Zen and the Art of Project Management

I’ve lately been reading Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, so I hope you’ll forgive me for being a little philosophical. As Robert Pirsig talks about technology and quality within his narrative, I can’t help but relate it to how we approach work. "The place to improve the world is first in ones own heart and head and hands," writes Pirsig, "and then work outward from there."

It’s easy to put our faith in the system, the technology, or the process—but ultimately, it’s the individual and how he or she relates to the work that produces what Pirsig describes as quality. "Real Quality isn’t something you lay on top of subjects and objects like tinsel on a Christmas tree," argues Pirsig. "Real Quality must be the source of the subjects and objects, the cone from which the tree must start."

As project leaders, creating an atmosphere where the workforce feels more like they are part of the work (the Taoist calls it wei wu wei, or doing not doing) is critical for any real improvements in how we get work done. "Doing not doing" is like a ballerina that is no longer doing the dance—she becomes the dance.

In the early days of Tiger Woods’ career, he was a great example of this. He practiced and practiced to the point that whenever he hit the golf ball, he didn’t need to think about it anymore—he just stepped up and hit the ball … perfectly … as if the golf ball hit itself. A number of professional athletes sometimes reach this same level of awareness in their individual disciplines. They don’t think about what they are doing, they just do it—or it becomes so second nature that they don’t need to do it anymore, it just happens.

Is the ability to do this an aptitude? Is it something that can be learned—or even selected? I think it is all of the above. Creating an atmosphere where this can take place allows those project team members who might come by this awareness naturally to thrive, but there may be others on the team who just won’t get it. There will be some of them that will be teachable and others that won’t. The challenge for a project leader is weeding out those who don’t or won’t get it, and replacing them with those who can, or do. this is particularly important in organizations that empower their workforce with more autonomy and ownership. There may be some team members who just can’t or won’t respond, and will be slackers no matter what you do. They will need to be replaced with a workforce that understands and thrives in an environment like this.

"Is it hard?" asks Pirsig. "Not if you have the right attitudes. It’s having the right attitudes that’s hard."