81: The Reward

Chapter 81 is the final chapter in the Tao and likewise this blog.  

The Project
Having just completed Project Program and Portfolio Management in easy steps, I particularly enjoyed saying thank you to the friends and colleagues who helped me along with the publisher, who as ever added some nice touches with their illustrations on the chapter heading pages.  Despite some problems along the way, the project was successful and the whole team can take the credit for that as they did it.  The next project is to plan and execute an update to Agile Project Management in easy steps with David Morris (who will be taking it over after this update).

The Way  
Poor project managers try to claim they have a string of successful projects to their credit (whether they really were successful or not).  Wise project managers don’t try to claim anything, instead they help others to find success.  In sharing success with others they are successful in line with the single principle, which teaches us that true benefit blesses everyone and diminishes no one. 

Truthful words are not beautiful.  
Beautiful words are not truthful.  

Good men do not discriminate.  
Those who discriminate are not virtuous.  
Those who know are not learned.  
The learned do not understand.  

The sage does not store things up.  
When he helps others, he lives better.  
The more he gives to others, the greater his power.  

80: A Simple Life

Keep It Simple Stupid (KISS) is one of my favourite acronyms.  As project managers, if we want to be free we must act and live simply.  

The poor project manager tries every new tool that appears and reads every new project management book that comes out, hoping it will give him the edge.  The world is always full of new and exciting things, so what?  

The Way  
The wise project manager is happy to use whatever he has and is content with wherever he is. There is no point in trying to solve a problem by moving somewhere else, changing employers or friends.  He knows the grass is not greener on the other side of the fence.  The good project manager keeps everything simple and makes space for spending time with the team.  

A small country has fewer people.  
Though they have skilled men,  
They are not needed.  
The people take death seriously,  
And do not move far away.  

Though there are boats and carriages,  
There is nowhere they want to go to.  
Though they have armour and weapons, 
They have no need to one display them.  

People return to knotting of rope,  
And using it.
Savour their food, admire their clothes,  
Their homes are tranquil,  
Their ways pleasurable.  

79: Delivering

The Project
I finally received my author’s copies of Project Program and Portfolio Management and I must say it looks good.  The publishers have added some nice images on the chapter header pages and made very few changes to my text.  However, the delivery service by Hermes was awful, they promised it early last week and it only arrived (via another courier) yesterday and the packaging was damaged.

Looking back at the notes from my last major project I see that I was disappointed that I hadn’t been able to deliver everything I would have liked.  But on the positive side, the project team were good and they felt, rightly, that they had done a good job with what we were able to achieve, so maybe it was a success after all.  While noting the things we hadn’t been able to achieve, I wrote it up their way, it was their project after all.  

The Way  
The wise project manager yields his position gracefully and returns to facilitating what is happening.  We are all one; there are no sides to take.  The wise project manager goes along with what is happening anyway.  

After a bitter quarrel is resolved,  
Grievance must remain.  
How can this be considered good?  

Therefore the sage keeps his half of the bargain,  
And yet does not exact his tally from the other.  
A man of virtue performs his part,  
But a man without virtue exacts his due.  

The Tao of heaven has no favourites,  
Constantly approving mankind.  

78: Opposites

The Project
Well Project Program and Portfolio Management in easy steps is now out in print and the publishers have sent me my author’s copies but I haven’t received them yet. I was going to crack a bottle of bubbly to, celebrate but it will have to wait until they arrive. I will just have to make do with a couple of pints at the Bridge Inn instead. I need it as I’ve wasted the whole day sorting out my email accounts, which both seemed to go mad at the same time. Losing all the header information, delivering the text as raw HTML or just refusing to send or receive. It would be nice to have an IT support group rather than being it! One minute the world is rosy the next it’s all gloom, it’s all about opposites.

The Way  
The wise project manager is like water, soft and yielding, yet water can wear away rock, which is rigid and cannot yield (living in Topsham we witnessed it ripping apart the Goat Walk and two stretches sea defence walls).  As a general rule, whatever is soft and yielding will overcome whatever is rigid and hard.  

The wise project manager knows that yielding overcomes resistance and gentleness melts rigid defences.  He does not fight the force of the project team’s energy, but flows and yields and absorbs and let’s go.  This ability to be soft makes the wise project manager a good leader.  This is another paradox: what is soft is strong and what is hard is weak.  

Nothing in the world is as soft and weak as water.  
But to attack the hard and strong,  
Nothing can beat it.  

Weak conquers strong,  
Soft conquers hard.  
Everything in the world knows this,  
Yet none can put it into practice.  

