The gadget to the left is an old one, at least 50 if not more years old. It is a sifter.

A sifter is something a home baker uses to blend together dry ingredients before they are mixed with the wet ones. Although this sifter has considerable age it still works and has a brilliant design. On the top half you put all the unmixed dry ingredients. Then you press the button repeatedly on the handle and it will mix all the ingredients into a whole in the bottom half. You take it off and put into your bowl, no fuss, and no muss.

Why bring this antique kitchen item into a blog that is interested in mixing project management with all types of business, especially the arts? I think that one of the primary goals in any project is to be efficient, and do the work with as little mess and unnecessary waste as possible. Sometimes old designs carry this wisdom, I know that I often get seduced into thinking that new is better.

I could carry the sifting metaphor way too far, so what I am wondering is where in a project life cycle do old ideas get axed merely to try what is new? What old ideas still have staying power?

Can Integrity become a practice?

Integrity is a word that sends shivers down my back. It is one of those words that we often use in business especially in mission statements. But how to overcome my fear of bringing the word integrity into a meeting and develop it as a practice with my peers and supervisors?

I decided to look up the word in the OED (Oxford English Dictionary) to bolster my confidence, and found that its root is in Latin. The OED states that the word integrity comes from the Latin integritās wholeness, entireness, or completeness. The first definition is: The condition of having no part or element taken away or wanting; undivided or unbroken state; material wholeness, completeness, entirety.

I was disappointed, because my version of integrity is that one does what one says one will do, more or less like honesty. I scrolled down the OED website to see if I could find a definition that fit better with my personal views. And I found one…as the third and last definition: “3. a. Unimpaired moral state; freedom from moral corruption; innocence, sinlessness. Obs.” The Obs. here means obsolete! Oh no! Luckily the next definition 3 b. was what I was looking for “b. Soundness of moral principle; the character of uncorrupted virtue, esp. in relation to truth and fair dealing; uprightness, honesty, sincerity.”

Bringing integrity into the workplace as a living breathing entity is not the same as reading a concept from a dictionary or putting it into a mission statement. Putting integrity into practice takes looking at myself, and where I have not done what I said I would do. So the practice in the coming months and weeks will be to keep bringing integrity to my own life and engaging in conversations in the workplace to bring integrity in as a practice, something that is alive for the whole team, not a dry anachronism on a wall plaque.

Is Patience a Virtue?

What do you do when a project is stalled or delayed? I know what I do; I keep trying to find a way to make it to the next milestone or goal. I keep my head down and try to be creative. So my question, when is patience a virtue and when is it a way to avoid the truth of the matter?

Reassessing the timeline for a project and making the necessary changes is one way of working through delays, but on the other hand, am I just trying to get by? For me I am sometimes so committed to the "doing" of the project that I miss out on what the intention of the project is. Here is a simple example: I am helping my aged parents clean out a room that was used as an office. When I started this project, my stated goal was to provide space for my father to work in as well as a guest room for future nurses or relatives visiting. I thought it would take 2 weeks. My first milestone was completed yesterday, after one month of sorting. I have made it around the perimeter of the room in a first sweep. I have reassessed this project and have made room for the fact that this will take more time than previously allotted. I have altered the milestones, and have allowed time for issues that will come up that I am not currently aware of. I have however not changed the objectives.

In this case patience has been a virtue, and although I do not have unlimited time, I can extend the timeline. There are precious items hidden in and amongst the old Christmas cards and detritus in the room. There are family stories here. What if instead of this example I was working on a project where the timeline was so incredibly incorrect? What if I realized that the project was going to be a failure, based on these conditions? What if my job was on the line? For me part of every project that I participate in has my own criteria, and my own version of integrity. So despite the possibility that I may loose out personally I think it is important to call a spade a spade, state the breakdown and take it as an opportunity to re-invent the project or shut it down.

Creating space for Project Management in the Arts

Working with artists and bringing project management rigor to their work is like herding cats. Being a PM is like that anyway, but when you bring together a creative team dedicated to listening to their feelings and try to put it into a logical sequence so they can get to where they want to go...well you get the point.

One of the problems I have come across have been working with folks who don't want "the man" to undermine their artistic integrity. Conversely they have goals and dreams unachievable without some kind of structure. So how to create a balance? Really they have gotten to the place they are by listening to themselves using guts and intuition.

It is in the listening that a Project Manager brings to the artists. This is not just hearing what is being said, but really hearing sometimes underneath all the noise what is truly needed and wanted.