I’ve been listening to the “Viking War Drums” playlist on @spotify a lot lately. Very motivational when I’m lifting weights, doing burpees or on the way to train Jiu Jitsu. This has made me think of applying the noble Viking virtues in modern times. I’m also a big fan of Michael Crichton’s “Eater’s of the Dead” book that was adapted to the movie “The 13th Warrior” starting Antonio Banderas. In the film we see some of the essence of what the average person knows about Vikings. Large, sea faring humans that conquered much of Europe and parts of Asia by force.
As I thought about this and how I could tie Vikings to Incident Management Teams and Project Managers I thought there must be some core values or processes the Vikings followed. Well, with some quick searching I found the “9 Noble Viking Virtues” across various websites. Below are the virtues and brief definitions of each.
Please listen to the latest episode of the ‘People, Process, Progress’ podcast to hear how I think Incident Management Team (IMT) members and Project Managers can map these virtues to day-to-day work as part of IMTs or leading project teams.
The 9 Viking Virtues:
- Courage – Both physical and moral courage
- Truth – Spiritual truth and actual truth
- Honor – Deeds, words and reputation outlive our bodies
- Fidelity – Remaining true to Gods, kinsmen, as spouse and family
- Discipline – Using one’s personal will to uphold honor and other virtues
- Hospitality – Treating others with respect and being part of a community
- Industriousness – Hard work as a means to achieve a goal
- Self-Reliance – Care of oneself, while still maintaining relationships with Deity (of your choice)
- Perseverance – To continue pushing on ward, despite potential obstacles
To me, these virtues are not just for conquering pagans that have cool war drum music and axes. The Nine Noble Virtues of Nordic lore apply to us personally outside of work, but also very much to our professional lives as IMT members and Project Managers.
Sources:
- https://www.learnreligions.com/noble-virtues-of-asatru-2561539
- https://www.history.com/topics/exploration/vikings-history (Section 5)
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