ValuExecBlog

Keeping Me Honest

I have the utmost respect for anyone who creates a tool or product for the greater good of man or beast so when someone asks me to review or comment on a new product, I do so gladly but only on the proviso that I will say it as I see it.

On this occasion I have been asked by Dan Baluta to comment on a project and task management application that is based on David Allen's book 'Getting Things Done' called gtdAgenda that you can access at www.gtdagenda.com. Before commenting about it on this blog however, I wanted to use the system for a while and see if it indeed made my life easier, or as some of these new systems have a tendency to do - make my life more complicated; I wanted to see how easy it was to switch over from my current management system but importantly, I wanted to see if I could customize it to suit my needs. The timing was excellent as I had a number of projects on the go and I was being swamped with tasks that needed to be done and prioritized. If ever an application was to be put to the test - this was it. 

At the outset though, I must warn you that I am a bit of a goal freak. I have goals for every aspect of my life be it career, physical, family, spiritual, mental etc., and I am constantly monitoring progress towards those goals; adding activities or 'crossing them off', working on new projects or reshaping existing projects etc. so working with a project and task management system was not particularly new to me. What was new to me however (and I am ashamed to admit it in this day-and-age) was using a web-based application. I have used a paper-based system for years. Nevertheless, Dan set me up with an account (as this is a paid service application) and I jumped right in. Big mistake!

As with all new applications, it always helps to read the instructions before jumping right in, not that gtdagenda is all that complicated; but it is worth spending at least 5-10 minutes 'Taking the Tour' and reading the section entitled 'Use gtdagenda to implement Getting Things Done (GTD) by David Allen'.

I found it easy to set up my goals just as it was easy to link projects to each of those goals. Then adding tasks to each of those projects was simple enough. The process flow in setting up goals, projects and tasks is very easy to follow. A list of all your projects is displayed to the right of the page which enables you to switch from one project to another with ease which is a feature that I found extremely useful.

Another aspect of the application that is a tremendous help is the 'Next Actions' list which is the first thing that is displayed when you sign in to your account in www.gtdagenda.com. In addition, your goals are always displayed at the top of each page that you are using. Keeping your goals in front of you at all times is for me crucial, as I do believe it keeps you honest and focused on what is important and prevents you from straying too far off the beaten track.

The application allows you to develop checklists which can be weekly, monthly or yearly and I do like the way the checklist is configured. I would however have liked to have been able to develop separate checklists for each of my goal categories (i.e., one for physical and one for spiritual etc) as I found the application lumps all activities into the same checklist. In hindsight though, this isn't necessarily a bad thing as it did enable me to see on one page everything that I routinely do (or wanted to do) during the week. It did make me realize that I was being a little unreasonable in my expectations of what needed to be done.

There is a 'Context' section that informs you whether tasks are to be done at home, via the computer or any other means that you may wish to include. How useful this feature is I haven't quite determined yet and the jury is still out for me. There is also an e-mail address at the bottom of the task list page the purpose of which is not clear to me. I assume it is there if you need to contact gtdagenda should you have a problem. I could not find any mention of it in any of the readings. One feature I would have liked is for all my 'Next Actions' to be e-mailed to me when I log in to my e-mails every morning. Always good to have such timely reminders.

In short, the gtdagenda application has kept me honest. Critically, it has forced me to prioritize my projects and tasks and to clearly define those activities that I need to do next. By forcing me to prioritize, I have been able to focus on those projects and tasks that are important to the achievement of my goals.

The application did indeed make my life easier; I found it easy to switch from my current management system to the gtdagenda application and I was able to customize it to suit my needs. I would certainly recommend it for anyone struggling to manage their time and for those dealing with a myriad of projects both at work or in their personal lives. 

ian

It's Business as Un-usual

Last week I sat through a client's strategic planning session and watched as the management team tried to make sense of the current economic climate, its impact on their business and the corresponding outlook of the business 5 years hence. There were some good discussions, interesting scenarios offered but if the truth be told - no-one had a clue what the business would look like 5 years out, let alone 18 months out. Why? because none of the management team had ever experienced what they were now facing; nor as an affiliate - had they a true understanding of the expectations of Head Office and the challenges facing the business as a whole globally. So it begs the question, 'in today's current business climate - does it really make sense to expect affiliates to develop 5-year strategic plans?' I suspect not.

