Vision Reminders to Do the Work

Once you’ve taken the opportunity to uncover your why of project management (and potentially other areas of your life) it is time to bring your why into focus. Keeping it visible, tangible, and ever present allows it to continue to flourish. I find that a sticky note, a vision board, a reminder of some sort is extremely beneficial. There is a boost in energy when my eyes land on what is important to me. I find that seeing it reminds me to be it and being it creates the energy to take the actions needed to be my best at what I’m doing. The actions needed to be my best are what practicing is all about. Practicing, repeatedly pushing my limits, can at times be boring and can fall into mindlessness. The boost of energy to be what I am choosing to be and do it to the best of my ability in any given moment requires reminders. Your why is your reminder of the reasons you have chosen to BE a project manager.

Take 20 minutes to create a picture, a page, a 3x5 card or a big sticky that you can see on a regular basis as a reminder. Create it in a way that you will smile when your eyes land on it. Make it so that it is real for you, a way to shower yourself with the energy of what you want to create with your project management. Whether you recognize it or not, you are creating something in every moment of your day. You are generating something out of nothing with every breath. Just like your cells regenerating, you are evolving into your own creation by navigating the circumstances of your life. Each choice you make, either moving toward or away from your why, is something you are creating. Bringing your best self to what you are creating is what practicing is all about. Having your reminders in place will allow you to continue to practice when you may rather not and while motivation is not the only thing necessary to maintain a practice regimen, it is one of the components that will make a difference.

One thing before closing out this post and I may find myself coming back to it often. Abraham Hicks loves to say “Words do not teach” and I’ve heard other similar phrases. It is like getting caught in a web of books. Reading, studying, and listening to continue to improve whatever we are focused on improving without taking any action. Reading without applying what is being read does not work. Knowledge without action does not work. It is through experience, trial and error, and repeatedly shifting when something isn’t working (which is what practicing is) that we will learn. It is like reading a book with exercises and not doing the exercises or like being in a class, workshop or lecture without participating. It is through choosing to be present, putting ourselves on the line, doing something we’ve not done before, trying something that is uncomfortable and stretches our current mindset that creates an environment where growth can happen.

Take the time, know why you’ve chosen to be a project manager, know what is important to you, get in touch with your reasons that you’ve picked this particular career. It may be the best gift you can give yourself to lighten your step and make the journey enjoyable. It takes time, energy and commitment to become good at something. Let yourself know your reasons so you can make the commitment, create consistency, embrace compassion, generate clarity, and grow your competence. It will give you insights into how you spend your time and what you want to contribute to your own growth. As I’ve been told, do the work, without doing the work, nothing will change.

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Finding your Why for Project Management

This week, we continue to explore practicing from the perspective of what motivates us to practice. We will do this by digging for and identifying the root cause of everything that we choose to practice in our lives. Last week, I suggested writing down all the reasons why you chose (and choose every day) to be a project manager, to practice project management. This week, I’d like you to spend some time with that list and dig into each a bit more. A method which has been supportive to me is similar to the 5 why’s used in Six Sigma, Kaizen and other methodologies to improve processes. Here is, in essence, how it works.

I’d just been let go from a job, I was devastated but also I was filled with fear of what was going to happen if I didn’t find another job. The question that came next surprised me, “Okay, what would happen if you didn’t find a job”. My answer was, I wouldn’t be able to pay my bills. Another question came, “And then what would happen”. My response, I’d have to get rid of x, y and z. Another question. “And if you still didn’t find a job?”. These questions or similar ones came until I had lost all my possessions, sold them and was living somewhere, like a friends, my sisters and at the time, my moms. In other words, we followed the “what would happen next” until I’d lost everything and had gotten to the root of my fear and realized, I’d be okay.

