The People, Process, & Progress Podcast - Stay Fluid as a Project Manager| BTS35

Episode Date: August 30, 2019

In this episode, I share my $.02 on Bruce Lee's famous 'Be Like Water' statement about his philosophy on adaptability and times of breaking through barriers, like water.Write-up at https://kevtalkspod.com/bts-ep35-bruce-lees-philosophy-for-incident-and-project-managers/

Please silence your cell phones, hold all sidebar conversations to a minimum, and we'll get started with between the slides in 3, 2, 1. Be like water, making its way through cracks. Do not be assertive, but adjust to the object, and you shall find a way around or through it. If nothing within you stays rigid, outward things will disclose themselves. Empty your mind. Be formless, shapeless like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle, and it becomes the bottle.

You put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash be water my friend that is an amazing quote from master bruce lee who i'm going to assume that many of you have heard of it's one of the most memorable quotes i've ever heard in my life of 45 years, particularly from Bruce Lee. Particularly the last part. Be water, my friend. Be like water. So how can we be like water in our lives? In our professional lives, in our incident management lives, in our project management lives, in our professional lives, in our incident management lives, in our project

management lives, in our parental lives. I mean, there's so many opportunities to be formless and to crash and shape like the bottle and, you know, just be malleable like water. And so let's talk about that. I'm going to cover that a little bit on this episode. Episode 35, Between the Slides, Be Like Water in Your Project and Incident Management. So as I mentioned, I read the whole quote, so we're going to break it down a little bit. I'm going to give you my two cents for the price of this podcast,

which of course is free. Available at BetweenTheSlides.com, iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeartRadio, all the places that the podcasts are, Twitter and Instagram, Penelope KG. That's me between the slides on Facebook. So be like water making its way through the cracks. So my two cents on that is to really fight to be malleable in life with the good and with the bad. And I have had my share of the good and the bad personally, professionally, on my own, with my spouse, with my family. Many of you have

as well. So that's the challenge, right? So water, we've seen it. Look at the rain. It comes down on your sidewalk. It goes into the cracks. It finds a way to get somewhere through the odds of falling from the sky, thousands of feet in the air, to hitting your sidewalk, to finding a path to go down the cracks, but it finds a way. And a lot of the times in our lives, it is super overwhelming, just like a huge rainstorm where it's like, where's that water going to go? Then it overflows the cracks and it'll be hard at times. Sometimes it'll be crystal clear. I've had times recently with my children. I have a 12, eight and six year old boys.

Sometimes it's super, super hard of where that water, where that emotion is going to go. Because it's, it's super full because of what is going on, whatever situation is. And sometimes it's like, hey, look at them. They're upset, they're scared, they don't understand. Let's bring it down, let's talk through this, let's work through it, let's be like water, right? So that's a personal thing. So professionally, same thing, right? Something could be going bad,

it could be going off the rails at work, whether you're on the street wearing those cargo pants and boots, whether you're in a cube farm, it doesn't matter. Stress levels vary. There's different things that bring it up. But the thing is, how do you look at that situation? How do you look at those around you and how do you adapt to their face and their body language and how they're talking to you and the crack of their voice or the fear in their eyes when they don't know what to do but you're there because they called 9-1-1 be like water do not be assertive but adjust to the object and you shall find a way around or through it. Powerful stuff. Bruce Lee was a genius, man.

He and a lot of folks in a super, I've talked about Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, I've only been in it for going on a year now. So super new, but being 45, I've been around life for a bit, right? So I can apply that life to what I do on the mats, to what I do here at my home, to how I apply that. And so when you think about that, you find a way around something or through something. And so what I first thought of this is your position in power does not dictate same success. So are you just going to blast through people or are you going to work through them?