Therefore the sage says:  
He who takes upon himself the humiliation of the people,  
Might be called ruler of the village.  
He who takes upon himself the country’s misfortunes,  
Might be called ruler of the world.  
True words represent their opposites.  

77: Letting Go

The Project
Still no news from the printers but Project Program and Portfolio Management in easy steps should be out any day now. It’s available to pre-order on Amazon and I just checked their web site and it says 31 August 2014 so it should be available on Monday! I always feel the tension building up at this stage so it will be nice to get the book in my hand and let all the tension go (once I’ve checked there are no errors :o)

Natural events are like the drawing of a bow.  First being drawn taunt, then the energy is released and redistributed.  To fill what is empty and to reduce what is overflowing.  But in our materialistic society those who have a lot want even more, which means that those who have little get less and less.  

The Way  
The wise project manager follows the natural order of events and does not take the consumer society as a model.  By serving the project team and being generous, the wise project manager knows abundance.  By being selfless, he helps others realize themselves. By being a disinterested facilitator, unconcerned with praise or reward, he becomes potent and successful.  

The wise project manager’s behavior works because it is based on this understanding.  His behavior may seem strange to those who do not understand.  He does what has to be done and moves on without looking for recognition.  

The Tao of heaven resembles the drawing of a bow.  
The top is lowered and the bottom is raised.  
Excess is diminished, deficiency is filled.  
The Tao of heaven diminishes surplus and fills up deficit.  

The way of man is not thus.  
He takes from those who do not have enough,  
To give to those who already have too much.  

Who having more than enough can offer it to the world?  
One who follows the Tao.  

Therefore the sage acts but makes no demands on others.  
Work done he moves on.  
He has no wish to appear virtuous.  

76: Flexible or Rigid

The Project
Last few queries from the printers dealt with so Project Program and Portfolio Management in easy steps should even now be rolling off the presses. The end of a project is always a little fraught and I just realized they didn’t send me a final proof to check but the only thing they should have changed is adding a few graphics to liven up the bland pages. Once I get a printed copy in my hand I can close the project.

Looking back at the handover notes from one of my old projects (strictly speaking a program), I was struck by the difference between the flexible approach we had adopted over the preceding two years and the rigid approach that the new team was going to take.  This was based on their use of a set way of doing everything on a project.  

The Way  
A poor project manager will often takes a rigid approach and is set in his ways of doing things. He will repeat what he has done before, as he ‘knows it works’.  But that will make his project management structured and repetitious and he will be unable to cope with those more ‘interesting’ moments and team processes that seem to happen on real projects.  

The wise project manager, on the other hand, knows that what is flexible and flowing will tend to grow and develop.  So he allows the team to go with the flow and things develop naturally.  

A man when living is flexible and weak,  
At death he is firm and strong.  

All creatures, plants and trees when living are flexible and fragile.  
When dead they are withered and dry.  

Therefore the firm and the strong are companions of death.  
The flexible and weak are companions of life.  

Therefore if an army is not flexible,
Then it cannot conquer.  

Strong trees are used to make weapons.  
The great and strong will fall.  
The flexible and weak will achieve.  

75: Without Motive

The Project
Project Program and Portfolio Management in easy steps is finally at the printers.  I had a last minute query about the lack of a comma and have added an explanation to the author’s notes so it should be available any day now.  They really are a great team at In Easy Steps.

Poor project managers try to take the credit when their teams do something good or achieve something notable.  This means the team begin to feel their work is not appreciated and won’t try so hard the next time.  Then poor project managers try to put pressure on their teams in an effort to get more work done but it just makes the team unresponsive.  

The Way  
The wise project manager is not greedy, selfish, defensive or demanding.  He has no hidden motive and knows that he can trust events to unfold naturally.  

The people are hungry,  
Because the rulers take too much tax.  
Therefore there is hunger.  

The people are difficult to govern,    
Because the rulers interfere too much.  
Therefore they are difficult to govern.  

People make light of death,  
Because their search for life is substantial.  
Therefore they take death lightly.  

He who lives without motive,  
Is talented at appreciating life.  

74: Fear and Punishment

In most projects there will be issues with some of the team not being able to complete their allocated tasks on time.  The poor project manager tries to act as judge, jury and executioner instead of allowing nature to take its course.  He admonishes people when they don’t do something they should have.  But punishing people is not an effective way of controlling their behaviour.  The poor project manager will eventually find that punishing others will end up hurting himself.  

The Way  
The wise project manager knows that there are natural consequences for every act.  His role is to shed light on these natural consequences.  He helps people to understand what is going on rather than attacking their behaviour.  