Finding the root of the reasons for you choosing to be a project manager may be supportive, powerful, and insightful if you use a similar method. Pick a reason from your list and ask the next logical question (such as why is that important to you or what would that accomplish for you or what do you mean by that) and if you cannot think of one, call, text, or write your friends, colleagues, coaches or mentors for support in getting to the root cause of your reasons. Getting to the root will allow you to get clear on what is important to you and discovering what is most important may provide insight into your practice.

What I’ve discovered about my reasons, my why’s around almost everything I’m choosing or not choosing to do, is that they all rise up in support of an overall vision for my life. Whether in the area of career, money, family and friends, love life, fun, or personal care which includes mind, body and spirit, every one of the reasons I spend time and energy on any of those areas is in support of my overall vision for the life I’m choosing to live. So as you begin to find the root of the reason for your why around project management, you may discover the root of many of the things you choose to do with your life. My choices are rooted in a vision that is kindness to all, creating a space of inclusion and acceptance for what each of us brings to this world and being of service to the greater good of this world. My vision is rooted in the sacredness of all of life. I know, pretty wu wu or out there or whatever you choose to call it. You may also wonder how project management fits into that realm. We get to explore further how each of the areas of our life, supports the other areas and builds into a rich and robust mosaic which includes being a project manager.

Here is a real-life example for those of you who are still curious about the possibilities, one of the myriad of reasons I can write down is that I am practicing project management today is for the money. When I dig into that reason and ask why that is important over and over, I land on the fact that it affords many of the other things in my life, such as generosity to others, care and comfort to the animals in my home, the house I live in, the yard I’ve cultivated, the family I’ve raised and the self-care I am able to provide myself. At the core, project management allows me the opportunity to create a space of inclusion, acceptance, and appreciation for those that I work with and the projects I work with are to provide healthcare for those who would otherwise not be covered. What I’m doing in project management aligns to my vision for my life which motivates me to practice being the best project manager possible.

You may wonder, are there other careers that would fulfill the vision for my life? Of course there are. There are always other possibilities. The follow-on question is, what else could I be doing that would allow me to fulfill my vision and bring joy to my heart? That would be the purpose behind this blog. Sharing what I’ve learned through my experiences in the world of project management, emotional intelligence and leadership as it relates to and elevates the practice of project management fulfills my desire to give back in a way that being a project manager doesn’t allow. Teaching, mentoring, and coaching are all practices that elevate my project management practice and are what is fueling this blog. More to come next week.

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What motivates us to practice?

I have a few trinkets that are rewards for practicing. I thought that focusing on the goal, the prize, or an end point motivated me to practice. For example, I received a medal during a Tae Kwon Do competition for board breaking. It required practice to achieve that medal. I received a trophy for my motorcycle skills at an international women’s motorcycling conference. It required practice to achieve that trophy. I ran a half-marathon and received a medal for completing the race. It required practice to achieve that medal. Outwardly, it looks like getting some kind of outward reward is the reason for practicing. The prize can be a powerful motivator. When I look deeper into the motivation, these outward rewards were not my only motivator. In each of these examples, the result was caused by a vision or higher purpose I had for myself. I’ve come to understand that it is the strength, depth and belief in my vision that determines the degree to which I will practice. Desire, commitment, perseverance, and drive are by products of our belief in our vision and willingness is the key to allowing our vision to be our reality.

So here we are, at the reason for practicing. This reason is called many things and there are many books written about our motivations. It is called our why, our vision, or our thing that we want. It is the thing that brings a smile to our face, a light to our heart, a sparkle in our eyes and a spring in our step. This thing marks a moment in our lifetime that, when we have fulfilled our dream, we have reached a level that we had only aspired to before. When we achieve our vision, when we realize that “we did it”, we are lifted. That moment when we know we achieved something we’d imagined as only a possibility, when we land on a destination that we’d seen in the distance, in that very moment we arrive at a new plateau. This is why we practice, this is why we continue to practice, this is why we don’t ever give up on what we are practicing.

