11. Inner Space

When the members of a project team work together on a project there is a concept of an inner space created by the team.  This defines how they work together and even the mood of the team.  It is the context for everything which happens within the team.  

The Way  
Poor project managers worry about what the team are doing and what is happening outside it.  The wise project manager knows that it is what is happening inside the team that is important, therefore he pays attention to the silences.  

Shape clay into a pot,  
It is the space within that makes it useful.  
Therefore advantage come from what exists,  
Usefulness comes from what is not there.  

“The Way of the Project Manager” by John Carroll (ISBN 978-1481076111), is published by CreateSpace and available from Amazon in hard copy and on Amazon Kindle.

10: Leadership

Still waiting for Microsoft to issue a pre-release of Project Standard 2013 so I can confirm the differences between it and Project Professional. As soon as I’ve done that “Project 2013 in easy steps” will be ready to go to press.

The Way  
Poor project managers try to dominate the team in order to force them to do their will.  Good project managers lead their team without dominating and more importantly without trying to take the credit for the work of the team.    

The wise project manager encourages the team and is supportive, without taking credit for the team’s achievements, for this is the way of the project manager. 

Can you love all men and lead them,  
Without cleverness?  
Understanding all things,  
Can you be without motive?  
Acting yet not taking credit,  
Leading yet not trying to dominate,  
This is the Primal Virtue.  

“The Way of the Project Manager” by John Carroll (ISBN 978-1481076111), is published by CreateSpace and available from Amazon in hard copy and on Amazon Kindle.

09: A Good Team

Over the years I have had the pleasure and privilege of working with some really good project teams. I have always been impressed by how well people can work in a project team if you respect them and let them get on with it.  

The Way  

The wise project manager settles for good work and lets the team have the floor.  He does not try and take the credit for what happens, he lets the team take the credit as they have done the work.  

Care about other peoples’ approval,  

And you will be their prisoner.  

Retire when the work is done.  

This is the way to serenity.  

Based on “The Way of the Project Manager” by John Carroll (ISBN 978-1481076111), published by CreateSpace and available from Amazon in hard copy and on Amazon Kindle.

08: Go With the Flow

Pushy project managers are not good project managers. Good project managers are relaxed and go with the flow, for that way the team will be positive and motivated.  Be fair and honest with the team and they will respect it.  

The Way  
The wise project manager is like water.  It is yielding and flows naturally.  The wise project manager does not push, so the team does not resent or resist, for this is the way of the project manager.  

Dwelling close to the land.  
Thinking with great depth.  
Giving with fairness and compassion.  
Speaking with integrity.  
Governing without trying to control.  
Working with competence.  
Moving with good timing.  
Not competing,  
So not finding fault.  
 
Based on “The Way of the Project Manager” by John Carroll (ISBN 978-1481076111), published by CreateSpace and available from Amazon in hard copy and on Amazon Kindle.

07: Selflessness

Australia now seems like a distant memory back in the gloom of a wintry England, but the sun is almost breaking through the clouds and it will soon be spring! On the project front “Project 2013 in easy steps” is ready, I am just waiting for Microsoft to release Project 2013 Standard so I can check my assumptions about the differences between it and Project 2013 Professional.

The Way
A selfish project manager will alienate the project team, or worse still, the team will think that is the correct way to behave and start to develop similar characteristics.  The wise project manager shows enlightened leadership through service.  He puts the well-being of the team above that of himself, for this is the way of the project manager. 

The sage stays behind,  
And proceeds.  
Is detached from all things,  
And continues.  
By not having a personal agenda,  
He is able to accomplish great things.  
 
Based on “The Way of the Project Manager” by John Carroll (ISBN 978-1481076111), published by CreateSpace and available from Amazon in hard copy and on Amazon Kindle.

06: The Great Mother

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 Way  
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 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.  

Based on “The Way of the Project Manager” by John Carroll (ISBN 978-1481076111), published by CreateSpace and available from Amazon in hard copy and on Amazon Kindle.

05: Grass Dogs

I have just got back from three weeks in Australia and am slowly catching up with things. One nice piece of news is that I have been asked to join the blog team for the PMI Netherlands Summit in June, which should be fun.

‘Grass dogs’ is the term used in The Tao to indicate that things might be good or bad and it is quite normal that some project team members will be better at certain things than others.  I smile when people raise things like Belbin roles as a pre-requisite when selecting project teams as in my experience you are lucky to get people with the technical skills you need, let alone team skills.  At the end of the day the wise project manager works with the people he gets given.  

The Way
The light of awareness shines equally on what is good and what is bad.  One person is as worthy as the next.  