Are you going to adapt? Do you have an ability to adapt to who you are at the time and who your teammates and supportants are? Because we're not the same exact people at any given point in time, right? Sometimes we're super emotional because we have stuff going on in our lives. Sometimes we're super stable because we're in a great spot in our lives. Sometimes it's a day we stayed up a little bit too late and now we're on coffee and then this big thing comes up and like, oh crap, I got to deal with it. That happens to everybody. But your ability, your ability to adapt to who you are at the time and who your teammates and

supportants are really depends on your team success. And you can really set a tone there and you'll find a way to communicate. Or sometimes you might need to direct. And I've recently watched, and I've watched it before, but I'm watching the current season of Hard Knocks. It's about the Oakland Raiders. And so if you want to see a picture into leadership and into struggle and direct communication,

and honestly, being a military guy and a public safety guy, it's the closest thing to the way that we have talked to each other that I have ever seen. And it is super effective. It doesn't have to be cussing. There's plenty of that, whatever, but it's direct, right? It is, hey, you're not doing your job. So these other five guys can't do their job or in the workplace, you're not doing your job so these other men and women can't do their job. It's totally applicable. The difference is they're in helmets and pads and hard knocks and most folks in a cube farm or even in cargo pants on the street are not, unless you're all in tack gear. So whether it's on a football field or in the field of public safety, or in an office, you're going to have to work with others

to adjust to the object that's in your way, work around it or through it. And sometimes you're going to have to find a way. And one of the great quotes that I heard, in fact, the episode I watched tonight was, you know the plays, you're not going to play here. Right. And sometimes accountability, especially as a leader is super super hard nobody wants to be the bad guy air quote as they say but it's not being a bad guy by bad man or woman by by holding someone accountable to what they are or not doing right that's what we're here for to do our part and so I think what's really direct and a great thing that I took from the military and public safety as well is hey man what's going on do a great thing that I took from the military and public safety as well is, hey, man, what's going on?

Do you need help with this because it's not happening? And then taking ownership of it and fixing it. Same thing can happen in the private sector, health care, whatever sector you want to think about. It can always happen. So the next thing Bruce Lee says is if nothing within you stays rigid, outward things will disclose themselves. So if you can work past within yourself, your ego, right? We've mentioned this on the podcast, no egos, no silos. And sometimes that's super hard because sometimes your ego is like, Hey man, my way is really good. And it may be, but you know what? We've got to

open that door for our successors if we've mentioned. But what we should totally get past is my way, the highway mindset, right? And so we can't stay rigid on that because if we then open up and we reveal these things, we'll begin to gather some original thoughts from new leaders coming up. If you have new leaders coming up and they're hungry, that is a fresh brain that has new vision on new things that you're doing, whether it's on the software you're using or the way to attack a fire or the way to organize at the back of the SUVs in command. It doesn't matter. You want those minds to come in there and you cannot let your ego block them. You just can't. They can help you with your emerging teammates and your response and make your event and project more successful

and potentially they can make it safer. What if there's something that you missed and they see because you're just stuck in the way that you've done it always? That's just not a good way to go. So open your mind up. And here's, you know, it's been on the news. It's been everywhere. I've talked to other folks about it. Millennials are the next generation. There's always been a next generation.

I was the next generation of people before me and on and on and on, right? You know, we saw, and I particularly saw from, you know, vinyl to, God, all this now cloud-based stuff. But then in the people-wise, so this younger generation is totally all about now, now, now. Well, you know what? That's all they've known. They've had a high-speed internet forever. They didn't grow up with the goofy internet dial-up tones that a lot of us grew up with. They just didn't do it. so adapt to them use that knowledge use that technical proficiency and bring it in there so don't stay rigid let their benefit disclose itself to you and your teams empty your mind be formless don't go into every situation with preconceived notions if you can help it.

