Evan Baehr A Place for Scattered Ideation. Step 1: Marinate: Step 2: Evangelize.

The Underappreciated Competitive Advantage: The Ability to Get Things Done

The more time I spend observing men and women who are high achievers, the more I realize that while many have visionary leadership, keen intellect, and a passion for change, perhaps their most unappreciated yet impressive skill is their ability to get things done.  This sounds outrageously oversimplified.  To many people “getting things done” seems like a commodity skill set—sure there are tricks but at the end of the day all that matters is that people check off their task list.  From my study of a few outrageously impressive people, efficient task management is one of their key competitive advantages.  So if you are serious about making a difference in whatever sphere you work, spend a few hours exploring project management.  You’ll find that productive management results in more successful projects (e.g. that new non-profit finally gets off the ground), more free time (for your friends or family), more sleep (yielding more focus), and/or more time to explore your passions (to figure out how you actually want to spend your time).  Below are a few resources I have found helpful in my journey.  Please send your tricks and tips my way!

Knowledge:

Getting Things Done (buy here): the classic book on the subject.  I really believe this book can change your life.  Allen has consulted with hundreds of top executives.  What he finds is that after these executives implement a trusted system for task/project management, they unleash an inner-creativity.  They literally start coming up with all sorts of new ideas for their business or personal interests.  Allen argues that since the human mind is so inefficient in determining what to store in its short term “RAM,” once you clear that memory of lots of tasks and reminders (by writing them down in an organized fashion), you free up intellectual computing ability to devote to other processes (including brainstorming). You can find a summary of some of the book’s highlights here.

The Art of Project Management: kudos to my friend Joe Barillari for sending this great piece my way.  This piece is a chapter out of a book by the same title by Scott Berkun, a longtime project manager at Microsoft.

The summary points:

• Everything can be represented in an ordered list. Most of the work of project management is correctly prioritizing things and leading the team in carrying them out.
• The three most basic ordered lists are: project goals (vision), list of features, and list of work items. They should always be in sync with each other. Each work item contributes to a feature, and each feature contributes to a goal.
• There is a bright yellow line between priority 1 work and everything else.
• Things happen when you say no. If you can't say no, you effectively have no priorities.
• The PM has to keep the team honest and keep them close to reality.
• Knowing the critical path in engineering and team processes enables efficiency.
• You must be both relentless and savvy to make things happen.

Tools:

Paper Goods: GTD lays out an approach to task management.  But once you’ve developed this strategy, you must find the right tools to help you execute.   Some GTD aficionados have built software apps based on the book.  I have sampled many of these and find them to leave something to be desired.  Most of them suffer from a limiting user interface that does not allow you to see all of your projects at one time.  Despite my love of technology, I keep coming back to the old-fashioned paper solution from Levenger.  Their Pocket Briefcase makes use of stationery-quality 3x5 index cards.  (See Levenger’s “How To” on Pocket Briefcases and 3x5 Cards.)  I use these cards to implement my own version of the GTD strategy; for each project or workflow I create a new index card.  I write the title on the top and the list of tasks down the card.   For projects that involve multiple workflows, I create a separate card for each workflow.  This system allows me to keep track of dozens of projects and 50+ workflows, all in one place.  I even use 3x5 cards to take meeting notes; on one card I take “notes” (a short summary/major questions/etc.) and on my existing work-flow card I check off, change, or add tasks.

In a future post I’ll walk you through this in more detail.  For now, let me explain one key feature: the “tickler” list.  Every day I hear about a book, learn about someone I should meet, or come up with an idea; while these are great, they aren’t actionable today.  They may be important, but they aren’t urgent.  These tasks have two possible futures: (1) they are forgotten; or (2) they take up our RAM (your mind keeps pinging you saying “buy this book… don’t forget! Buy this book.”)  My “tickler list” is a list of non-actionable tasks, people, or ideas that I’m saving for the future.  I keep a tickler card for each project I’m involved in.  Organizationally, I have found the card bleachers really handy for sorting tasks on my desk, and the action folio great for carrying projects with me on the go.

Software: Of all of the web 2.0 / computer based programs, the two I like are Toodledo and Action Method.  Toodledo is a simple program for sorting, categorizing, and prioritizing tasks.  The iPhone UI is great, although the web-UI is pretty limiting.  Action Method has a beautiful, highly functional UI in all three media: web, desktop-based Adobe Air app, and iPhone.  It also brings advanced team-based functionality that gives it some functionality of Basecamp.  For MAC users, Things is the best one I’ve seen.  Another handy app is Rescue Time, which is as profound as it is simple.  Based on the insultingly simple premise that many of us waste time in front of our computer, it helps track how we spend time on our computers (by monitoring which application window is active) and provides helpful analytics and tools that equip us to spend that time more effectively.  Despite several attempts at setting up Basecamp and Microsoft’s Sharepoint, I remain unimpressed with the collaboration tools available.  Google Wave, which I’ve been playing with for a few weeks now, has made some major leaps in this area.  Given that I can’t invite any of my friends to join, however, it has been hard to fully explore.