No Win/No Lose

Rugby
Great excitement at the club this week as they will be filming next week's Rugby Tonight (BT Sport) at our very own Topsham Rugby Football Club. It will undoubtedly be chaos but I'll hopefully be able to get a plug in for walking rugby. Meanwhile we are working on three project proposals for improvements to the grounds and clubhouse, which nicely brings me on to:

Project Management
While it’s good to have a happy project team as it tells you that things are going well, there will always be some conflicts of opinion in the team, and that’s only right and natural. There is no point in the project manager trying to stamp these out, as they actually create energies which are creative forces. Often a spark of genius or a great idea will evolve from heated discussion about the different ways of doing something.  

However a poorly run project can look more like a battlefield. If the project manager loses sight of how things happen, differences of opinion will turn into quarrels which can begin to devastate the team. This all comes down to the project manager’s attitude. Trying to score points will not shed light on what is happening on the project. Wanting to be right will blind people to the real work of the project.  

The Way  
There should be no personal wins and no personal losses in project team work. The wise project manager knows that it is important to be content with what is actually happening and not get worked up about what might or might not happen. The only thing that matters is the team. If the project manager nurtures the team they will be successful.  

The Tao  
Lao Tzu tells us:  

When the Tao is in the universe,  
The horses haul manure.  
When the Tao is absent from the universe,  
War horses are kept near the city.  

There is no greater calamity than greed,  
No greater misfortune than avarice.  
So he who knows that enough is enough,  
Will always have enough.