Mana Project Management
We are running our self build project as a spiritual project. This might sound a bit woo woo but in its simplest form it is about the art of positive thinking. Building a house is inherently stressful because of the complexity of the project as well as the scale of the consequences of getting things wrong. At the end of the process we want a home that is comfortable and that we can enjoy, and we would prefer to enjoy the process of building it as well. So how do we go about that?
20 years ago I did a project at a manufacturing company in Bristol and I intentionally ran it as a spiritual project. It was a high stakes project with the objective of turning around a failing business. So I needed to succeed. Despite the pressure, I visualised the end result as total success against all the objectives and thanked the universe for helping. I defined the “what” and relied on the universe to supply the “how”. Some of the objectives were really challenging like the sale of a unique piece of equipment for an unrealistic price but by holding the intention the right buyer turned up and offered a better price. The worst was remarkably successful showing me to finish it early with all objectives met.
For our house build we hold the intention that everything will work out well in the end and that every step along the way takes us closer to that goal, even if it sometimes doesn’t seem like it at the time. We also use a fair bit of visualisation to help us, which works by closing the eyes, casting our minds and hearts forward in time whilst imagining how something will look or how we will feel and then smiling and saying thank you. This in turn sets in motion the manifestation of those exact results which were visualised. We have been doing this for many years and it works.
It also relies a bit on our values. So our values include caring for the earth, all life and for future generations. We have opted for natural materials that can be returned to the earth at the end of the life of the house. We have decided on minimal demands on the resources of the earth and the minimal pollution of the environment. These values we carry in our hearts as well as in our actions and they bring us in touch with people who share those values and with some of those people who build with them which enables us to build the house that we want. Our architect is a permaculturist and natural builder and has worked on many simple but natural build, especially in Africa. Our structural engineer has built his own strawbale house. Our builder has built his own hempcrete house and is Director of the Alliance of Green Builders. Our drainage system is being installed by a permaculturist and founder of Biologic Design. They all have a different way of seeing the world, as do we. With support like this we can only succeed.
Our thought processes have an influence as well. Our mental approach is to design with simplicity in mind. The more simple the design, the more elegant it becomes and the easier it is to build. We question everything rather than accepting the”wisdom”of the industry. Our favourite word is why. Why would we have a hermetically sealed house? Why should it be a constant temperature every day of the year? Why do we need MVHR?
Lastly the only right way to manage a project is to always focus on the effect. What should be the effect left behind after the work has finished. This is what we live with once we’ve completed the build. The effect for us should be a simple life integrated with the environment, creating no waste and using minimal resources. Not a tiny house but a minimal house.