Because whether you're lights and sirens down the road and you're going down, you're okay. It came in as a house fire, I'm going to do this, this and that. It came in as an arrest, I'm going to do this, this and that. It's a software project, I'm going to do this, this and that. You can still have a template, but it can't be the be all end all. So it can be an idea of how to start and that's what experience is. It's hey, I already have a template, but it can't be the be all end all, right? So it can be an idea of how to start. And that's what experience is. It's, hey, I already have this template. I don't have to go from scratch like many other folks do. Great. But don't hold that to a T where that's all you can do. Your previous interactions don't necessarily dictate future ones, right? Even with the same

people. So there's some adaptability. So incident management wise. So just because you had an emergency that was like this one in one locality, and if you're on an incident management team and you go to another locality, doesn't mean they're going to handle it the same way. Folks that live on their own out in the wilderness a bit are more resilient than folks that are reliant on a very strong infrastructure day-to-day and don't stock up on water and aren't used to not having electricity. So you have to adapt to that. You just have to. Project-wise, one size totally does not fit all. Variation in people, scope, process, etc. You've got to be adaptable. You have to empty your mind, right? Just like Bruce Lee says.

So does that mean you have to forget everything that, right? Just like Bruce Lee says. So does that mean you have to forget everything that you learned from the other umpteen projects you've done? Absolutely not. But what you do is you cue them up in your head. You think, let's go in fresh. Let's hear what's going on. Let me hear from the partners I'm going to work with and let me talk to them about it and go, okay, here's some things that we've worked in the past. This will work. Nope, that won't work. Okay, this won't work. And you have a discussion, but you can't push on somebody else. Here's what we're going to do because it's in a book or because we've always done it this way or anything like that, right? So use your

experience to help be successful without holding to a, you know, cast of something that is not formless, shapeless, like water. So talking about Bruce Lee, talking about this podcast, clearly I mentioned it before, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, I'm going to talk about it for a second. So I'm going on one year next month. So very new, right in Jiu Jitsu, i'm going to talk about it for a second so i'm going on one year next month so very new right in jiu-jitsu but my very newness compared to me before i even touched jiu-jitsu is advanced which is kind of weird but when you're starting to be shapeless in the very new jiu-jitsu world it means that you are starting to understand that so i'm 5'11 200 pounds a pretty strong fella and that's all i could depend on when i was brand new now i'm like oh i see you moving

this way i've got a couple moves i can think about this way etc etc without having to use my strength that's not kevin's genius from a year that's from learning from my great instructors that's from youtube videos that my wife's tired of me watching that's from learning from my great instructors. That's from YouTube videos that my wife's tired of me watching. That's from books, et cetera, et cetera, from thinking about, okay, when you're in this situation, try not to use your natural attributes, use the technique. So how does that adapt to not jujitsu, not grappling, not something like that? Well, so when you're in a situation, if you're like water, that means read the situation, apply your skills, but seek the skills of others,

right? So you can't just, you know, bull or power your way through things because of who you are and what you've done. You've got to reach out and think about what are the skill sets we have? What are the skill sets I don't have that I can't use here that I have to reach out for my partners? And, you know, without having to stick to my guns, right? And so how can I adapt? How can I move things without having to bust through these walls, or just, you know, bull ahead in this one template? Well, what we can do is collectively discuss it, we can be shap shapeless like water a little bit. So water is shapeless, but it still follows some sort of format.

It still goes down the drain. You know, think of the picture in a movie where kids make this little sailboat and they put it in the water and it flows. It still has a path. So have a path, but set the path for it. Let it be adaptable. So that if you do put water in a cup,

it becomes the cup. If you put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle. If you put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. So for instance, management teams, particularly operations section chiefs, you're an ops chief in an event. You can create tactics, right? For that event. It's for that event, an event. If you're the planning section chief, you know how to manage or adapt to that incident, do accountability for that one incident. If you're a project manager for a project, you know how to manage a project or any other, or you should, or we should, right? If you're, air quote, a one trick pony for one kind of thing, if you're only ready to do the things where everybody's queued up the information for you on an incident management team, it's only

