Zen Project Management
Great metaphor for how different “managers” behave when a crisis hits.
Shit happens. It’s unavoidable. The real magic happens when and how we respond.
The Panicker becomes hysteric, and recklessly sprints toward the disaster with their head down in an attempt to solve the problem immediately using brute force. This usually turns a disaster into a catastrophe, and ultimately produces a vicious cycle of ever-increasing proportions.
The Zen Master does the exact opposite: they stop. The Panickers are shocked and panic even more. They think the Zen Master is paralyzed, but that’s not the case. The Master is cold as ice, running models in their head, trying to really grok the situation and why it happened. Time is going by, and people are still freaking out. But the Zen Master is weighing all the available options, looking at the issue from many perspectives. Then, when everyone thinks the sky is about to rain down fireballs, the Zen Master calmly decides to act in order to resolve the issue in the most efficient and permanent way possible.
Please read it all at http://bigbangtechnology.com/post/zen_and_the_art_of_crisis_management, it’s great, and concise.
. No seriously it’s good, and it’s all about designing for many sites, but only building it once (Like we did for toth.com).
