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August 30, 2005
Positioning is everything
Referring to the tip just sent out in my newsletter (see below) we got this great email today:
Loved the tip for getting all of your miscellaneous items through airport security. My husband has ridiculed me for years for doing that very thing, and now I am vindicated. Though perhaps with the label "Plane Carry File" it will command more respect - I've always called it "Purse." - Dee Carrell
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Tip in my newsletter:
[From a Canadian in our network, who sent this tip about navigating airport security. – DA]
“I typically carry a cell phone/PDA, portable MP3 player, keys, loose change, gum, itinerary, watch, upgrade certificates, wallet, photo ID, boarding pass, reading material, and pens on the plane. I need to get these through the security check quickly and securely. There is nothing worse than doing the Airport Macarena (i.e. the painfully dopey self pat down) after clearing security to ensure that nothing has been forgotten. My solution is simple. I carry a clear, closable folder labeled "Plane Carry File" and place all of the above in it. I close it and put the folder in the tray provided (except for the boarding pass) before I proceed through security. The laptop goes into a separate tray. When I have cleared inspection, I can retrieve the folder and its contents quickly and with peace of mind. Before I board the plane, I put everything back except the photo ID/boarding pass which I need to board the plane. The first time I used the above method, the security guard was impressed and suggested that I “get the word out”. I hope this is useful to the group.” - Pierre McClelland
Posted by David at 12:53 PM | Comments (11)
August 29, 2005
Shameless self-promotion
Picked up my plates today...
Don't honk if you love "mind like water"...
Posted by David at 04:40 PM | Comments (14)
August 28, 2005
GTD in the Air Force
Friday I had one of the most rewarding days I can remember, in terms of GTD and interacting with the best and brightest. I spent all day with Brigadier General Randal Fullhart, Commandant of the Air Command and Staff College at Maxwell AFB in Alabama. Randy had run across GTD in the bookstore in Spokane when he was commanding a wing there three years ago. Since then he has given the book to all his directs, and now to all the students of the Air Force college he heads. His mission of teaching critical thinking skills to the young folks who will wind up in some of the most challenging and highly exposed (in every regard) situations on the planet has created a fertile field in which to plant the GTD gene. I'm still processing how impressed I was not only with Randy himself but with the aligned vision, integrity, service-orientation and openness to learning I experienced all over the campus.
I've always loved working with military officers in general. When they're not fighting they're learning. Wouldn't it be nice in the private (and even the public) sector, when we're not directly delivering value, we're training to produce greater value!?
My good friend Frances Hesselbein (Leader to Leader Institute) had told me about how inspiring her pro bono work and relationship was with Randy, who had invited her last year to spend time with his troops. I now know why.
Posted by David at 02:17 PM | Comments (4)
August 25, 2005
Interesting little tip, if you're using a paper system...
Just got this from someone in our network. Great idea, if you're using any kind of a single-particle paper reminder system...
To help me remember to process paper coming across my desk, I had a red-ink stamp made up with the work "PROJECT" at the top and then below that the list of possible actions from Agenda to Waiting For. Now I can stamp the paper and write on it what the next action is, defer it to another date in my days of the month file, etc. Sometimes I put the stamp on a sticky note if I don't want to alter the document. You have done so much for me I just wanted to share. - Daniel DenBeste
Posted by David at 03:56 PM | Comments (3)
August 24, 2005
Great day with Ultimate Software
Had a very invigorating day today (yesterday really, given the time) with 60% of Ultimate Software's employees, in a GTD-Mastering Workflow seminar, near their Weston, Florida headquarters. Their head of development, Adam Rogers, has been a major GTD champion since my first book came out, and he'd softened the beach-head already in the company with lots of copies of the book, and modeling the best-practice behaviors in his division. They're growing 20% a year, niched in the mid-size business payroll software business, providing a state-of-the-art user interface and proprietary techonology to manage all the intricacies of state-by-state tax laws.
Great energy in a room with 300+ people... then on a plane to NYC, at the Ritz Battery Park writing this, late...
Posted by David at 09:33 PM | Comments (1)
August 23, 2005
Good question... how would you answer it?