Once we are clear that what motivates all of us to practice is our Why, along with any potential rewards that accompany the journey, we have an opportunity to define what it is for us. When we apply this understanding to project management, a number of opportunities become available. Writing it down, making it clear to ourselves is the first step. Take some time and write all the reasons why you chose to become a project manager. Don’t hold back, write down every reason. To make money, to lead, to work in the technology field, to deliver a specific type of product, to build things, etc. Whatever the reasons, be clear on your own reasons for being a project manager, for working in the practice of project management.

I fell into being a project manager, I didn’t start out saying “Yes” to project management. I was good at being a developer and I showed promise as a leader so one day I found myself managing projects. My experience isn’t everyone’s experience, and I’m sure there are individuals who may start out wanting to lead projects. However, I think more often than not, people land in the practice of project management as a result of being good at being a team player in whatever field they are working in and showing leadership skills. Whatever reason landed you in the world of project management, knowing what is keeping you there and deciding how good you want to be by defining your why will make a difference in how you practice project management and your practice will make an even bigger difference to the people you lead.

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Let’s talk about practice

Before I landed in the world of Information Technology I was a musician, I hold a degree in Music Performance. I started playing flute in the 4^th grade and my best friend started clarinet at the same time. I was, and still can be, quite competitive so when it came time to earn stars, praise and accolades for the amount of time I practiced, I was all in! 30 minutes every day was the norm and sometimes more. For a 4^th grader, giving up play time and doing my own thing to practice was, well, unusual. That started my world of intentional practice. That ritual of practice went from 4^th grade until I stopped performing at age 26. 16 years learning the art of practicing, learning how to effectively practice to create something new, different and skillful. What I can share with you is that there is effective and ineffective practicing available to all of us which supports us in mastering any craft.

Practicing effectively allowed me to perform on stage in front of large groups of people sharing what I had learned, what I was feeling and what was true for me. My practicing allowed my mind, body and yes, my spirit, to work in unison without having to try to perform. My practicing took me into the realm of allowing what I had trained myself, with the support of a myriad of friends, colleagues, and mentors, to do and be while on stage. I was no longer thinking about all the notes and mechanics of performing, I was allowing everything I had learned to simply be what it was. I was no longer making music, I was allowing the creation of a shared experience to flow through me with ease and grace.

You might be wondering what this has to do with project management and being a project manager. I am suggesting it has everything to do with project management. I am suggesting that what we practice matters in our lives and to be capable, competent and masterful at anything, such as being a project manager, requires practice. It requires us to be present to the skills of project management. This will allow us to BE project managers rather than trying to DO project management. I’m suggesting that being a project manager means that we have taken the time and energy to practice. The goal of our practice is to allow us to perform our craft without thinking about how to do what we are doing, our goal is to allow it to naturally flow from us because we have practiced effectively.

The dictionary definition of practicing is “to do or perform often, customarily, or habitually”. Practicing tangible activities such as mastering penmanship seems pretty straightforward, however, that isn’t always the case. Like anything that we’ve done for a period of time, we don’t always know and can’t always tell whether what we are doing works. There are small, almost imperceptible nuances that we discover over time that require us to stop and practice anew.

I’d been performing for many years and one day a conductor said that my tone was “breathy”. The emotions I felt when I received that feedback were enormous. I was shocked at my defensiveness, anger, and hurt. He had shared with me something no one else had bothered to tell me. I took the emotions that were triggered by that comment and began practicing my sound. I stood in front of a mirror for hours to look at how my mouth met the flute and discovered I’d spent years playing based on what I had been taught as a child, to center the flute on my lips and blow. What I learned is that my lips aren’t symmetrical and centering my flute didn’t work for my body. I discovered there was something different about me that required me to not center the flute on my lips. I learned that I had to allow my body and flute to work together differently to create a clean sound. I was amazed at the difference created by that small comment.

There are so many lessons that came from that moment in my life which serve me today.

