March 27, 2008
Horizons of Focus
One of our readers, Robert Brink, had this request:
"I'd love an article on the various horizons. I know it's important, but it's completely opaque to me. The metaphor only seems helpful at the first two levels. I can see the obvious difference between the tarmac (actions), and takeoff (projects). I can see it in my head and I can remember it because I've experienced the visual difference between taxi and take-off. One minute I'm looking in car windows, the next I'm looking at roofs. But the difference between 40k and 50k means next to nothing to me. (Oh look, everything got another fraction smaller. Great!)"
I can really appreciate this question, as the application of this tool will take literally as many forms as there are people applying it. This is a big topic, so I'll try to hit the most relevant points, as I see them.
Practicing GTD enables people and groups to manage their agreements with more integrity and peace of mind. David Allen's "Horizons of Focus" model is essentially a map of the six different types of agreements that you can have with yourself. They each have a different flavor, time horizon and impact. Clarifying what your agreements are at these levels and reviewing them as often as you need to will help you maintain a sense of perspective about all of the minute-by-minute choices you make about what to do and what to commit to. Here's a quick primer on what is meant by the six different levels of the Horizons of Focus:
On the Runway
These are the agreements you have with yourself about the actual physical and visible next actions you are committed to doing. For instance, "draft growth strategy presentation," is an example of this kind of agreement, and it would be organized on a next action list.
10,000 FT
What relatively near-term outcomes are you committed to for which you are taking many of the next actions on the runway? The answers to this question essentially create your project list, or 10,000 ft. "Growth strategy for 2009 presented to management team" could be the project for the previously mentioned next action. Projects are typically outcomes that can be completed within about a year.
20,000 FT
This level represents the agreements you have with yourself about your responsibilities, interests and areas of focus. You can think of it as the job description for your life and work. Typically this list is about 7-10 areas. Your commitments at 20,000 ft tend to change when your life or job changes in some meaningful way. "Responsible for leading company strategy" might be the 20,000 ft component in our running example.
30,000 FT
These are the specific and measurable medium-term goals and objectives to which you are committed. I think about this level as the uber-projects. In other words, you're probably going to need the completion of a whole bunch of smaller and shorter projects at 10,000 ft to actually get to the goal at 30,000 ft. The time horizon here tends to be about 1-2 years and it helps if the agreements at this level are as specific and measurable as possible. For instance, "Sales volume increased by 23% by June 2010" could be the 30,000 ft agreement in our example.
40,000 FT
As you get higher in the altitude of your agreements, your longer-term aspirational agreements start showing up. 40,000 ft is all about articulating your vision. This is where you get to invent what the ideal scenes of your work and life will look like, sound like, and feel like. More than the previous levels, you want to stretch yourself here toward visions that will make all the work worthwhile. You probably want to reach out at least three years if not more for these. In our running example, creating the strategy for growth could be about eventually getting to a vision that sounds like "Our company is recognized consistently as the leader in the field, known for innovation and breakthrough strategy."
50,000 FT
50,000 ft represents your ultimate purpose and core values, either as an individual, or as a group. It typically takes some time and serious introspection to arrive at a clear statement of purpose and/or core values. Let's say the company in our running example were a medical device company. The purpose could be something like "To improve the quality and duration of life for people with diabetes." Purposes and core values tend to not change very often, but you can always revisit it if need be.
In these examples I've shown a one-to-one link between all of the elements at the different levels - and that's the point. If you're agreements are not aligned up to the top, you may be spending your energy on project and actions that really don't matter according to your higher horizons of agreements.
Consider that energy follows attention. So if you clearly articulate your agreements at these levels and give them the appropriate amount of attention, you'll likely find that you're using your energy on the right things.
We recommend holding this model lightly as the various horizons are meant to be general guidelines, not a rule-book. For instance, if for you, 30K and 40K feel like almost the same thing - great. Success here is more about the intention of actually articulating and review your higher agreements - not necessarily the exact form they take.
If you're hungry for more information or inspiration about this topic, the good news is that David is now in the process of writing his third book, which will likely include a deeper conversation about this topic.
Posted by mdolan at 06:51 PM | Comments (6)
December 27, 2007
The Power of the Reticular Filter
As we approach the end of the year and the beginning of the next, I find myself reflecting on where I am and what I'm grateful for. One thing for which I've always been grateful is having this wonderful job as a coach at The David Allen Company.
The story of how I became a workflow coach is a great example of the power of the reticular filter in action. The reticular filter is that part of our brains that filters in and out what matters most and least to us, respectively (see here for more about the reticular filter.)
Over the course of my previous professional experience I had often wondered if I should become a coach, but I'd never really verbalized my thoughts or taken any actions to discover more. I didn't have the cajones to jump out of the the track I'd been in for years into the world of coaching. Then, one day, I was talking with my wife, AnneLise, about career musings and shared with her that I was interested in investigating a career in coaching. She agreed, saying, "Of course you should be a coach. You're already an amazing coach." Hearing her reflect back to me what I probably already knew deep down inside, gave me the courage to embrace that possibility and start taking actions toward becoming a coach. And suddenly my reticular started filtering away...
