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The Art of War - Chapter 1 - The Five Measures
In the Art of War, as soon as Sun Tzu finishes explaining how serious the topic of war actually is, and how much careful examination it requires, he begins explaining how to go about studying it. 2,500 years ago Sun Tzu came up with a list of five things he said had to be considered first and foremost when one was going to engage in conflict. He referred to these as The Five Measures. They are:
Su Tzu says that if you study these five measures, you have to look at them as they relate to not only your opponent, but also yourself, and that if you are able to do that, you will be able to use them in order to achieve success. He goes on to say that if you do not know these five measures, you cannot plan for success or prepare to achieve it. In hopes of making it a little easier to apply, here are some examples of the kinds of things you might consider when applying the five measures to your own situation: (I've paired them up and listed them out of order because I think it makes them easier to understand). Ground - What is the org. structure? Who is supposed to report to whom? Climate - What is the political power structure? Despite the org charts, who really has the power to influence and make things happen - perhaps most importantly, who has the power and motivation to pose a threat to the work you are doing? Leadership - What is the leadership style of the organization/people you are dealing with. For instance, some leaders are very command and control ("You can be in the boat, our of the boat"); others are more concerned with a shard or diplomatic solution. Discipline - How strictly does the organization follow its' own defined process. For example, there are lots of PMOs out there will very clearly defined processes that are not supposed to be deviated from... and yet often times, people spend more time working around the regulations than they do following it or adapting it. Tao - This one is not always an easy thing to grasp for those who are not used to it. In the context of what we are talking about here, the Tao would refer to the nature/character/vibe of the place. Some orgnaizations place a high value on creativity and freedom for responsible, engaged teams. Others are more about people working 9-5, following a process without much though or personal involvement in why things are done the way they are, or finding ways to make them more efficient. If you take the time to explore these concepts and learn what they mean to the places you are working, it will better enable you to make the necessary decisions about how to approach your work. |
Posted on: January 25, 2010 05:46 PM
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The Art of War for Project Managers - Chapter 1 - Analysis
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"This is war. In Sun Tzu's world, war was a heavy thing. Brutal, costly, painful and only to be taken on when it was absolutely necessary. And when it was necessary, the only way to set yourself up for success was to become a student of the thing you were about to spend people's lives on. For those of us who manage IT Projects, this may seem a bit over the top if you try to apply it to your work, but when you come right down to it, it isn't that far off. Each project we take on levies a heavy toll on us and the places we work. We burn money, people, reputations, good will and more often than not, our life outside of work. We've all worked with the people who create projects just to seem busy, or create giant catastrophes just to save the day. More often than not, these people get sorted in the end, but the thing to keep in mind for each of us is, if you are going to take on a project, and burn through all those things that could be used on something else the company needs to stay afloat, or the time you need outside of work to be with your family, make sure you understand why you are doing it, what you are going to do, how you are going to succeed, and most of all, what you are going to do when you realize you got the first three questions wrong. * The translation above is from Gary Gagliardi's book "Sun Tzu's The Art of War Plus Its Amazing Secrets". Of all the translations I own, there are only two that are so worn the pages are falling out. This is one of them. |
Posted on: January 21, 2010 11:21 AM
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The Art of War for Project Managers
| Introduction I've been studying the Art of War and working on applying it to my day to day work as a Project Manager for almost 15 years now. While I've lectured on it and taught classes that covered the whole text, I've never detailed out my ideas on how each piece can be applied to the work of a project manager. My goal here is to post a new entry every few days until I've worked through the entire book. I'll be referencing multiple translations and will give notes on each one in the entries. As always, any comments or feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, |
Posted on: January 21, 2010 11:11 AM
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Project Potion Episode 4 - The Exploding Mailbox
| A few weeks ago the Project Shrink, Bas de Baar asked his readers what questions they would like answers to. His mailbox exploded. We salvaged what we could and did our best to provide some answers... |
Posted on: January 20, 2010 06:45 PM
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DrunkenPM Explained
| I've been told by a lot of folks that I should change the name of my blog. I may be weakening on that one, but I'm not totally ready to throw in the towel just yet. The assumption a lot of people make is that the title has to do with drinking or that it is some self-depreciating joke. Neither of which earn me much in the way or respect or credibility, but the fact is they have nothing to do with the title. What I wanted to talk about when I started the blog was a style of project management that was a little more stealthy and subtle ... more under the radar than what most people employ. To me, the best project management happens when people don't realize it is going on. I also think that, a lot of the time, I can accomplish more as a PM by not acting like a PM because people feel more at ease, or less threatened, if they don't think you are there trying to control them, or check up on them. So, I needed a name that fit with all that, and I apparently watched way too much Kung Fu Theater on Saturday afternoons growing up because the best fit I could think of was Drunken Boxing. I could give you my explanation of it, but since I don't practice any martial arts, I think I should leave it to those with more experience. This clip is from an episode of Fight Science and it provides a much better explanation of Drunken Boxing that I ever could. While you watch, imagine applying the behaviors to managing people and work - that is the point of the title of this blog. |
Posted on: January 12, 2010 12:53 AM
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