• I am not always able to discern what isn’t working in my life, whether it is about what I’m doing or how I’m being. When I received the feedback, I didn’t automatically start changing everything. Instead, I verified what I had been told by asking others what they thought and listening to recordings of myself. I was looking to prove the feedback wrong and discovered there were elements of truth in what I’d been told.
• Knowing that there is an issue allows me to discover new possibilities.
• What I learned as a child doesn’t necessarily work when I’m an adult. I had learned how to play from a school teacher in a large class, I’d taken private lessons for years, and still didn’t know that what I had been taught could only get me to a certain level. If I wanted to go farther, I had to learn to do something differently. That comment interrupted my perception of my abilities.
• Small changes can make a big difference. The change in how the flute met my lips was imperceptible and the change in my sound was very noticeable.
• What I produce when I allow my body (in this case my lips) to move freely with my surroundings (my flute) is free from distortion by ambient noise.

All of this to say, even the most seasoned project management practitioners get to receive feedback and to practice.

One last thought, if the tangibles can be this challenging to discover and master over time through practice, what about the intangibles. And what are those intangibles and how do we practice them? More to come next week.

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Practice, Practice, Practice

I’ve been reading a few books lately and it has me thinking about how I practice and the purpose for practicing. In order to become a master at doing most things well it requires practice. Actually, I venture to say that everything we do by habit or perhaps even by instinct is because of what we have practiced. Everything from walking to driving a car to our relationships requires practice. We have practiced ourselves into many of our skills, abilities and behaviors, many without calling it practicing or realizing that we were and are practicing.

Being a musician, tennis player, runner, and second degree black belt has given me some insights into practicing and as a result, I have a long relationship with practice. True practice can be humbling. It provides a mirror into how we treat ourselves and by default how we treat others. It tests our limits and we fail frequently when we practice. It is also clear, that when we cease to practice, we lose expertise that existed before. Interestingly enough, we haven’t lost the knowledge. What we have lost is the connection between the knowledge and the actions to be taken based on the knowledge we have accumulated.

Recently, I realized I was out of practice driving my car. Covid-19 and self-quarantine has decreased the amount of time I spend driving. I realized I jumped more frequently seeing something out of the corner of my eye, that I looked more carefully, and I was a bit slower in making decisions. By contrast, when I drove during rush hour every day to and from work, my driving skills were fluid, flexible, and self-assured. It wasn’t that I’d forgotten how to drive, it was that the connection between my knowledge and my physical driving had lost some level of expertise.

Based on my experience in learning what happens when I cease to practice the question came to me, what do I want to master? What do I want to spend my time doing to achieve and maintain a level of expertise? What area of my life is calling for me to gain a level of expertise that I do not have today? Is it possible to work on everything all the time or is there one area that, when I focus my attention on it and gain a level of mastery or expertise, every other aspect of my life will improve as well? What I also noticed is most of my examples are about mastering a skill, like driving. What would it look like if I focused on Self-Mastery. Rather than gaining expertise in something that is visible such as, say, driving, what if I focused on the invisible, the intangible. What if I spent time practicing self-worth, intuition or intention? How would that impact the other capabilities, skills and expertise that are part of my life? In other words, how would mastering the intangibles impact my expertise and ability to lead projects?

Another way to look at it is to consider the difference between doing project management and being project management. What are the tangible differences that can be found when we focus on the intangibles? What difference does it really make in the success or failure of a project? And how can we learn how to practice those intangibles in a way to accelerate our success and the success of the projects we lead?

Over the past three years I have spent time, money and energy investing in self-mastery as a course of study and what I’ve discovered is that it has changed my level of success, my level of fulfillment and has delivered successful results for the projects I’ve lead. In the next several weeks I will provide what I’ve learned and share with you the possibilities that exist for bringing a new awareness and energy to your project management, a new way of viewing project management and providing the guideposts that will bring you to being project management rather than doing project management.

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