Process - Fly Fishing and Project Management

There's no doubt about it, I am a process guy. That's why I like fly fishing so much, because that is all about process. It certainly isn't the actual fishing that attracts me to the sport. In most cases I could do that more effectively and efficiently by dunking live bait. No, it is the process. Whether it is tying my own flies, planning a fishing trip (to Ireland right now, but that is a subject for another blog), preparing, cleaning, and lubricating my equipment, or reading and studying the multitude of literature available, it is what I like the best, the process. Although the places that I fish, the oceans, bays , and coastal rivers, and the inland lakes, ponds, rivers, and streams come in a close second, but they are part of the process, too. Are they not?

You may say, then, that process is everything we do. That is correct! So I will now make the connection, and it may seem a stretch to some, that process and project as words, can be interchanged. Therefore, everything we do is a project. Let us treat it as such. That is what I do with fly fishing.

The first course I wrote for New England College (NEC) was Managing Projects, a core course in NEC's Master of Science in Management (MOM) - Strategic Leadership. The first time I taught it was on campus with a variety of students with varying backgrounds. Some students were newly graduated, some were veterans of different fields from college administrators to technical managers. The next time I was asked to teach the course was at a local hospital in NEC's MOM with a healthcare emphasis. I thought I would just use the same course. After all, project management is project management. Yes and no. There is some sameness, and I found some very important differences.

In future blogs, I will be be discussing that sameness and differences in managing a project in the healthcare environment, whether in a hospital, clinic, private practice, or even a non-profit environment, and of course, with a little fly fishing (my drug of choice) thrown in.