04: The Way Is Not a Thing

The Way is not a thing; it is a single unifying principle or law. The Way is about how things happen. Some poor project managers believe that if they follow a methodology, such as PRINCE2 or PM-BOK, then they are running their project the right way, but this is not the way.

The Way

The way cannot be found and it cannot be learned, it is just there. Nothing comes before the way, nothing made the way. The way simply is. The wise project manager does not therefore search for the way, he runs his project in harmony with the way by following natural law and the single principle. I know this for this is the way of the project manager.

The Tao

Lao Tsu tells us:

The Tao is an empty vessel; it is used, but never filled.

Oh, unfathomable source of ten thousand things!

Blunt the sharpness,

Untangle the knot,

Soften the glare,

Merge with dust.

Oh, hidden deep but ever present!

I do not know from whence it comes.

It is the forefather of the emperors.