In the Land of Gandhi

I have been in Bangalore, India for the past week. Today's newspaper had an article about Gandhi. He once said “My life is my message.”

So what's the message we are conveying? As project managers, we should be leaders. Are we thinking about all the aspects of that role?

As I've spent time with people here, I have given pause to a number of things I have done without thinking. Even something like eating meat or having a beer with dinner. Just because we've always done something doesn't mean we have to keep doing it. And when someone's different, we should take the time to understand why. Being in a place like India really gives me the chance to understand another culture.

Mistakes of Man

One of the mistakes of man, as stated by Marcus Cicero, is to insist that something is impossible because we cannot accomplish it. If we think something is going to be impossible, then it probably will be.

Do we run into this on our projects? What do you do when faced with an impossible task? Do you give up or get more creative in trying to solve the problem? Next time, before labeling something as impossible, try looking at it from another perspective.

And to my old friend, yes it's really me. Drop me a note with your email address.