Just a few days after that, in my search to learn more about the world of coaching, I volunteered to be coached in an all-day integral coaching course at a nearby coaching school. My coach was supportive, sensitive and objective. She took me through several exercises in which I created my vision of what my experience of my life would be working as a coach - in other words, we created not just a successful outcome statement, "Coaching Career Launched," but also a much deeper, richer vision of how it would feel, how it would look, what I would be doing and saying. The works. The conversation we had that day created an incredible opening for me - and suddenly all I could do was see opportunities to make my new vision come true. My reticular filter was now programed to filter in the internal ideas and stimulus from the outside world that would all help me achieve my new goal and vision.
Literally, two days later in a conversation with a friend, I noticed him mention something about GTD and I was suddenly reminded of David Allen, and the workflow coaching I'd once received and loved. Within a week of that I was starting the interview process to become a workflow coach...
If I hadn't already set my goal and articulated my vision, that mention of GTD would have probably just floated by me like so many other bits of information I pass by every day. But this time I noticed it.
From the moment I actually set the vision and goal it took about two months before I was hired and hit the ground running with my coaching training. My own personal experience is my best evidence of the power of setting intentions, articulating goals, and letting your own reticular filter do what it does best.
I'm sure you all have similar stories about seemingly serendipitous things that happened or showed up once you set your mind to a certain goal or vision. I'd love to hear about it.
Posted by mdolan at 01:54 PM | Comments (1)
December 19, 2007
Getting Back on the Wagon
If you've got a solid personal productivity management practice in place, like GTD, you probably engage in some sort of regular wholistic review of the stuff on your lists and in your system. Without doing this regularly it's hard to feel totally in control and in perspectice about your work and your life. At the David Allen Company, we recommend to do this weekly. Here's a link to a free PDF with information about the recommended steps of the weekly review.
And.. I've got something terrible to admit...
The other day, it took me pretty much a whole day to do my weekly review, because I hadn't done one for over three weeks!!
"What!?" you say, "A David Allen workflow coach missed TWO of his own weekly reviews? Heresy!!"
Yes indeed. It's true. Even a DavidAllen coach can be rather human when it comes to occasionally missing a weekly review. And you know what? The experience of falling off the weekly review wagon and finally getting back on was actually a big eye-opener for me. When I actually caught up and finished the weekly review my mood shifted, my peace-of-mind increased, and even my body felt more vibrant. But only through experiencing that post-weekly-review glow could I really see just how out of sorts I'd been the couple of weeks prior. It's as if I just got a new prescription for eyeglasses and I suddenly realize just how fuzzy everything was without them. The experience also made me realize just how cranky I get if it's been too long since my last weekly review.
And so I encourage you: If you're a student of David Allen's GTD and you've fallen off the wagon of the weekly review, give yourself a break, set aside some time, and get back on the wagon. If you're like me, your holiday season might be a little more in control and a little less cranky.
Posted by mdolan at 07:11 PM | Comments (2)
December 08, 2007
Getting the Water Just Right: The Someday Maybe List
I've noticed a broad theme about GTD, both in my own practice and in the coaching I provide to others: Keeping your GTD system healthy is all about recalibration.
In my own approach, I notice that it helps to always keep one eye on the look-out for how well my system and approach is serving me. Over time, things change in and around me. So I've got to make sure that I regularly recalibrate the agreements I make with myself to fit the environment and situation I'm in.
My experience of it is like an ongoing fine-tuning of the temperature of a shower in a house that has inconsistent plumbing. I've got to recalibrate my system regularly so I don't either burn myself or chill out too much.
If you know anything about the practice of the weekly review, you know that there's a lot of recalibration built in. In my weekly review I not only collect and process all of the stuff I haven't yet processed, but I also take a fresh look at all of the agreements I've made in the past and give myself the chance to change my mind. The weekly review is like the macro-level recalibration - and it's essential to keep things running.
Someday Maybe
One specific example of recalibrating during the weekly review has to do with the Someday Maybe list. I always try to keep a healthy give-and-take between the things on the Someday Maybe list and my Actions and Project lists. The Someday Maybe list is like the release-valve of my commitments. If I'm doing a weekly review and I notice that I'm starting to reach capacity in terms of workload versus energy, it's time to recalibrate and shift some things that were once committed projects into Someday Maybe mode. I can always tell that I need to do this when my overall feeling of relaxed control starts to morph into the beginnings of a slight feeling of anxiety (Yes, even a DavidAllen coach feels anxiety sometimes). I can actually feel it in my body. And when I do, that's an important signal for me to start recalibrating and renegotiating those agreements.
Of course the opposite is true as well. When my schedule and bandwidth start opening up and my energy starts to be available for more commitments, one of the first things I do is hunt on my Someday Maybe list for some juicy bits for which I've been hoping to have time.
Have you ever noticed that when you don't have a lot to do, you do proportionally less with your time? Recalibration is about keeping your commitments at just the right level so that you're not swamping yourself and you're not succumbing to laziness.
Posted by mdolan at 02:10 PM | Comments (1)
