Think Diversity

Yesterday was a bank holiday here in the US to honor Martin Luther King Jr, the great civil rights activist. It got me thinking about diversity and the benefits it can bring.

As a project manager, I’ve had diverse teams to work with. I’ve come to realize diversity isn’t just a skin color or the country where someone is born. Diversity may be experiences, opinions, or even the type of food someone likes. If you've had a team potluck lunch and enjoyed some different recipe someone brought in, you were appreciating diversity.

What it comes down to is that everyone is unique. As a project manager, recognize uniqueness and how it can bring value to the project. When having a discussion on possible approaches to a problem, a diverse group of participants will bring about more options. So next time you’re recruiting for a team, think diversity.

New Year's Resolutions

The New Year has arrived. My children were asking me about any New Year’s resolutions I had made. I told them I don’t make any specific resolutions on New Year’s Day, that I try to always keep my goals and dreams a part of my life.

Our family recently watched the movie What the Bleep Do We Know. It was really thought provoking, tying spirituality and physics together. One topic that stuck with me was how we can create our future by first envisioning it. One of the commentors talked about how he takes time at the beginning of each day to think about how he wants that day to turn out, and things do turn out the way he wants.

As an athlete, I have found I do better in races when I take the time in advance to mentally rehearse the race. I now do the same thing for work. I get to my office, take some time to check for any urgent emails or voice messages, and then get ready for the day. First, I read a daily spiritual message I receive via email. Then I take time to think about how I want my day to turn out. I think about my projects and what I want to accomplish. If I have a conflict to work through, I think about how I want that to turn out. I even think about my workout for that day and what I want to accomplish. Then I get to work, knowing what I want to accomplish that day.

Try it for a few weeks, see what happens. Goethe once said if you can believe in yourself, anything can happen.

Drop me a line and let me know what you think of the blog, btarne@yahoo.com

Namaste