The Great Mother

 The Project

I'm now well into Agile Project Management in easy steps and the book is now due for publication in February 2023. I've just finished Chapter 3, titled Understanding Yourself and I've based it around life as a journey, learning from the Tao as usual.

The Way

Much has been written about what a project manager needs to do but very little on the way he should do it.  We have all probably met 'hard' project managers, who drive their team and themselves, but it is maybe more difficult to recall the 'soft' project managers, the ones who achieve quietly and seemingly with little effort. The wise project manager brings out his feminine side (unless of course she already happens to be one of the 20% of project managers who is a woman, in which case be thankful and be yourself), for this is the way of the project manager.  

The Tao

Lao Tzu tells us:  

The spirit of the valley does not die,  
It might be called the Great Mother.  
The origin of heaven and earth.  
Ever present and everlasting.  

Use it, it will never fail.  

Grass Dogs

Following the good news that my cancer has finally been cured after suffering through the Radiotherapy and Immunotherapy, we decided to celebrate with our first holiday in three years, Island hopping (by ferry) in Greece, should have been a great holiday Crete, Santorini, Paros, Naxos and Mykonos but Trailfinders let us down, five of the six hotels were in completely the wrong location for what we wanted to do, which was explore the Islands. To cap it all we have both gone down with Covid-19 since we returned. 

This is going to be quite a short post.

The Project

Back to the project in hand Agile Project Management in easy steps, I just got the first draft chapter finished before we left and I am waiting to hear what the publishers think of it so far. 

The Way

I think the term ‘Grass dogs’ is quite appropriate for this blog, as it is the term used in The Tao to indicate that things might be good or bad. Let us hope they are good but be prepared it they are bad. The light of awareness shines equally on what is good and what is bad.  One person is as worthy as the next. 

The Tao

Lao Tzu tells us:

Heaven and Earth are not humane, 

Considering all things as grass dogs. 

The sage is not humane, 

Considering all as grass dogs.