Is it possible our society is so harsh that when someone like Michael Jackson dies – the first thing that comes to mind is criticism and jokes? Can we not remember the talent he shared with us... the good he did... the positive messages of most of his songs? When we remember – is it only the bad? When we are called home – is that what we hope our Lord and Master is like?I grew up with him - he's just a year and a half older than me. He and his brothers grew up in front of America.... along with the Osmond’s. What a handsome family - great talent – pressure - sorrow. It was clear to me after the parabolic launch to stardom from Thriller and Bad... he was a troubled soul. Yes, the surgery.... the strangely white skin. But the messages of his songs held clues – and the childlike nature - came through loud and clear. Here is a talented and troubled soul. This is not an uncommon theme – he told his wife, Lisa Marie Presley, he would probably die tragically like her father.
At work on Thursday - the jokes flew. The memories of the scandalous child molestation allegations. His strange lifestyle…. Does he somehow deserve this? News will probably trickle out over time – possibly some “truth”. I would not want his life.
Reality is – he left us something beautiful… I chose to remember those things that Michael came with naturally and thrilled us with. God bless his family in trying to leave his kids with some dignity and validation.
Terri, nice post. I identified with how you felt about Michael Jackson. I was also intrigued by the term "Guerrilla Project Manager" in your profile. I was wondering how you define this approach to projet management. I am inteersted in your thoughts on this because I too approach project management with a "guerrilla" mindset. would love to hear your take on this.
ReplyDeleteSamad - thanks for reaching out. Well - admitting to being a guerilla PM is not such a good thing - but sometimes you have to fight off layers of beurocratic process to get the job done within the context of the groups of people you work with. But you have to do it with a bit of Aikido - i.e. - with tact and without actually exerting pressure. I do claim to be a confrontational, no holds barred kind of PM - but I am reasonable. I try to take my ego out of it - and when I get to the point of feeling "anger" towards those in my way - I back off until logic prevails...
ReplyDeleteanything interesting here?
Terri
Yes. Some days it feels like we spend all our time fighting for our projects. We are constantly fighting for resources, budgets, and keeping everyone focused on the work.
ReplyDeleteBut I think that to get projects done in some organizations, the PM has to be willing to exert pressure (“carefully” off course).
In my view, the thing that differentiates a Guerrilla PM is that they have no problem being confrontational when needed.
In fact, the Guerrilla PM sees conflict and being confrontational as necessary to move projects forward. If that’s the tactic they feel will get the desired results, they will not hesitate to try it. The key is that the Guerrilla PM will apply the tactic, watch the reaction and what happens next, course-correct if needed, and repeat as needed. Just as in an experiment, they are constantly monitoring and trying different levels of intensity and making sure things don’t get out of control. This is what I meant by “carefully” earlier. You seem to approach things to the same way when you said that you “…you back off until logic prevails”.
Another thing that differentiates the Guerrilla PM is that when they express “anger”, during a conflict (which I call “intervention”), they do it on purpose, not as a reflex. They do it as a deliberate tactic to provoke a desired reaction to achieve a specific purpose. This works in some situations. However, they are constantly aware and mindful of whatever range of emotions they are feeling during an intervention. When and if they feel they have to express these emotions (anger, frustration, disappointment…), they are fully intentional and on purpose when they do. Expressing this aspect of ourselves is only a problem when it is a reflex rather than a deliberate, intelligent, and on purpose tactic in an intervention.
The problem I see with most projects is that the PM is uncomfortable with conflict or they see it as something to avoid at any cost.
Any thoughts?