Photo by Elijah Mears
Hi - I’ve spent +30 years in working on and delivering projects. I started as a developer, then moving into project management, and advising organizations on delivery and team performance as a freelance consultant.
Just after I turned 50, I wanted to structure, waht at that time was 20+ years of experience, into a cohesive work. I wasnt writing for anyone else but myself. It helped me sort through the noise and chaos of my work day.
I wasnt interested in creating a framework or methodology, I simply wanted to capture the key concepts, opinions tools I used, and belived worked, to successfully deliver projects.
The result was several chunks of knowledge/wisdom that I (still) continually refine and update.
Four areas to structure my writing
In order to structure this knowledge somewhat, I found these four areas help me group my writting in something that makes sense to me:
Business Acumen — understanding how a business operates and generates financial results
Leadership — how to achieve outcomes through others while strengthening their skills/potential
Personal Health — sustaining physical and mental capacity to perform consistently
Skills & Tools — apply the right methods and tools to execute effectively
Stoicism: A life philosophy
Shortly after starting down this path of professional reflection and capturing it, I fell over Stoicism.
It was a culmination of my personal life experiences that just made sense to me and tied-up a lot of loose strings.
I like how the Stoic virtues can be grouped into these four:
Courage — acting despite uncertainty
Discipline — doing what needs to be done, consistently
Justice — treating others fairly
Wisdom — knowing what makes a difference; ignore the rest
Like Peas & Carrots
Pardon the reference to Forrest Gump, but this is the first phrase that came to mind when thinking about these two together as sort of a matrix… they keep me focus on what I want to write about and helps me remember to provide something concrete to you, the reader.
Hope it adds some value for you :-)