Project management Rule No.2- Kill the innocence

Innocence is a nice thing. When we learn a technique , apply it in practice it injects some spirit into our nerves. Esp , if its a project management technique,tool it is very nice. We learn Microsoft Project tool , six thinking hats , Critical Path analysis and every other thing . I tried applying some of them and found it was exciting to use such techniques and manage a project.Life is so nice, if its linear.

But quite unfortunately, this forms just one part of management. The other part is to obliterate the innocence in you , act a bit skewed sometimes. We don't want to cheat , but you need to lie in an intelligent way to get things going. Understanding the motives of the people with whom you work is very much essential. Beyond a point , it is impossible to deal the corporate politics at manager's level without lying , without crossing the 'im- straight-goodie'barrier. But this needs to be controlled and balanced to a level that you don't miss out the essential thing - contribution is higher than your ego. To execute a project , you can project something 'more' to your senior management , but not to a level where your mirror is not willing to show you up.