There is far more to Project Management than Bodies of Knowledge, certifications, and arguments on LinkedIn. Real mastery comes from living and experiencing daily project management practices until what works gets embedded in your way of working to the extent becomes second nature.
In this article, I want to discuss two specific experiences of my own. I’ll draw lessons from them and make seven suggestions for specific things you can do to help you lead with calm precision.
The Idea for this Article
I robbed the idea for this article (and its title) from two sources. Robert Pirsig wrote the 1970s best-seller, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values. He played on the title of a 1940s book, Zen in the Art of Archery, by Eugen Herrigel.
- Zen in the Art of Archery discusses the way long years of deep practice can create an astonishing level of unconscious control of a complex task
- Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is a fictionalized autobiography that explores concepts of good, truth, and quality.
So, what has Zen got to do with Project Management?
Arguably, more than it has to do with Japanese archery or motorcycle maintenance! But then, I know nothing about either.
But I do know how to manage a project, and I have a fair idea of some of the main principles of Zen, although, admittedly, they date back to a fascination many students have in our late teens and early twenties with Eastern thought.
But it seems to me there are two interconnected clusters of ideas that define the practice and philosophy of Zen. Although one of them is the part that eschews philosophizing! So, I’ll be careful not to do that then.
Our Agenda
I’ll start with an introductory section:
Then, we’ll look at the two primary ideas
We’ll end with my practical advice
We start with some basic context…
Zen and Self-Knowledge
I think the essence of Zen is a quest for self-knowledge. It links the two poles I mentioned above. It demands that we try to understand the meaning of our lives directly, from our experiences.
My Own Zen Experiences of Project Management
This leads me to two specific experiences I had as a project manager. Each one illustrates nicely one of the two aspects of Zen that I shall identify. But more importantly for you, it illustrates an essential insight into the art and craft of project management.
I’ll discuss:
- A Still Center amid Project Chaos
- Reading your Project in Tones not Hues
A Still Center amid Project Chaos
‘What do we pay you for?’ said my boss one day, when he was visiting my project.
‘Whenever I visit’ he told me, ‘I see you sitting on a sofa, drinking coffee, talking with one of your team leaders.’ I thanked him for his concern about my coffee consumption. The tea in that office was dreadful.
He was right, of course. And not just about the coffee.
We were in the thick of a high-pressure, sharp-deadline stage of the project. So, my response was to try to spend as much time as I could, sitting and chatting with my team leaders. Because, as I told my boss, that was my job.
Here’s why.
I worked hard to develop a robust and precise project plan that each of my team leads could sign up to. I set out a framework, asked them to fill in the details for their work-stream, and then brokered resolutions to clashes, overlaps, and missing elements.
And now we were in delivery mode. My team leaders knew their tasks, their teams, and their timescales. They had capable teams and all the resources they would need. I trusted them, and I hope they trusted me, to let them do their jobs the way they chose to.
So, what was my job?
My job was to:
- Provide my team leaders with the support they needed
- Understand each work-stream’s status
- Support the links between teams
- Identify project-scale problems
- Help my team leaders resolve their issues
And how would I do that?
By calmly making a regular assessment of the situation of each work-stream. And then quietly reflecting on the big picture, and what all those conversations told me.
Also, by not having a load of ‘stuff’ to do, I would be able to react quickly and flexibly to any issue that arose. Like when Richard found an error in his team’s analysis, but could not trace the source.
Deploying my Reserves
I’m no deep expert, but I could drop everything to make some phone calls, negotiate with some senior colleagues, and source him the expert he needed.
She duly turned up, reviewed the team’s work, and pointed her pen at one column of data. Her work was done. And so was mine; at least for that crisis. That’s what my boss paid me for.
Self Control
Zen emphasizes self-control and a peaceful, relaxed demeanor. And that needs to be inside, as well as outside of you, by the way. If you can achieve this, you can free yourself from the stresses and anxieties of your project. You can steer clear of frustration, upset, and anger.
Theme 1 is calm.
Reading your Project in Tones not Hues
I learned the next lesson from a colleague, Judith (yes, her real name). I was a Program Manager, coordinating and leading the work of a number of project managers. Judith was one of them and, by far, the most experienced and capable. More so than I was, that’s for sure!
Part of my job was to ensure that, at the corporate level, my client understood the status of each of the projects within the program. This was a complex, high-risk program. And I was successful in running it in part through my ability to cut through the complexity to see the main plotlines.
So, I would meet my project managers and team leaders frequently for a detailed update.
The only problem was Judith.
She and I were great friends, but we failed to work well together at first.
