Limited time and lots to do

I have been reminded lately of my time limit. On the grand scale there is no worry about time; its just a concept. But when it comes down to us in our lives and our projects, there definitely is a limit. On a personal level, I am reminded of it as I watch my 99 year old mother-in-law age, while aches and pains and a recent wisdom tooth extraction remind me of my own aging.
Then there are project deadlines. There is so much to do, so many projects and the constancy of daily operations. Can we get it all in before the deadline? What will be postponed or put on the backburner until it becomes a fire?

kindness in project communications management

I was surprised to find that some colleagues were resistant to the use of the term "kindness" as a value along with truthfulness, clarity, completeness and others for communication in project management. Kindness is having the intention to benefit others, to be helpful and gentle. Kindness sets the stage for trust and openness which lead to more effective communications. Think about it, isn't it easier to communicate with people who are kind?

Criticism with loving kindness

Criticism may be positive (as in "That's really fine work") or negative (as in "The result falls short of expectations"). Negative criticism is particularly interesting. People often reactively resist negative criticism. This resistance gets in the way of learning and improving.

As critics, itis best to be clear, kind and constructive.

As one who is on the recieving end of negative criticism, it is best to accept what is being said as an opinion or point of view and then evaluate the criticism and the work being criticized to see what merit there is in the criticism. Even when the criticism isn't communicated in a kind and constructive way, it is still worth evaluating it objectively.

Open Minded

Open minded: free of mental constraints and unfounded beliefs so that creative, responsive and proactive behavior is possible.

Can you question your most cherished beliefs? If you can't, what does that say about them and you?

Unitics over politics

It is time to move from politics to unitics. Unitics seeks unity. Politics is based on conflict, it seeks win-lose solutions, or at best compromise. Politics is about conflict. Unitics is about resolution. Is unitics only for lunatics and saints? I think not. I think the time has come for us all to become unititians.

The Zen Approach - Open Minded Mindfulness

The Zen approach to Project Management: Working from Your Center to Balance Expectations and Performance is the title of my recent book (available via IIL Publishing, Amazon, etc.).
I have also been presenting a webinar every month for the past year or so call the Zen of PM. It's free from IIL (www.iil.com).

The basic premis of the Zen Approach is to appply open minded mindfulness to cut through the barriers to personal self-actualization while living effectively, joyfully and compassionately managing projects.