Easy and difficult

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Managing projects is easy, managing people is difficult.

And that’s not because projects always succeed or achieve what they were supposed to achieve, but because they are made of tasks, timelines, deadlines, deliverables, priorities. All things that, one way or the other, even in the most difficult circumstances, are defined and controllable.

People are not.

People have no limit and they cannot be controlled. They have values, feelings, triggers. They establish relationships and break them. They are motivated and demotivated. They need to talk and to be listened to. They want to progress, take on new challenges, and they panic in the face of change.

We know how people are, because we are people too. And that’s what scares us and makes managing people so difficult.

Exactly the reason why, in a situation of crisis or uncertainty, most management resorts to assigning more tasks, asking for more visibility, setting stricter deadlines, and cracking down on inefficiencies.

Because managing projects is easy, while managing people is difficult.

Ocean of indifference

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The lack of candor and openness in most workplaces is one of the main demotivators for employees.

If you work at a place where everybody agrees during a meeting, but then implementing what was decided is a lengthy and painful process, that’s probably because people don’t feel like they are free to speak up or because they don’t want to. One way or the other, the environment gets quickly very toxic, frustration mounts, and what’s left is an ocean of indifference and inefficiency.

On a pedestal

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Putting somebody on a pedestal is a bad thing for you and for them.

For you, because you are taking distance from an ideal that you should, instead, make your own. You say things like: I’ll never be like you; You are much better than I am; I could never do that. And by saying it, you both set a lower bar for yourself and build a perfect excuse for your next failure.

For them, because you are holding them to an unrealistic standard. It might be that they have found some specific ways to manage the situation, but for sure they battle with the same demons, have the same uncertainty, feel the same fear of failure as you do. They need to be able to express all that, instead of hiding it to adhere to the idea you might have.

Something to let go

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At some point, you have to let go.

Not of things, but of your attitude towards things. Most of what happens is made worst by what we think about it, what we feel about it, what we say about it – to ourselves and to others. That’s what we need to get rid of, the part we have to let go.

Do it sooner rather than later, and you can start the process of change.

Whether you win or you lose

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Whether you win or you lose, you need to be able to do two things.

First, appreciate your performance – which means giving an appropriate value to your role. Because whether you win or you lose this time, the outcome of the next challenge will be based on how well you understand what went well and what did not go as well.

Second, extend a hand to your opponent – no matter if it’s a person or a situation. Because whether you win or you lose this time, you ought to be able to recognize that some things are out of your control and deserve your unconditional respect.