Why do some resent GTD?

[NewbGTD]

Had the same experiences as above when you show people GTD they think they don't need lists and can remember everything but they simply don't. And the ones that manage to remember most things are completely stessed out, but still don't want a solution.

I keep it to myself now.

[jengagne]

Maybe she wasn't doing well in her OWN job, productivity-wise, and was sent to shadow you for that very reason.

That would make sense -- and it wouldn't surprise me if she were approaching it from an automatically defensive standpoint, resulting in her reaching to critique and make strange demands that you change instead.

[annewalsh]

Been reading through this post and seems to me you have been getting some really good advice. Roger had a great question about what would be an ideal outcome...and maybe that is a question to ask.
Sounds as though the person sent to shadow you resented you being presented as a "role model" (sort of a "look at how X does it").
And I was listening to one of David's interviews (think it was one of the upclose series) in which he mentioned how people have a comfort zone around a certain level of stress and when GTD helps to eliminate that...it feels unfamiliar...so they go back to their stress levels ...because it's familiar! Maybe for some people being stress free feels boring. Thomas Leonard once said that "boredom is the gateway to peace"..
Would love to hear how the situation resolves itself...but I suspect that if you keep showing grace under pressure (as it seems you are doing) you will have people coming to you (maybe at night time when no one will know... and asking you how you do it..
Anne

[m2foster]

I keep it to myself now.

I totally understand. I wish it wasn't so.

[m2foster]

Sounds as though the person sent to shadow you resented you being presented as a "role model"

That's probably why her response was a personal attack. Still trying to figure out how come these kind of people (disorganized, petty, emotional) end up having power over me. Thanks for your words of encouragement.

[m2foster]

Now, I have at least one coworker who firmly believes that writing down a list is a waste of time, because he can remember everything. Of course he doesn't, and frequently has to ask me, but that doesn't budge him from his firm belief in his own memory skills.

So, do you ever let him bear the consequences of his system, i.e. don't have the answer, or tell him it's not your job to remember his stuff for him? In my own situation, it feels like I can't win. If I'm not there to make sure it gets done and prop up someone else's delusions that their system works, then I'm not being a team player. If I'm always there and ready, then they resent me (not enough to change mind you). I have a situation right now where I gave up ownership of an item that wasn't really mine. I gave it back to my boss. It's been a disaster. Sitting back and letting things crash and burn has been one of the hardest things I've had to do.

[PatinSC]

... If I'm not there to make sure it gets done and prop up someone else's delusions that their system works, then I'm not being a team player. If I'm always there and ready, then they resent me (not enough to change mind you)...

Exactly my situation! I have spent many hours, and more than a few nights cleaning up for someone else's failures. And I still get reviews saying I should be more of a 'team player'.


Pat in SC