48: Unclutter Your Mind

The Project
Having finished the first draft of “Project Program and Portfolio Management in easy steps” it was back to the beginning again this week. I think I’ve got chapter one almost right except for the two pages about methodology, somehow it seems a bit heavy for the introduction. I think I’ll end up trying to make it a lot less heavy.

Project methodologies, tools and guidelines have their place in the scheme of things, but they are just aids to project management, not a solution.  I worked at a company in Jersey that sent every member of their IT department on a PRINCE2 course.  The net result was that every one of them thought they knew how to run a project, when all they really knew was PRINCE2.  The interesting thing is that they didn’t understand the difference.  

The Way  
The wise project manager understands the purpose of methodologies, tools and techniques and knows if and when to use them, but he allows them to fade into the background.  He is following a process of uncluttering his mind and simplifying his work.  As he relies less on knowing what he should do, his work becomes more powerful.  His consciousness is far more potent than any methodology.  By giving up trying to do the right thing, the project manager and the team will become far more fruitful.  

In the pursuit of learning,  
Every day something is added.  
In the practice of the Tao,  
Every day something is dropped.  

Less and less is done  
Until non-action is achieved.  
When nothing is done,  
Nothing remains undone.  

True mastery is gained,  
By letting things take their course,  
Not by interfering.