Hello all.

Thanks in advance for looking at and providing feedback on my post :bows:

I have an opportunity to work with a senior manager from another office on determining the agenda for a large and important conference that will take place 6 months hence. He knows my work from past collaboration, which was mutually satisfying and filled with a shared sense of mission. He is now asking for my help and feedback on structuring this conference, as my government program will be the theme. The thing of it is, I have told him that we need to collaborate on this project somewhat under the radar, as I sense that neither my director and direct supervisor are fans of my being prominent, and do not generally share the bold "vision" that has been part of my collaborations with the conference leader in the past. I don't really have an issue with lack of recognition, as my passion for my work extends beyond job security.

Still ,I am sensitive of being careful with this senior manager as, despite our personal history of being quite sympatico, he is knows to be temperamental in general. I also know that he is leary of sharing the reigns of control, based on a recent conversation where he indicated that he felt threatened by a colleague's interest in shaping the conference agenda.

I fear that, if my program is not given the right leadership in the next two years, it may be on the chopping block and disappear altogether. So I asked about right conduct in connection with my relations with him on this project. In response, I received 23.1.5>42.

Here is my take

Hex 23 in general means that I should not focus on having a place to go, that I need to pull back and strip down. In the context of my situation, it means no ego, no agenda, not acting. If I can hold to my ideal appropriately (the kernel of my idealism about the program), it will have new life when everything else (potentially any ego attachment) will be stripped away.

Line 1 says "look at what is real" and available in this role...no envy, no contention, and defer appropriately. Perhaps, despite my words, I am more ego driven than I am conscious of, and need to be especially careful not to presume any particular favor.

Line 5 indicates that I can be successful if, again, I seek to supplement that which falls in line with that leadership that is already in play.

23 changing to line 42...There will be a rush of opportunity if I can navigate the stripping away of that which is unwholesome in my focus, which will allow me to make bigger contributions in the manner I aspire to in the future.

Thank you again for thoughts regarding my interpretion. :bows:

Susan

What is the right conduct with him on this project?
23.1.5 > 42

Since you and the senior manager have worked well together for an earlier conference, that collaboration could be a model for the next conference. You say that your program 'may be on the chopping block' in two years, so I would associate 23 (Splitting Apart) with the program. Line 1 suggests a humble role, and line 5 meager personal reward, which you accept for the good of the program. I see 42 as advantage accruing to the program because of the conference.