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45: Appearing Foolish

August 31, 2007 @ The Tao of Project Management from P M Blogger

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Some project managers seem to project an aura of speed and purpose. They are always busy and never have enough time to deal with the little niceties of life. But they do seem to have enough time to keep checking up on the team members and interfering with what they are doing. They try to appear to be ‘an expert’ on everything and will always give their views on the right way to do anything. Are the effective or are they just flapping about generating heat?

The good project manager tries to keep things simple and appears to do very little. This lack of needless intervention allows the team to grow and be productive and effective. But it can sometimes appear that the project manager is sitting there with no idea of what to do and this can be disconcerting for a team member who is more used to project managers behaving dynamically. When the project manager does speak it is often to say something obvious and it can sound simple-minded. Because what he says is also honest it may seem perplexing and, perhaps worst of all, the project manager’s stillness may even appear to be foolishness.

But the project manager’s stillness overcomes the team’s agitation. The project manager’s consciousness is his primary tool and this is what gets things done. This is the way of the project manager.

The Tao
Lao Tsu tells us:

Great accomplishment seems imperfect,
Yet it does not outlive its usefulness.
Great fullness seems empty,
Yet it cannot be exhausted.

Great straightness seems twisted.
Great intelligence seems stupid.
Great eloquence seems awkward.

Movement overcomes cold.
Stillness overcomes heat.
Stillness and tranquillity set things in order in the universe.


This article is syndicated from The Tao of Project Management . The original article is available here. Read more in Project Management News, The Tao of Project Management .

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