There are times in almost every day when the forces of evil seem to create that perfect storm of disappointment or frustration. As every project manager often has a day full of deadlines, meetings, preparation and reviews having challenges should not be unexpected.
I had a perfect example of an instant that should have caused such irritation last night. After a long day at the office, myself and 5 others headed out to a local prison to teach evening classes and support some spiritual services. One group assembled at the jail at 7:00pm spent 15 minutes getting their musical instruments “cleared” as we headed towards in prison school buildings.
Now bear in mind this group represents some of the busiest people I know. They have prepared class materials, rehearsed, taken time out from their family and friends and been subjected to “security procedures” much more rigorous than flying in the USA. Bottom line, most of these guys are your archetypal project managers. Many had driven an hour to reach the prison for the program they were running. These are not paid positions, but volunteers.
Excuse the background detail, but it’s important because of what happened next.
Crossing the prison yard, between security gates, we were approached by a somewhat exhausted Correction Officer (guard) who promptly announces that the prison school is closed for the evening due to some unspecified emergency.
Now, the visiting team of volunteers could have protested, complained and generally become irritable with such a disappointment after a long day at work. Nothing was further from the truth. They all, to a man (and woman), smiled at the guard, turned around and accepted this decision as something out of their control and hoped nothing serious has occurred to cause the cancellation. They will be back next week to re-run their programs.
I wish at times, I had the same patience when dealing with less serious obstacles during the day, meetings running late, attendees not showing, deliverables incomplete. The list of moving parts in a project that goes wrong can seem daunting.
We can learn a lot from being patience and managing our projects with self control. This instance continues to give me faith in humanity.