It's business as un-usual but I do strongly believe that today's economic climate provides companies with an unbelievable opportunity to tear down walls and rebuild into stronger and better companies. Unfortunately, for many the opposite is occurring. They are battening down the hatches and disappearing up their own back apertures in their attempts to deal with the crisis facing them. For example, one client that we work with was issued with a directive from Head Office not to employ any further staff. The policy was one-in, one-out or simply non-replacement. This left the management team despondent because they needed resources (of the human kind) to meet their growth projections. Their reaction on being told the directive was to throw up their hands and say, 'well, we can't get the growth targets, then!'

I then asked the management team to do the following: Assume they were the owners of the business and knowing what they know today about the business, its products, its customers etc - on a blank sheet of paper, how would they structure the business. In other words, they would be starting from scratch. A funny thing happened. Not only did they structure the company in such a way that growth areas had the most resources, but the team actually ended up with exactly the same number of people as they currently had. No more. What they realized was that they were trying to prop up an inefficient structure by piling on more resources rather than tearing down walls and redesigning a structure that was more appropriate to their strategy.

It's business as un-usual so don't be afraid to tear down walls and build a structure that is relevant to your strategy today. 

ian

The Great Corporate Clam Up

I was saying to my business partner the other day that we have got to be the dumbest people in the world. First, we are in the consulting business which contrary to popular belief is difficult and in the current business climate is darn-right tough. But if that wasn't bad enough - here I am trying to raise funds for a start-up business that we want to launch at year-end. Talk about timing and talk about doors slamming in my face; colleagues not returning phone calls - so I suspect I will not be receiving many Christmas cards this year. And then to cap it all, we have just launched an on-line venture (www.skillswithpeople.com) which took up a lot of energy and effort but which, in this case, I do believe the timing is right. 

It has been the mother of all months and I do want to provide my take on events. First the good news - there are still, believe it or not, a large number of companies out there making money, and very good money at that. These tend to be companies that have consistently performed well; have consistently invested in their people, their products and brands and have consistently had a solid management team in place. So despite what the majority of people are saying - there is 'gold in dem hills' - you just have to mine it right. Secondly, and perhaps the bad news - employees are extremely nervous and rightly so. They are not feeling all that confident that they will have a job this side of Christmas as companies start what I call, 'the big corporate clam up,' and that has got to impact corporate performance.  

The sad thing is it all becomes a never ending spiral - downwards. As companies clam up, they downsize. As they downsize, people tighten their belts even further, sales fall and companies clam up even more. The spiral gets worse. There will be a time when governments can no longer continue to inject more funds into the economy to prop it up (unless you live in Zimbabwe that is) and companies will have to fend for themselves which will require leadership, innovation, creativity and the art of driving people back to their brands. Unfortunately, the opposite is happening at the moment - companies are cutting back on all those things that stimulate a business and retaining those things that stagnate a business. The laager mentality has set in. 

I was energized by Barack Obama's victory speech not because he offered 'hope' but because he offered a vision of how we were going to get out of the mess. Here was a man on a mission. He offered a vision at a time when people had lost confidence in their leaders and his vision was not all about 'bail-outs' from government. It was all embracing in that if we are to get out of this mess, we will have to do it together. Company leaders can well learn from this man. In fact they would do well to emulate him. Now is the time for company leaders to step up, not retreat; to provide a vision not a redundancy package and to clarify their vision and not relegate it to the top drawer of their desk. They should be on the campaign trail visiting their employees in every country in which they do business talking about their vision out of this mess and not held up in some corner office. I read somewhere that people don't join companies because they have a mission statement - they join companies because the company is on a mission. Company leaders, like Obama did so well, need to show themselves as the leaders they truly are and take their vision to every employee across the globe personally. That should be their mission. Then, maybe we will begin to get out of this mess.