Book excerpt: ISO 21500, officially published in September 2012, is the first overarching guideline for project management that presents a common frame of reference and a process standard. This international standard firmly positions projects within the context of programs and project portfolios and is the basis for further development of the project management profession. This book explains the background, the value, the implementation and the application of ISO 21500 for each type of organization. It describes what you, as a customer, supplier, manager or member of project staff, can do or maybe should do with the guideline. The book supplies answers to the 100 most common asked questions about ISO 21500 with the focus on the value of the guideline for the project management practice. The target audience of this book includes: - Senior managers and project sponsors, so that they gain a better understanding of the principles and practice of project management and therefore provide appropriate support and guidance to their project managers, project management teams, and the project teams; - Project managers, project management teams, and project team members, so that they have a common base of comparison of their project standards and practices with those of others; - Developers of national or organizational standards, for use in developing project management standards, which are consistent at a core level with those of others. - Consultants, educators, coaches and trainers in the project management discipline. They can connect various generally known and bespoke project management methods, models and best practices to the ISO 21500 framework as a common frame of reference.