Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity pdfdrive com

Shifting to a Positive Organizational Culture
It doesn’t take a big change to increase the productivity standards of a group. I
continually get feedback indicating that with a little implementation, this method
immediately makes things happen more quickly and more easily.
The constructive evaluation of activities, asset allocations, communications,
policies, and procedures against purposes and intended outcomes has become
increasingly critical for every organization I know of. The challenges to our
companies continue to mount, with pressures coming these days from
globalization, competition, technology, shifting markets, and raised standards of
performance and production.
“What do we want to have happen in this meeting?” “What is the purpose of
this form?” “What would the ideal person for this job be able to do?” “What do
we want to accomplish with this software?” These and a multitude of other,
similar questions are still sorely lacking in many quarters. There’s plenty of talk
in the Big Meetings that sounds good, but learning to ask “Why are we doing
this?” and “What will it look like when it’s done successfully?” and to apply the
answers at the day-to-day operational level—
that
is what will create profound
results.
Empowerment naturally ensues for individuals as they move from
complaining and victim modalities into outcomes and actions defined for
direction. When that becomes the standard in a group, it creates significant
improvement in the atmosphere as well as the output. There are enough other
problems to be concerned with; negativity and passive resistance need to
continually give way to a focus on the desired results at the appropriate horizons.
The microcosm of how people deal with their in-baskets, e-mail, and
conversations with others will be reflected in the macro-reality of their culture
and organization. If balls are dropped, if decisions about what to do are resisted
on the front end, if not all the open loops are managed responsibly, that will be
magnified in the group, and the culture will sustain a stressful fire-and-crisis
siege mentality. If, in contrast, individuals are implementing the principles of
Getting Things Done
, the culture will expect and experience a new standard of
high performance. Problems and conflicts will not go away—they remain

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inherent as you attempt to change (or maintain) anything in this world. The
operational behaviors of this book, however, will provide the focus and
framework for addressing them in the most productive way.
A vision without a task is but a dream, a task
without a vision is drudgery, a vision and a task
is the hope of the world.
—From a church in Sussex, England, ca. 1730

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Conclusion