David Allen came up as the next speaker at the recent Art of Management. I am sure that he finds quite often a challenge in that his topic can be viewed as somewhat dry and probably not under the label of inspirational. However he did a very good job of keeping the very complex details of his Getting Things Done system easy to initially grasp. The hard thing I have found is maintaining the discipline to work his system 'religiously'.
Here are some of his key points:
The strategic value of clear space is the freedom to make a creative mess.
The core ingredients for self management are Control and Perspective:
Control – Capturing, Clarifying, Organizing, Reflecting & Engaging. – What is the next action?
Perspective – Purpose/Principles, Vision, Goals, Responsibilities, Projects, Actions. – What conversation with whom at what horizon?
"You have to challenge yourself to make decisions"