Heaven and Earth are not humane,  
Considering all things as grass dogs.  
The sage is not humane,  
Considering all as grass dogs.  

Based on “The Way of the Project Manager” by John Carroll (ISBN 978-1481076111), published by CreateSpace and available from Amazon in hard copy and on Amazon Kindle.

04: The Way Is Not a Thing

This blog has just been selected as one of the top 25 project Management blogs by TopManagementDegrees.com, many thanks guys.

The Way
The Way is not a thing, it is a single unifying principle, it is about how things happen.  It cannot be found and it cannot be learned, it is just there.  The wise project manager does not search for the way, he runs his project in harmony with the way by following natural law and the single principle.

The Tao is like a well,  
It is used, but never used up.  
It is like an eternal void,  
But filled with infinite possibilities.  

Extracted from “The Way of the Project Manager” by John Carroll (ISBN 978-1481076111), published by CreateSpace and available from Amazon in hard copy and on Amazon Kindle.

03: Simple Wisdom

Well the New Year diet and exercise have now kicked in after the excesses of the holiday season. It’s funny how the weight builds up so quickly and takes ages to shed again but it’s all part of the Way.

Project 2013
I’ve finished working right through the text and screen shots now and am doing a thorough check and building the index. It’s funny how you keep spotting something that could be improved just a little, and then one thing leads to another. Of course Microsoft haven’t released Project 2013 Standard yet but I’m assuming for now it will have the same limitations as the previous version.

The Way  
The wise project manager concentrates on making sure the project team have what they need to create the project deliverables and protects them from external interference.  The wise project manager is concerned that the team functions well and that what they do is effective.  This is simple wisdom, for this is the way of the project manager.  

The sage would lead by:  
Emptying people’s minds,  
And filling their stomachs.  

Extracted from “The Way of the Project Manager” by John Carroll (ISBN 978-1481076111), published by CreateSpace and available from Amazon in hard copy and on Amazon Kindle.

02: Try Softer

Project 2013 in Easy Steps
Managed to get three more chapters done this week, two to go, but the next one is the toughest as all the report features have changed. I’ve been having problems trying to convert the screen shot images to CMYK in Paintshop Photo Pro X3 so I’m leaving them as RBG and hope the publishers can convert them.

The Way
I once received some excellent advice from a ski coach.  He said that I should try softer rather than trying harder.  “Imagine that the handles of the ski poles are little canaries in your hands”.  Several dead canaries later I finally stopped trying so hard and it worked!  Of course I immediately got very excited at my success, crossed my skis and had a spectacular crash!  The way is not always without a sense of humor.  

Everyone sees some things as excellent,  
Therefore other things become bad.  
Everyone sees some things as good,  
Therefore other things are not good.  

Extracted from “The Way of the Project Manager” by John Carroll (ISBN 978-1481076111), published by CreateSpace and available from Amazon in hard copy and on Amazon Kindle.

01 A New Beginning

A New Beginning
After what seems like a very long Christmas break it’s back to work on Project 2013 in easy steps again. I’ve got five more chapters to work on and I need to get them done before I head off to Australia.

All projects begin with a basic idea about something that could be changed or done differently.  But at that time very little is known about the project, it is just the beginning.  From this beginning many things will unfold and happen, these things will make up the project.  We may call them stages or phases or tasks or activities but they are just the things that will happen along the way.  The path or way through the project will develop and change throughout its life in response to what actually happens.  

The Way  
The Way of the Project Manager is about how things happen on projects.  The way cannot be learnt, it can only be known, so this is a quest for that knowledge.  There will be darkness but, hopefully, out of that darkness we will begin to know how things happen for this is the way of the project manager.  

The Way that can be told is not the eternal Way.  
The name that can be named is not the eternal name.  
The nameless is the beginning of Heaven and Earth.  
With a name the mother of the ten thousand things.  

Extract from “The Way of the Project Manager” by John Carroll (ISBN 978-1481076111), published by CreateSpace and available from Amazon in hard copy and on Amazon Kindle.

The End of the World

Well it's my birthday and according to some folks the world is going to end. Well it has to end sometime so today's as good as any other!

The Project
Got through to chapter 8 in Project 2013 in easy steps but had some real problems with PaintShop Photo Pro X3 (which I use for capturing and editing the screen shots). It started corrupting the tiff images when I try and save them as CMYK so I've reverted to RGB and hope the publishers can convert them.

There are no obstacles on the Way,
The obstacles are the Way.

On Going

Just finished chapter four of Project 2013 in easy steps and looking for inspiration in the Tao.

The Tao seems wild and obscure.
So obscure, so wild,
but within it there is form.