If the people are not afraid to die,  
It is no use to threaten them with death.  
If people constantly fear death,  
And any breaking the law I can seize and kill,  
Who would dare?  

The official executioner kills.  
As to he who tries to take his place,  
This is like trying to be the master carpenter cutting wood.  
He who cuts in place of the master carpenter,  
Seldom escapes injury to his hand.  
 

73: Courage and Caution

Project Program and Portfolio Management in easy steps should be released any day now and it seems like an eternity since I put the final draft in. I haven’t yet decided what to write about next.

As ever there is a lot of conflict in the world today and we often hear the word courage applied to soldiers but that is an active form of courage that tends to get people killed.  The other form of courage is a passive or inner courage and that keeps people alive, but which of the two is better?  

As is often the case, there is no right answer to that question.  Each has its benefits and its drawbacks; neither takes precedence in the way of the project manager.  The way is about how things happen, but it does not guide us on what we should do.  

The Way  
The poor project manager, when uncertain of what to do, frequently asks for advice.  The wise project manager knows that he has freedom of choice and must therefore take individual responsibility.  By becoming more conscious of what is happening, he can see how things happen.  By seeing how things happen, he can make a decision about what to do.  The way teaches us that that what people do is their own responsibility, but the pattern of their behavior still follows natural law.  The wise project manager knows that no one else can make decisions for him, it is up to him.  

The brave in daring will be killed.  
The brave in not daring will survive.  
Of these two, one may benefit, the other may harm.  
Some things heaven dislikes, who knows why?  
Even the sage finds this difficult.  

The Tao of heaven:  
Does not contest, and yet it conquers,  
Does not speak, and yet it answers,  
Is not summoned, yet it arrives of its own choice.  
Centered yet with a good plan.  
Heaven’s net is very large,  
Very open yet nothing drops through.

72: Being Humble

A project manager has to be able to speak openly about issues with the project team, even if it could risk causing offence to some team members.  It makes sense to balance this by understanding about their work and any other problems they may have and not put undue pressure on them.  There are always new things to discover and understand when working with people.  It is very humbling.  

The Way  
The wise project manager lives in harmony with spiritual values.  There is a way of knowing that is higher than reason.  There is a self, greater than egocentricity.  The wise project manager demonstrates the power of selflessness and the unity of all creation.  

When the people do not fear terror,  
There will be a great terror.  
Respect their dwelling places.  
Do not dislike their work.  
By not disliking, they will not dislike.  

Therefore the sage naturally understands,  
But is not self-promoting.  
Self-loving not self-promoting.  
Therefore he lets go of one,  
And chooses the other.  

71: Not Knowing

As Al Gore once tried to say: no one has all the answers and knowing that you don’t know everything is far wiser than thinking that you know a lot when maybe you don’t.  It’s a shame he got a little confused somewhere along the line.

As a project manager I might be able to do some things right and I might even be able to ask the right questions sometimes, but technically it’s the team that provides the answers.  
Poor project managers are afraid of looking foolish, so they often pretend to know about something when really they don’t.  

The Way  
The wise project manager has learned it is painful to fake knowledge.  Being wise and not wanting the pain, the wise project manager does not indulge in pretending.  He can happily say: I don’t know when he doesn’t know the answer.  

Know not knowing first.  
Not knowing is sickness.  
Being sick of sickness, 
Then one is not sick.  
The sage is not sick, 
Being sick of sickness.  
Therefore he is not sick.  

70: Simple Wisdom

There is nothing new in the way of the project manager.  It is simple and easy to understand as it goes back to basic principles.  Poor project managers do not understand this approach; perhaps it is too simple and basic to attract their attention.  They prefer something more radical and innovative, as that is what gets them noticed.  

The Way  
The wise project manager stays with the single principle of how everything happens and does nothing new or original.  But paradoxically the wise project manager appeals to very few followers, just to those who recognise that traditional wisdom is a treasure, which can often lay hidden beneath a very ordinary appearance.  The wise project manager keeps things simple and easy to understand and cherishes the way.  

My words are very easy to understand,  
Very easy to act on.  
Yet in the world no man understands,  
Or acts on them.  

My words have ancient beginnings.  
My deeds are noble.  
As men do not understand,  
Thus I am not understood.  

He that understands me is rare,  
In that way I am honoured.  
Thus the sage wears coarse clothing,  
And cherishes the jewel in his heart.  

69: Fight or Flight

If a member of the project team wants to pick a fight with you, consider the strategy of a great guerrilla leader, such as Fidel Castro or Che Guevara.  Never seek a fight and if one comes to you, yield and step back.  It is far better to step back than to overstep yourself.  Your strength is your awareness of what is happening.  Your weapon is the light of your consciousness.  

