th Ed. · ECO 2026

MARIO

From Project Manager to PMP®.
Pass the Exam and Evolve into the Project Manager
Global Standards Demand.

← CPI = 0.72 ! Anna loses patience → Budget €750k →
0 Narrative chapters
0 Situational questions
0 Narrative visuals
0 ECO 2026 coverage

The Pact

Three commitments we make
to every reader.

12 chapters. One project. A PM who fails, learns, and becomes the professional PMI demands.

01

Essentiality

Every page exists because it serves the exam or professional practice. Respecting the reader's time is the first criterion of quality.

02

Applied Theory

No concept lives in isolation. Every tool emerges as the answer to a concrete problem, inside a real €750,000 project.

03

Clarity

Direct language, active voice, no abstract promises. The book shows concepts in action and lets them speak for themselves.

The Anna Filter

A demanding mentor,
but always on your side.

The operation was a complete success. The patient will never walk again.»

— Anna to Mario, Chapter 1

Anticipation

Opens each chapter with the doubt the reader doesn't yet know they have.

Reality Check

When Mario (and the reader) think they've understood, Anna shows them the gap.

Scalpel Metaphor

«You cut the fabric before taking measurements.» A line that cuts because it's true.

Socratic Question

No answers given. Only the question that forces Mario to find it himself.

Accomplice

At the right moments, Anna smiles. And the reader knows they've truly understood.

Mario's Arc

From Executor to Strategist

Across 12 chapters, Mario undergoes the transformation PMI demands of every Project Manager. This is not a made-up story — it's the journey ahead of you.

The Executor

Mario measures tasks and deliverables. He lost €120k on the CRM project. He's skilled, but doesn't yet know what it means to create value.

I
Ch. 1 — 2

Awareness

Agile without governance, hostile stakeholders, invisible risks, "good" scope creep. Every crisis teaches that technical skill is not enough without empathy and proactivity.

II
Ch. 3 — 9

The Strategist

Mario designs governance, negotiates contracts, manages AI with integrity. He no longer counts tasks — he counts value. He is the PM the world demands.

III
Ch. 10 — 12

12 Chapters · One Project · One Journey

Every chapter is a dilemma.
Every dilemma has a lesson.

No technical concept in isolation. Every tool emerges from the necessity of solving a real problem.

01
The PM's Operating System
«You don't study the PMBOK. You internalize it.»
247 tasks completed. All green. Zero value generated…
02
The Architecture of Choice
«Choosing the approach isn't aesthetic. It's risk management.»
Mario had opened MS Project at 9:02 on day one…
03
A Different Discipline
«Agile isn't less discipline. It's a different discipline.»
Everything was green. Tasks closed. Velocity rising…
04
The Engine of Engagement
«Technical problems arrive when you stop responding to people.»
Claudio had stopped answering emails on Tuesday…
05
People Before the Plan
«The PM doesn't command people. The PM enables them.»
The call lasted eleven minutes. Marco Vinci said «no» four times…
06
The System That Doesn't Break
«You cannot eliminate uncertainty. You can build a system that doesn't break.»
The call came in at 14:32 on Friday…
07
The Perimeter of Value
«Scope is not what you build. It's the boundary between value and waste.»
Fourteen pages. Claudio had written them over the weekend…
08
The Rhythm of the Project
«Time cannot be recovered. It must be governed before it slips away.»
Valeri wanted to cut the three-week buffer…
09
The Health Dashboard
«The budget is not a constraint. It's the thermometer of project health.»
0.72. The number was still there when Mario opened his eyes on Monday…
10
The Guidance System
«Governance serves decisions, not documents.»
Valeri had said «approved» in the hallway…
11
The Contract That Protects
«The contract protects the relationship that delivers the project.»
€34,000. The bid was perfect — too perfect…
12
The Guardian
«The PM is the guardian of system integrity. You cannot delegate ethics.»
«Competitors have it. It's cheap. Let's do it.»…

One Project. One Book.

Global Shield

One single project, start to finish, with the same characters, the same numbers, the same pressures. Not isolated fragments — a continuous journey, just as in professional reality.

An e-commerce app for the Spanish market. Three components, three approaches: Cloud infrastructure (Predictive), Portal UX (Iterative), Bizum (Agile). A real team, a demanding sponsor, a vendor who stops responding, and a CPI that falls to 0.72 at chapter 9.

ProjectGlobal Shield
Budget (BAC)€750.000
ApproachHybrid (Predictive + Agile + Iterative)
PMMario
SponsorValeri
CPI (Cap. 9)0,72 ⚠
EAC€1.041.667
Back-story (CRM)€120,000 — Failure
← Anna: «Truth told late is damage. Truth untold is worse.»
Ottorino Luca De Bona

The Author

Ottorino Luca De Bona

Innovation & Project Manager with over 20 years of experience designing organizational development and competency programs. PMP® and PMI-CPMAI™ certified, CEPAS Examiner for UNI 11814 (Innovation Manager) and UNI 11648 (Project Manager) certifications. Coordinator of the Innovation Manager Professional™ Master at Smarter Srl, with over 250 certified professionals. Academic Director at pm-online.it.

LinkedIn

Available now on Amazon

The book is available.

«Mario's journey ends here. Yours can begin now.» — Anna

60 situational questions. 22 visuals. 12 chapters.
PMBOK® Guide 8th Edition · ECO 2026 · Agile Practice Guide.

Buy on Amazon →

Ottorino Luca De Bona · PM-Online · 2026

Frequently Asked Questions

What you need to know
before you begin.

Who is this book for?

Project managers preparing for the PMP® 2026 exam and professionals who want to master the PMBOK® Guide 8th Edition through a practical, narrative approach — not rote memorization.

Is the book aligned to the new PMP® 2026 exam?

Yes. It is fully aligned to the Examination Content Outline (ECO) effective July 2026, the PMBOK® Guide 8th Edition, and the Agile Practice Guide.

How many exam questions does it include?

60 situational questions in ECO 2026 formats: Case/Scenario, Graphic-Based, Multiple-Response. Every question is built from the book's narrative scenes, not pulled from a generic database.

Do I still need to read the official PMBOK®?

The book is designed for Zero-Reading: every PMBOK® 8 concept is woven into the narrative with precise references (§) to the original sections. You can use the PMBOK® as a reference, but it is not a prerequisite.

What language is the PMP® exam in?

The exam is available in multiple languages at Pearson VUE centers worldwide and online. This book uses bilingual technical terminology to prepare you for both the English and localized versions.

How is this different from other PMP® books?

MARIO is not a manual to memorize. It is the journey of one Project Manager through a real €750,000 project — every concept emerges as the solution to a concrete problem. You experience the concepts before you study them.

When does the PMP® exam change?

The new PMP® exam based on ECO 2026 will be available globally from July 2026. MARIO is already aligned to this new format.

The Italian edition is available now on Amazon.

Buy the Italian Edition on Amazon → mariopmp.it