We just got this good question from an attorney in my network:
I have read Getting Things Done many times and am attending the Boston seminar. I have a question: Why is it so hard for human beings to get organized? Why do the techniques Mr. Allen recommends require so much effort and encounter such resistance from human nature? I'm not interested in this academically, but if there is some biological/psychological/historical aspect of human nature that makes it so difficult to organize, it might help us learn how to overcome them and get where we should be...
My answer:
Everyone is already organized to the degree they need to be, to have the world match up to their internal standards. And usually "having to get organized" refers only to things they don't care that much about. In other words, oil painters have their brushes organized, fishermen their tackleboxes, golfers their clubs. When your life as a whole and what you're doing with it takes on the same kind of gut-level identification with an experience you have to have, you'll probably overcome the resistance to creating and maintaining structure to keep it that way.
Posted by David at 07:09 PM | Comments (12)
August 22, 2005
GTD 1,2,3
We finished the first of a 3-part teleseminar this evening - GTD 1,2,3! - designed to give people who've done the RoadMap seminar a reasonably hands-on coaching through the workflow implementation program we do with people. I think it went very well - had almost 50 people participate; and the tech side went great(teleconference services are notorious for being a bit slack). Meg, Marian, Rick and I were on the call on our end - gave a good hour packed with instructions and examples of collecting and capturing "stuff" to begin with. This is only available to alumni from my RoadMap seminar, but likely it will probably make a good cd set for people who want something in between the book or the seminar, and one-on-one time with us. Stay tuned for the product...
Posted by David at 09:55 PM | Comments (2)
August 20, 2005
Bonsai in Los Angeles
Errands Saturday down in L.A., and managed to get by a small but incredible exhibit of bonsai downtown in Little Tokyo:
"Nan Pu Kai Bonsai; Members will exhibit their Bonsai Trees in Homage to John Naka; August 13-21 10:00am - 5:00pm; JACCC, Doizaki Main Gallery"
Kathryn, by an amazing crape myrtle bonsai
Posted by David at 10:21 PM | Comments (1)
My brain with The Brain...
I've heard of The Brain for a few years - never though, until I hung out with Jerry Michalski at the San Jose RoadMap seminar, did I see it really in use. Inspired me, as Jerry has accumulated 66,000+ "thoughts" in the last ten years, all connected. So I downloaded. Not sure how or if it will ultimately pay off, other than for the moment being the best way to literally connect all the multitudinous dots of my universe. I'll report later, as I get a feel for it... Sure has been fun to start to populate it and play with it, though.
High level view of my brain...
Posted by David at 12:00 AM | Comments (36)
August 19, 2005
Anti-GTD movement...
A CEO friend in my network forwarded this, which is being passed around his company as a t-shirt idea. We've agreed it's a sign that GTD is hitting the Big Time, that we've now got a counter-revolution in the making...!
IF THIS IS MY NEXT ACTION...
IMAGINE MY OUTCOME.
Posted by David at 03:04 PM | Comments (4)
August 18, 2005
Found our way to San Jose...
Wonderful time yesterday at our San Jose RoadMap seminar, with 140+ folks, probably 80% of whom were connected to the high-tech world. Along with Mitch Kapor, Jerry Michalski, Buzz Bruggeman, Frode Odegard, Jeff Tidwell, we had key players from Odeo and folks from Microsoft, Oracle, Cisco, Ask Jeeves, BMC, Adobe, Symantec, and more. My head's still spinning from interacting with some of the best of cyberspace!
Me, Buzz, Betty Taylor, and Jerry...decompressing
Posted by David at 09:42 PM | Comments (2)
August 16, 2005
A visit to a creativity factory...
Been running from a seminar Monday in Seattle with Group Health, to one today with IMS in San Francisco, and afterwards took the opportunity to visit with our clients/friends at Stone Yamashita in their new SOMA digs(that's "south of Market" for non-SFO folks). A fabulous 17,000-sq-ft space that partners Robert Stone and Keith Yamashita have recently set up for their creative strategy/strategic creativity sessions with major corporate clients. Stunning. These guys, aside from being GTDers as a culture, have a team doing amazing work, creating psychic and physical spaces for real collaborative thinking at the highest executive level.
Robert Stone, Kathryn, and me this afternoon in the new Stone Yamashita offices/creativity labs...