pre-planned. But if I really need you to show up on the worst day of people's lives where something bad has happened, especially if it's to you and your public safety brothers and sisters, and you can't adapt to it, then you are incident management ineffective. So you have to live in both worlds. Similarly, and in parallel, if you're a project manager, I don't care if it's IT like I am, if it's architecture, if it's construction, it does not matter. If you can't get people together through a process to communicate, to coordinate resources and money and get some sort of schedule, then you can't project manage. That's the magic. The credentials behind my name, behind other names, is not what makes me a good project manager or anybody else. What makes people a good project manager, what makes them a good planning section chief, what makes them a good leader, or any other title that they have, is the ability to adapt to whatever format of situation they are

in. And I've seen that go very well. I've seen it go very poorly. So work toward the very well portion. Pretty impactful piece here. Now, water can flow or it can crash. So as a leader, you can either butt heads with your team in the name of your ego and your special tactics, or you can see your team's need and yield to the time for you to step aside. Right? So sometimes you don't need to be the one that has all the answers. You don't need to get the last word. You don't have to say anything at times. If you set up the meeting, if you make sure the connection works or it's in person and you make sure conversations are happening, you have done your job as a leader, period. You don't have to get the word in so everybody knows, oh, Kevin had that good last word. You don't. What needs to happen is, oh, the team communicated. They are working together on

their own. If you can spark them to work on your own, that's the ultimate, right? If you've gotten them together, you've given them a clear direction, you've supported them, you've asked them if they need help, and they on their own start spinning up solutions, money, that's what should happen. So read the situation. And sometimes you do need to crash through opportunities for improvement, meaning what if your team isn't talking?

Then you do need to step in more. Then you need to be a little bit more aggressive. If you have a resource, whether it's someone in your incentive management team, your project management team, they're not performing, you got to step in and correct it. There's no getting around it. That's leadership.

That's what's going to happen. But if it's successful, if it's going, sometimes, and the greatest thing that can happen, and a great example of this was one of the last if not the last 0-305 all hazardous incident management courses I taught with great people great students, great instructors

was going so well so I was like a co-head instructor or coordinator or whatever it was I was helping kind of lead the whole thing with a great friend of mine um so shout out Jackson and so really my job was talk a few times give some between the slides go figure um when I was standing up in front of actually doing slide stuff and then go around the rooms with the breakout sessions and make work make sure that the mentors in the rooms were good to go and the rooms were good to go.

I had minimal need to push to give feedback because my folks were doing well. So the best thing that can happen is that you're bored. Because that means that you have set up your people for success. You've picked the right team that's just rocking the house. And you're just checking in to the point where it's not overbearing. And you have a relationship where if they really needed help, or there's really a bad situation, we'll let you know. But also do be comfortable because there have been times, not just me, but other folks, where you do have to step in and say hey let's push them a little bit more to actually do kind of to the T

dot the I's cross the T's a little bit more so that we're just in that flow of doing a little bit better and that's fine but again the greatest thing that can happen is you're a leader and all you do is check in and your team is fine and you're seeing results

which is the key, right? So inspect what you expect. So trust but verify, all that kind of stuff. But that's the best thing. Bruce Lee's closing line in his great statement is be water, my friend. So do everything we just talked about. Consider how you can be adaptable, be ready to be strong, and overflowing with support and leadership. Be like water.

I wish you all nothing but the best for the end of your week. I hope that this Labor Day weekend is restful, resourceful, and that you and yours, yourself, your family, whether it's by blood or friendship, which often is blurred. I have many friends that are family that I'm going to spend some time with this weekend. And my actual family that's blood relatives. And I hope you all do the same thing. But that you take the time to be like water in all the environments that you're in, whether it's the gym, on the mats, in a cubicle, in a fire engine, a police car, an ambulance, a Humvee, it doesn't matter, right?

All these lessons that I've learned from many other people just like this one, I'm quoting Bruce Lee, so I'm learning with everybody else, that we can all take this in our times, whether it's sitting with our children and teaching them about how to act or learning from them, that we can all be water, my friends. Godspeed to you all.

Stay safe. Lead well.