16: Letting Go

In project management there is no point trying to be perfect or admired as these are not things that make the team or the project successful. By letting go of all emotional baggage and just being part of the team we not only benefit the rest of the team and the project but we benefit ourselves.

Poor project managers try to impress their management and may even achieve this, briefly. But it is short lived and they are usually brought back to earth by their own vanity. I recall one person who suffered from these faults and was universally despised by his colleagues and subordinates (he didn’t have a team in a real sense) yet he still seemed to survive. I feel sure he must have been brought back to earth by now.

The Way
The wise project manager does not claim to be perfect or want to be admired, for it would only be an illusion. Interestingly the wise project manager is often admired, but not because he strives for it as he doesn’t, but because he supports the rest of the team. I know this for this is the way of the project manager.

The Tao
Lao Tsu tells us:

Empty yourself of everything.
Let the mind rest at peace.
The ten thousand things rise and fall while the Self watches their return.
They grow and flourish and then return to the source.
Returning to the source is stillness, which is the way of nature.
The way of nature is unchanging.
Knowing constancy is insight.
Not knowing constancy leads to disaster.
Knowing constancy, the mind is open.
With an open mind, you will be openhearted.


Being openhearted, you will act royally.
Being royal, you will attain the divine.
Being divine, you will be at one with the Tao.
Being at one with the Tao is eternal.
And though the body dies, the Tao will never pass away.