I wanted clear, incisive, actionable data. Judith had that, but she knew that it would not always tell the whole story. And sometimes, the bits it missed out were important. The simple data alone can lead you in the wrong direction.
To Judith, everything was data: even the complex stuff. And she wanted me to understand it all. But I was impatient. My attitude was simple (and simplistic):
“Just the facts, ma’am.”
Apocryphal popular saying misattributed to
Detective Joe Friday, in the US TV series Dragnet
Judith used a metaphor that has stuck with me for twenty-five years. She said:
“The problem is, Mike, that you want to see the world in black and white,
but I can only see it in many shades of colour.”
Judith was British.
She’d never have spelled colour without a u.
The Nature of Reality
Zen tells us that true meanings are rarely susceptible to simple interpretation. We need to be aware of every little detail of tint, tone, and shade. We need to consider it all and synthesize a deeper understanding.
That’s what Judith taught me to do. We learned to meet over lunch. She’d tell me the story of what was happening on her project, using all the tints, tones, and shades.
At the end, we’d sit down formally, and I’d try to distil it into the clear picture I needed. Not monochrome, I hope, but certainly with a broader range of hues.
Theme 2 is precision.
How to Increase the Zen of Your Project Management
So, what are some of the things you can do, as a project manager, to get more of the spirit of Zen into your practice? Here are my top seven suggestions:
1. One thing at a time
There’s so much to do, it’s easy to fall into multitasking. That’s a mistake. Your focus goes, and you easily miss the essence of what you’re doing at best, and make mistakes at worst.
Focus on one thing at a time and give it your full attention. Get it done, or get to a key point, before putting it down, taking a break, and starting something else. Serial mono-tasking beats multi-tasking every time. It’s more efficient, prevents confusion, and reduces errors.
2. Slow down
Do things that matter, and take the time to do them well: really well. Be deliberate in the way you do things and speak with people.
Inserting a pause before speaking or responding gives you time to think. Slowing your reading, writing, and actions creates a sense of calm and a space for precision.
3. Finish what you start
It’s way too tempting to get to ‘nearly’ and move on. Zen, like project management, requires ‘done’.
A robust Definition of Done is a key project management step. But what matters equally is that you respect it and deliver it… Properly. If you think you need a shortcut, ask if you are in a rush or if your process for defining done was flawed.
4. Do less
To make the time to slow down and finish what you start, you’ll probably need to do less. Put aside the trivia and the things that won’t matter when the project is done.
In the Urgent and Important map, the urgent stuff will drive you crazy and barely move the dial on success. It’s the important stuff that matters.
5. Leave gaps in your day
If you are doing something all the time, there will be no room for thinking, spotting opportunities, or reacting to crises. This will cause conflicts and stress. When there are no crises or opportunities, use the gaps to chill out and reflect. You’ll be surprised at the value of the ideas that come to you.
So schedule slots in your day with no direct obligations. Use the time for reflection or relaxation. If things do turn up (threats or opportunities), tackle them with focus.
6. Develop rituals
Zen monks have rituals for most of their activities. Rather than constrain you, rituals free you up. If you don’t need to think about what you’ll be doing between 10 am and 11 am, then you can be thinking about the meaning of that strange comment one of your stakeholders made in yesterday’s meeting.
Creativity comes when your mind is not occupied. Empty it by taking away the million small decisions you may otherwise need to make. Tools like templates and checklists are a great way to free you up to focus on the content, rather than the process.
7. Serve others
In a recent article, I wrote about Servant Leadership and how it delivers great results for your team. The idea of service is central to Zen Buddhism. It develops a sense of humility and selflessness. And, when you serve others, they will serve you better, because you will free them from some of their low-value tasks.
Learn about the ideas of servant leadership (short summary below) and start to put them into practice. Not only will it serve your team, but it will also calm your thinking. There is peace in service.
Where to Read Zen Wisdom
There are a lot of books on Zen thinking out there. Lessons on life, leadership, and archery. It can be tempting to think of them as feeble new-age cod philosophy. But don’t. Find one by a reputable expert on the subject, like Christmas Humphreys, Thomas Cleary, or Paul Reps.
They are filled with genuinely powerful insights. But you will need to think about the words long and hard. Let them sit and stew in your unconscious. Because many will defy easy analysis. Let me retell a favorite, in my own words:
“If there is a fire at the bottom of a pile of wood and you are lying on top of it, then while the heat has not yet reached you, you will feel certain you are safe.”
What is going on at the bottom of your project pile today?
What are Your Thoughts on the Zen (or Other Philosophy) of Project Management?
Please share your thoughts in the comments below. I’m looking forward to reading and responding to them.
