57: Doing Less and Being More

December 1, 2007 @ The Tao of Project Management from P M Blogger

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Some project managers need to feel that the team is dependant on them. This results in their interfering with the work of the team and making decisions. They make or enforce rules, which leads to a reduction in the freedom and responsibility of the team members. The more coercive they become, the more resistant the team becomes. Their manipulations will breed evasion. Every law creates an outlaw. This is no way to run a project.

The wise project manager establishes a clear and wholesome climate for the team and as a result the team acts in a wholesome manner. They run an open, honest project team. Their job is to facilitate and illuminate what is happening on the project. They interfere as little as possible because interference, no matter how brilliant, creates a dependency.

When the leader practices silence, the team remains focused. When the leader does not impose rules, the team discovers its own goodness. When the leader acts unselfishly, the team simply does what is to be done. Good leadership consist of doing less and being more, for this is the way of the project manager.

The Tao
Lao Tsu tells us:

Rule a nation with justice.
Wage war with surprise moves.
Become master of the universe without striving.
How do I know that this is so?
Because of this!

The more laws and restrictions there are,
The poorer people become.
The sharper men’s weapons,
The more trouble is in the land.
The more ingenious and clever men are,
The more strange things happen.
The more rules and regulations,
The more thieves and robbers.

Therefore the sage says:
I take no action and people are reformed.
I enjoy peace and people become honest.
I do nothing and people become rich.
I have no desires and people return to the good and simple life.


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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