Those who know me and who have worked with me in the past know the familiar title of this article. I’m often asked, “How’s it going?” My response: “It’s another day in paradise.” Is it? Not always. Then again, it beats the heck out of the alternatives.

Think about the current state of your project and your project organization(s). Are they perfect? I seriously doubt that many of you actually answered yes. But do they represent the opportunity for significant improvement or change or continued employment? For at least one of those, I would hope that the answer is yes. The key to embracing your project as another day in paradise, I contend, is to redefine paradise!

When I was still in college, I was a fry cook at a local sit-down restaurant. This was not a fancy establishment, just a local eatery. Around me were many middle-aged and older women; including one I’ll call Shirley. Shirley was the eternal optimist, ever ready with a smile or kind word. On your worst day, it was difficult not to smile back at Shirley. She had worked at the restaurant for years before I got there and probably worked there for years thereafter. There were no hopes of stock options, major advancement, or breakthrough opportunities. How did she keep that attitude? A major part of it was recognizing that she had a willingness (and in some ways, it seemed a personal obligation) to define paradise down to the current levels and to get others to enjoy the trip.

The Paradise Mindset

I had several near-cathartic events yesterday. On the eve of a flight out for a major long-distance trip, my computer began flashing the “blue screen of death.” As we all know, that’s never a good thing. The trick is to know how bad it is. On many days, I would have spent much of the day popping a blood vessel while waiting for and dealing with the help desk. Although it took a full 12 hours, five technicians, and three major multinational corporations to resolve, I maintained much greater composure than I had in years. I did so specifically because I had hope, based on two factors:

* I developed a game plan for where the effort would wind up if everything continued to go wrong.

* I was leaving for Hawaii in 24 hours with my lovely wife from the time the disaster started.

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