GTD vs Agile Results. Correcting the mistakes of David Allen

In this post, I want to talk about how the Agile Results personal effectiveness system differs from GTD and how it can improve the latter. The post will be useful as GTD-shnik with experience, and those who have a relationship with GTD did not work out.

Introduction and reason for the major flaws in GTD

“It’s amazing: the same people who pre-order a new iPad, count the days until the next Apple event and make sure they always have the latest version of each program - they follow the productivity system that was developed more than 10 years ago.” Sven fechner

Yes, yes, the book "GTD" was published in the distant 2002th. She undoubtedly taught me a lot:

• the principle of “Inbox” for unloading the operational memory of the brain;
• the habit of asking the question: “What concrete action should be next?”;
• the algorithm for processing and organizing tasks and, in particular, the golden “rule of 2 minutes”;
• the use of contexts and the practice of weekly review.

However, I cannot attribute myself to orthodox GTD-shnik, and I don’t cherish any illusions about the ideality of this system. Here are some of the disadvantages of GTD, I know firsthand:

• GTD is not for practitioners. This methodology pays more attention to the stages of processing and organizing tasks than to their actual implementation.
• GTD fixated on tasks. For this reason, GTD is poorly suited to people of creative professions who, when asked to describe their day using the list of clear “next steps,” can only smile. They rather need “three hours of silence and calmness for focused work on the project”.
• GTD is petty. With GTD, you constantly feel like a snail promoting your 100+ projects (the normal amount for this technique) by centimeter per day. In addition, the constant need to prioritize for such a number of projects is very annoying.
• GTD is too “grounded”. The system does not have the tools to rise above the routine and set priorities at higher levels. Chapters of the book devoted to these issues, worked frankly weak. Blindly following the methodology, you risk becoming a person who automatically processes and performs any tasks that fall into his Inbox, instead of sorting out and concentrating on what he really should do.

If you look at the resulting lists of advantages / disadvantages, it is easy to see that all the main problems of GTD are not related to productivity , but lie in the field of personal effectiveness . To make sure that we are talking about the same thing, here are the definitions of these concepts, which I adhere to:

1. Efficiency - the ability to perform the right tasks.
2. Productivity - the ability to perform tasks correctly.

Boom! David Allen taught us how to handle task lists, but forgot to tell why all this is needed. A serious omission, given the fact that efficiency must always lead in this tandem. First you need to make sure that you are doing what you must do, and only then look for the best way to do it.

The essence of the technique of Agile Results

Now that I have outlined my vision for the shortcomings of GTD, I want to talk about the Agile Results methodology, with which I was able to correct them.
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Agile Results is a system of personal effectiveness that aims to achieve meaningful results. According to Agile Results, the key to achieving results is flexibility (agility), which is defined as the willingness to continually improve on the basis of the resulting response to their actions. The methodology was developed and described in the book “ Getting Results of the Agile Way ” by JD Meier, a top manager in the Microsoft Enterprise Strategy team.

The central element of Agile Results is “Rule 3 results” : instead of overloading yourself with tasks, you define only 3 key results that you want to achieve in a certain period of time: day, week, month or year.
Just train yourself to ask the question: “What are the 3 results I want to achieve by the end of this day?

The basis of Agile Results is the following effective week pattern :

• Monday scheduling. At the beginning of the week, you define 3 main Results of the Week, which you want to achieve by Friday →
• Daily victories. Every day you formulate 3 Results of the Day. Ideally, they should push you towards the Results of the Week →
• Friday review. On Friday you sum up the week, highlighting 3 areas where things are going well and 3 areas that need improvement. Received feedback comes in handy when planning next Monday.

The third element of the Agile Results system - the Sphere of Influence - allows you to rise to a higher level and set priorities, assessing your life from a bird's-eye view. Spheres of Influence are the key life categories that require the greatest investment of time, energy and attention, for example, Health, Finance, Relations, etc. Your goal is to know the answer to the question: “What results do I want to achieve?” For each of the Spheres.
JD Meier offers a number of useful techniques to achieve a balance between all Spheres of Influence: time-boxing, improvement sprints, radar results, etc.

How Agile Results Solves Top GTD Problems

Now let's take a look at the main differences between Agile Results and GTD and how Agile Results helps solve the above problems.

Action is more important than planning. Unlike GTD, fixated on the stages of collecting and processing tasks, Agile Results shifts the center of gravity towards real action.
The “Rule of 3 Results” ensures that the planning stage is exactly as long as it takes to take action. First, do “quite well”, and you will bring it to perfection later, based on the lessons learned.



The results are more important than the tasks performed. You can spend a lot of time on deleting various tasks from the to-do list without achieving anything as a result. The concentration of GTD on the tasks leads to “productivity for the sake of productivity”: we do a lot, and achieve small things.
Agile Results shifts the focus from tasks to results. Concentrate on the most important, and the little things will take care of themselves.

Life in the rhythm of results. Following the method of Agile Results creates a continuous stream of significant results in all areas and at all levels of life. You begin to feel more control over its course and become aware of the real value that you bring to it.

Conclusion and useful links

For me, the integration of Agile Results key techniques into my GTD-workflow was quick and painless. These two techniques complement each other very well: productivity begins to work for the benefit of efficiency.
Thanks to Agile Results in my RememberTheMilk now there is only one unfulfilled Result of the Week: “Write a good topic about Agile Results on Habr”. And I did not have to do nonsense, like making a list of cases and choosing the optimal “next action” for this project.

In order to start using Agile Results, you do not need to change your habits, search for special software, print memos, etc. Even if you already have a streamlined business management system, just try to place the three most important results at the moment above the main task list. Everything, now you have a criterion for evaluating the work done. Just finding the formulated results in the field of view will naturally help to prioritize tasks.

And yet: I would advise to pay special attention to Agile Results for those who for one reason or another did not grow together with GTD - Agile Results is completely self-sufficient and much more versatile.

If you have questions - ask, happy to talk and share experiences.

• In English, the most information about Agile Results can be found on the official website .
• In Russian, all key techniques and principles of Agile Results are described in detail in this article .