The Way  
The foolish project manager initiates the attack and is therefore off centre and easily thrown. The wise project manager has respect for any attacker.  He advances only when there is no resistance.  If you make a point, do not cling to it.  If you win, be gracious.  The wise project manager never surrenders their compassion nor uses their skill to harm anyone needlessly.  He knows that in the end, the more compassionate will win.  

I dare not advance an inch but prefer to withdraw ten.  
This is called acting without action,  
Seizing without weapons,  
Pushing without resistance,  
Managing without weapons.  

There is no greater disaster than underestimating the enemy.  
Underestimating the enemy, 
I will lose my treasures.  
Therefore when battle is joined,  
The more compassionate will win.  

68: Opportunities

The Project
In Easy Steps are currently proofing Project Program and Portfolio Management and they have asked for a few minor changes which I’ve completed so it shouldn’t be long now, but these things always take time.  Sourdough Bread Made Easy (absolutely nothing to do with project management for a change) has now been published by CreateSpace and is available from Amazon in hard copy and Kindle format.

“Fools rush in” as the old saying goes and that applies to poor project managers.  Good generals do not rush into battle, they prepare and offer the enemy the opportunity of making a self-defeating error.  Good project managers do not achieve success through constraints and limitations, they achieve success by providing opportunities.  

The Way  
Good leadership is about motivating people to achieve at the highest levels by offering them opportunities, not obligations.  That is how things happen naturally.  The wise project manager is patient and humble.  He knows that life is an opportunity and not an obligation.  

A good soldier is not violent.  
A good fighter is not angry.  
A good victor is not vengeful.  
A good manager is humble.  
This one might call not contesting.  
This one might call the ability to use others.  
This one might call the ultimate principle of the ancients.  
 

67: Three Qualities

The sun is shining and all seems right with the world. It’s amazing what the weather can do to one’s outlook.  Not only that, it’s Friday and The Bride Inn beckons.  Are they both part of the single principle?

The single principle of how everything happens is great, but the project managers who follow it know they are in fact quite ordinary.  Having a great ego does not make a project manager great it has quite the opposite effect.  A project manager who is filled with self-interest cannot be caring or courageous.  Project managers who act in a superior way, are not superior they are poor project managers.  

The Way  
The wise project manager knows that there are three qualities that are invaluable to the leader: compassion for all; a material simplicity or frugality; and a sense of humility.  A compassionate person acts in the belief of everyone’s right to life.  Material simplicity gives one an abundance to share.  A sense of humility is, paradoxically, one’s true greatness.  These qualities sustain life because we are all one.  When we care for the team members, we enhance the energy of the whole team.  

I have three treasures which I possess and guard.  
The first is compassion,  
The second is frugality;  
The third is humility.  

From compassion comes courage,  
From frugality comes generosity,  
And from humility comes leadership.  

Nowadays men forsake compassion and try to be courageous,  
Forsake economy and try to be generous,  
Forsake humility and try to be first.  
This is certain death.  

A compassionate man is able to contest,  
Then the strength to protect.  
Nature helps, compassion protects.  

66: Supportive Leadership

It's Friday and the sun is shining in the South West (and has been since I opened the swimming pool for the early morning Nutters Club at 05:30) so after work The Bridge Inn will be calling loud and clear.  Meantime I have work to do plus a visit to the dentist this morning and the physiotherapist this afternoon.  Must try to stay positive and think of The Bridge!

The Project
Still no news from the publishers on Project Program and Portfolio Management, so I assume (with my fingers crossed) that it is going well.  Meanwhile the next book Sourdough Bread Made Easy (makes a nice change from Project Management) is well on its way, I just need to take a few more pictures to illustrate some steps and variations.  But I digress as none of this has anything to do with leadership.  

What we call leadership consists mainly of knowing how to follow.  But poor project managers will try to promote their own agenda and drag or push the team in the direction they wish it to go in.  

The Way  
The wise project manager stays in the background and facilitates the work of the team.  The great things they do go largely unnoticed.  Because they do not push or manipulate the team, there is no resentment or resistance from the team.  Because they are open, any issue can be raised.  Because they have no position to defend and show no favouritism, no one feels threatened. 

Wishing to guide the people,  
You must speak to them humbly.  
Wishing to lead the people,  
You must follow behind.  

Thus when the sage rules,  
He is not a burden to the people;  
When he stands before them,  
He does not harm them.  

The whole world will support him,  
And will not weary of him.  
Because he does not compete,  
He does not meet competition.  

