Cruising Out of the Comfort Zone

Ann Totemeier, August 2008

Last Thursday, I left the safety and security of land to take my first cruise.  It was the maiden voyage of the “Seminar at Sea” offered by the Southern New England Chapter (SNEC) of the Project Management Institute (PMI).

As my husband, Terry, and I are still fairly new to the East Coast, I looked forward to exploring more of the area including the ocean.  If we liked this, we’d also be more likely to take another cruise in the future.  The 4-day jaunt seemed like a good way to test the cruising waters and earn PDUs in the process.

The cruise was also a chance for me to recharge both mentally and physically.  In my professional role, I constantly feel the need to justify the value of project management.  It was great to be in a relaxed setting among people for whom PM value was a given.

My biggest fear was getting lost on the boat.  A map of the ship was my constant companion but was only useful once I could determine “fore” and “aft”.  The Cruise Director, Malcolm Burns advised us to look out the windows because the boat never goes backwards!  Only that advice didn’t work well at night.

I looked forward to our shore excursion in New Brunswick that promised eagle and seal sightings, and the not-to-be missed “nutritional snack”.  The last time I visited Canada was several years ago in Calgary, Alberta during January.  Needless to say, kayaking the St. John River was a totally different experience.

I’m sure the eagles were laughing hysterically at the group of fumbling Americans attempting to kayak in the pouring rain.  The bad weather broke eventually and permitted us some photography and sightseeing.  I enjoyed being in such a peaceful, pristine, and natural setting.

The friendliness of the cruise staff helped alleviate any travel anxiety.  Fernando, our Steward, made sure we were comfortable and kept the chocolates coming.  Malcolm left us in stitches with his port procedure explanations that were more like stand-up comedy!  By the end of the cruise, Terry also found a new vocation in towel origami.

As if being on a boat in the middle of the ocean wasn’t enough, presenters Jerry Brightman and Frank Saladis successfully eased us out of our respective comfort zones to think in new ways.  In one exercise, we were asked to draw a picture of project management; several of us represented it as a journey from Point A to Point B.  The cruise turned out to be an excellent metaphor for our transformation as project managers. 

As always, the challenge is taking what we’ve learned and applying it without our teams thinking that we’ve gone off the deep end.  We can take those incremental steps by starting with ourselves.  Isn’t that the only person we truly have the ability to change?