Now it's Friday evening so I'm off to The Bridge Inn for a pint :o)

Project 2013

Microsoft have just released Project 2013 (a bit ahead of time) so it's back to that project. I've got to work right through the book taking new screen shots and checking that nothing significant has changed in the functionality since the preview version.

Project 2013 in easy steps is currently scheduled for publication in April but the holiday season is looming and I'm off for a visit to Australia in January and February so there isn't that much time.

The sage, travelling all day, remains centered.
Though there are beautiful things to be seen,
He remains unattached and calm.

(or at least tries to in my case :o)

A Few Obstacles More

Well I now have a print version of The Way of the Project Manager as well as the Kindle version available on Amazon. The only problem is that in creating the print version I tried to link it to the Kindle version and now have two Kindle versions, one is the same as the print version and the other is the original. I think I can delete one of them but am going to wait until I am sure everything else is OK before doing so.

After a lot of thought I finally picked a photograph I thought was suitable for the cover:

It's one of the old Stone Ways up on Dartmoor. I took it on a walk on December 14 a couple of years ago. A brilliant day, bitterly cold but the sun was shining and the ground was firm (as it was frozen solid), It somehow seemed appropriate.

The Way Forward

I mentioned in my last post that "The Way of the Project Manager" had been published by Amazon (through Kindle Direct Publishing) and indeed it had. 

But I should have read chapter 64 again! I suddenly had a bolt out of the blue that they were querying the content as it was in the public domain. This surprised me as I took steps to ensure that my final content wasn't the same as on this blog, I even re-translated the text of the Tao so I wasn't infringing anyone else's copyright. Turns out that the good folk at PM Toolbox have been posting all my blogs on their web site as well so they virtually had my penultimate draft on line.  I have already reduced my comments to a summary on this blog as I've been finishing off each chapter and I will ask PM Toolbox if they can kindly do the same.

Anyhow Amazon seem satisfied that it really is my work so they are going ahead with the Kindle version and continuing working on the print version.

There are no obstacles on the way,
The obstacles are the Way.

Ending and Beginning

Chapter 81 was the last chapter of the Tao so this is the end of the cycle. But it is a cyclical process so out of the ending comes a new beginning. 

I have tried through this blog and “The Way of the Project Manager” to pass on my thoughts about the how of project management. Hopefully it has helped to open your mind and perhaps understood a little more. Now it is your turn to pass on that wisdom to others. The Way is in front of you, be confident.

The Way is not complex, the Way is simple.
Follow the simplest path, it is The Way.

The wise project manager seeks inner peace,
With inner peace comes understanding.

The wise project manager relishes not doing,
For this is the way of the project manager.

Stop Press

The Way of the Project Manager is now published on Amazon Kindle at: 

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AAUMHA6

81: The Reward

Chapter 81 is the final chapter in the Tao. Today it seems appropriate as I have just completed and submitted “The Way of the Project Manager” to Amazon Kindle Publishing. 

The wise project manager tries to help others to find their own success. The single principle teaches us that true benefit blesses everyone and diminishes no one, for this is the way of the project manager.

Lao Tzu tells us:

Truthful words are not beautiful.
Beautiful words are not truthful.
Good men do not argue.
Those who argue are not good.
Those who know are not learned.
The learned do not know.

The sage never tries to store things up.
The more he does for others, the more he has.
The more he gives to others, the greater his abundance.
The Tao of heaven is pointed but does no harm.
The Tao of the sage is work without effort.

80: The Simple Life

There is no point in trying to solve a problem by moving somewhere else, changing employers or friends. The good project manager is happy to use whatever he has and is content with where he is, for this is the way of the project manager.

Lao Tzu tells us:

A small country has fewer people.
Though there are machines that can work ten to a hundred times faster than man, they are not needed.
The people take death seriously and do not travel far.
Though they have boats and carriages, no one uses them.
Though they have armour and weapons, no one displays them.
Men return to the knotting of rope in place of writing.
Their food is plain and good, their clothes fine but simple, their homes secure;
They are happy in their ways.
Though they live within sight of their neighbours,
And crowing cocks and barking dogs are heard across the way,
Yet they leave each other in peace while they grow old and die.

79: Win or Loose

We are all one; there are no sides to take. The wise project manger goes along with what is happening anyway, for this is the way of the project manager.

Lao Tzu tells us:

After a bitter quarrel, some resentment must remain.
What can one do about it?
Therefore the sage keeps half of the bargain
But does not exact his due.
A man of virtue performs his part,
But a man without virtue requires others to fulfil their obligations.
The Tao of heaven is impartial.
It stays with good men all the time.