65: Trying to be Clever

Back home again after two interesting weeks in the Republic of (South) Korea for a Korean wedding and a tour of the country.  Had a great time and the Korean people are really nice. Only problem was I couldn't access my main email account and my (1G) mobile phone didn't work there!  But it made it nice and peaceful.

The Project
No problems or queries from my publishers yet on Project Program and Portfolio Management in easy steps, hopefully no news is good news. 

The Way  
Some project managers tend to see the world in terms of theories and often have a very intricate view of what is happening.  Simplicity and clarity are difficult for them and they are consequently very hard to work with.  They try to be clever, but this only ends up confusing the team members.  

The wise project manager does practices a way of life based on consciousness and wisdom.  By returning to an awareness of what is happening, they clarify things and enlighten the team.  Keeping things simple will save them a lot of trouble.  

Of old the ancient masters,  
Did not enlighten the common people,  
But kept them ignorant.  
People become difficult to govern, 
If they become too clever.  

Using too much cleverness to govern,  
Will ruin the country.  
Not using cleverness to govern,  
Will bring happiness to the country.  
He who understands these two rules,  
Understands the principle.  
 

64: Beginning, Middle and End

The Project
I currently find myself at the beginning of one project (Topsham Walking Tour Guides), the middle of another (Sourdough Bread Made Easy) and (hopefully) the end of a third project (Project Program and Portfolio Management in easy steps), which is currently being proof read by the publishers. 

Projects and project teams have different needs and require different skills from the project manager in the early, middle and later stages of a project.  In the early stages team building skills are usually required; the middle stages require problems and conflicts to be recognised and addressed; and the later stages usually require some team motivation.  

Poor project managers jump right in and push too much in the early stages, instead of letting things flow naturally.  The wise project manager lets things take their natural course.  Once the project is underway, they can step back as much as possible, recognising that needless intervention will only confuse the team.  Towards the end poor project managers can again spoil the work by getting too eager and pushy.  

The Way  
The wise project manager does not try to do too much and does not worry about getting the credit for having done something.  Because he has no expectations, no outcome can be called a failure.  

Peace is easy to maintain.  
It is easy to plan things before they start.  

That which is brittle is easily broken,  
That which is small is easily scattered.  
Act before it happens.  
Put things in order before they are confused.  

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.  
He who acts with motive will suffer defeat.  
He who seizes will lose.  
Thus the sage acts without motive,  
And so does not fail.  

63: Handling Difficulties

All projects run into difficulties from time to time and poor project managers may well be responsible for some of these difficulties themselves.  Some project managers actually seem to encourage difficulties by their actions.  Even worse, some project managers try to ignore difficult situations, but this can result in the need for hectic activities from the team to sort out the problem when they finally face up to it.  

The Way  
The wise project manager knows how to act effectively and stays aware and remaining unbiased.  By being aware he will know what is happening; and will not act rashly.  By being unbiased, he can act in a balanced and centred manner.  When difficulties do occur, he breaks things down into their constituent parts and deals with each in turn.  

Act without motive.  
Work without working.  
Taste the tasteless.  
Make big the small, make many the few.  

Repay resentment with virtue.  
Plan the difficult as if it is easy.  
In the world difficult things must be treated as easy.  
In the world big things must be treated as small.  

Thus the sage never does the big,  
And can therefore accomplish the big.  
Easy promise is rarely reliable.  
Taking things carelessly ensures great difficulty.  

Thus the sage considers things as difficult,  
Therefore never has difficulty.  

62: Gift of Wisdom

The Project
I was getting anxious that I hadn’t heard anything back from my publishers since I uploaded the final version of Project Program and Portfolio Management. But when I called them they hadn’t even had a chance to look at it yet, so they’ve missed the April publication date but no worries they should have it out in May.

Some project managers tend to abandon anyone who doesn’t seem to understand how they do things on their project.  This shows that they themselves don’t understand how things happen.  Everyone has the ability to work things out for themselves.  Conflicts will resolve themselves sooner or later.  Even without the light of consciousness, people will grow and improve.  

The Way  
The wise project manager knows that sharing the way with others is the greatest gift he can give. He is aware of how things happen and this makes his words more potent and his behaviour more effective.  Knowing how things work gives the project manager more real power and ability than any number of degrees or titles.  This is why people in every culture and time have honoured those who know how things happen and the wise project manager understands this.  

Tao is the source of the ten thousand things.  
It is the treasure of the good man,  
And the protection of the bad.  

Fine words can abound,  
Good deeds can gain benefit.  
People exist who are not good,  
Do not abandon them.  

Therefore on the day the emperor is crowned,  
And the three officers of state installed,  
Do not salute them with jade and a team of four horses,  
But remain still and offer the Tao.