Posted by David at 10:34 PM | Comments (1)
August 15, 2005
Between the lines...
You may have noticed I changed the title of the blog. Originally I had thought that there might be more consistent dialog at a certain level. Hence, "the Salon," (the idea of which I've always loved since hanging out from time to time with my brother-in-law, John Clellon Holmes, many years ago, with conversation very rich and compelling). But it's really been my lack of bandwidth, given all the other things toward which I need to give my attention these days, that has caused this to morph more, indeed, to "between the lines" kind of stuff. Nice to have this, though, and it feels better to have the integrity of at least the name being more a reflection of what I'm doing here...
Posted by David at 12:14 AM | Comments (12)
August 12, 2005
I'm doing a Microsoft Leadership Forum Aug. 18
As a way of promoting their Web meeting tech, Live Meeting, Microsoft is running a series of free webinars with business "names" (can I be a "name" and a pretty face?). I'm scheduled for August 18, if any of you care to sit in on a one-hour session of "GTD Light" and its implications in organizational process.
I've done several webinars before, and the MS guys walked me through theirs this afternoon. Have to say, it looks pretty good, given my experience with some of the other stuff out there.
Posted by David at 04:38 PM | Comments (13)
August 11, 2005
Wallet stories...
Love anecdotes like this one (plus pic) I got today from the CEO of Communication Resources, Inc., Randy Coy. (They publish stuff for church leaders.)
David, I saw your "evening module" wallet on your blog and knew I wanted it. But for $99 did I need it? On to the maybe/someday list it went. And then one day during a review, I figured if I could order it in 2 minutes, I'm going to go for it. Let me tell you - when I opened that outer box I knew I hadn't bought a wallet notetaker. I had just bought an experience. Like a fine bottle of wine, uncorking the bottle and pouring into into the perfect glass is about half the fun for me. The heavy embossed outer box...oh man... I new there was a a goody inside! Then, oh my gosh: black tissue paper. A notecard from David helping to "experience" the notebook. A laugh as I read to my wife, yep, even user instructions "tear off paper and place in inbasket.." Extra supplies... a wallet with leather I knew from experience would age perfectly (as you promised it would.) Fortunately, I had mind like water from the morning review so I spent the next guilt-free hour playing with my wallet and showing it to my kids ("Yea, Dad that's a really cool...uh.... what did you call it?" It is an evening module!) A final side benefit: I attacked the last bastion of "junk bunkers" - my wallet (which had become quite the George Costanza wallet). I'm not postive yet, but I think my new evening module can be my all day module too. I've found a better place for the not often used items (like my glove compartment for the library and triple AAA card after putting the relevant #'s in my PDA). Anyway... thanks for building the wallet. And a special thank you for creating the experience to enjoy.
PS Yea, I know its creepy, but I was compelled to send you a picture of my new wallet taking its place among some of my favorite GTD "gear".
Posted by David at 09:45 AM | Comments (5)
August 10, 2005
Four days in DavidCo land...
Didn't fall off the planet - just spent four power-packed days in our semi-annual David Allen Company staff meeting, somewhat off-site at the Ojai Valley Inn. Would love to write up some of my personal impressions if I get a chance - it was quite an experience to have 23 people instead of half that number at our last meeting (we've grown... Jeez, I have a company!) And such an incredible group of folks, I must say... well, maybe more to come. Certainly there will be, with the creative output this group is lined up for...
Marian Bateman (Dir Coaching) and Richard Levi (Dir Product Dev) at our final company dinner in the Ojai sunset...
Posted by David at 07:16 PM | Comments (2)
August 04, 2005
This morning's IN...
Per an email I just got (cleaning up to zero, you know...!)...
Hi David, I thinks it would be great for us GTD fans to see (on your blog?) some pics of your personal inbox just before processing it, or your filing cabinets and other thing you personally use... another occasion to use your nice and new sony camera!! :) Anyway, thanks for sharing this amazing way of getting things done !! Kind regards, -- matt
...here 'tis at 11:15 AM PDT today. Last night it was two feet tall. (Second basket has support materials for things I'm working on today. File labels on the bottoms of the folders as well as the tops, so I can see them without open papers). Ask and ye shall (sometimes) receive.
Posted by David at 11:09 AM | Comments (17)
