Personal Productivity Playing Cards!

As I'm learning how to present personal productivity concepts [1] effectively to individuals and groups, I've come across some people and areas of study that have given an idea I want to share: Personal Productivity Playing Cards. In the interests of open sharing, and in the hopes that you'll have some ideas, I'd like to provide my initial thoughts on how they might work and what games could be played. I'm a total novice at this, so your feedback is especially welcome - and I'm quite interested in seeing something like them come into fruition.


Purpose & inspiration

I really like the idea of using cards for education, esp. in group settings. I think Roger von Oech's Creative Whack Pack (cards) is awesome, and I really enjoy pulling out my deck of Oblique Strategy cards when I need some inspiration. Two others neat decks include 2006 Drivers of change cards ("What will our world be like in 2050? This set of cards identifies some of the leading drivers of change that affect our future.") and IDEO's Method cards for design.

But by far the neatest deck (and the one that made me think of cards for personal productivity) is the Extreme Programming Playing Cards that Joshua Kerievsky et. al. put together [2]. First, the cards are physically satisfying to play with - solid, smooth, and attractive. More importantly, they've come up with some clever games to play with them [3].

So the idea is to create a set of cards - and some corresponding games - that participants can use to learn modern personal productivity concepts, in order to handle modern life's information overload.


The cards

My first take on the card format is to have separate card types, much like the XP Problem, Solution, and Value cards. NB: For clarity (because my blog audience is GTD-ware) I will use GTD® terminology to describe the cards, but final versions would be system-agnostic. Following are the card types, each followed by a count (i.e., # cards in the deck) and description:

• Phase (5: Collect, Process, Organize, Review, Do; each would summarize basic concepts),
  
• Process step (6: What is it?, Is it actionable?, What's the next action?, Can I do it in two minutes?, Can I delegate it? Can I defer it?; each would have examples?),
  
• Process diagram (1: something like Allen's WorkFlow Diagram)
  
• Tool (9: IN, Trash, Someday/Maybe, Reference, Waiting For, Next actions, Calendar, Project plans, Projects; each would summarize concepts and list typical examples),
  
• Stuff (~15 cards representing typical stuff, with details),
  
• Challenge (~5 cards describing typical personal organization challenges, e.g., Papers piled everywhere, Late to meetings, Important emails being lost, Can't find project materials)

Note that, instead of having separate cards for each sample project, action, and delegated task, I've envisioned putting a few on their corresponding Tool cards.

I'm painfully aware these are very preliminary, but I hope you get the idea.


Some example games

What kinds of learning games could we play with these cards? I can think of a number of them right off, and I'm certain I'm missing some good ones. A few examples:

• Stuff busters: Apply workflow processing and organizing concepts to Stuff cards, using Process Steps to decide and placing each item on the appropriate Tool pile. This is similar to the quiz in part two of Organize Your Office! Simple Routines for Managing Your Workspace by Ronni Eisenberg, where she asks what would you do with:
  1. a business magazine you need to read;
     
  2. research material a subordinate has just given you that you need for a report;
     
  3. a written request form someone for some information;
     
  4. a booklet explaining new company benefits;
     
  5. a memo requesting your presence at an upcoming staff meeting
  
  
• What's the solution?: Pick a random Challenge card, explain the problem, then demonstrate how other card(s) address it.
  
• Just do it: Decide your current work "state" (e.g., start of day, lots to do, sick baby, didn't sleep) and apply the four criteria model to decide which action from the Next actions (Tool) card might be done now, and why not others.
  
• Pocket/Purse/Briefcase surprise: Pull something out of one of these and apply the Processing step cards to determine what to do with it.
  
• Phase skip: Collect the five Phase cards, pull one out, and describe the problems that skipping it could cause.
  
• WorkFlow puzzle: Re-create the process diagram starting with a jumbled up pile of Process step and Tool cards.
  

Importantly, I understand that debriefing is crucial for learning, and to foster discussion.


Summary

I believe a set of productivity cards could provide a nice tool for simulation games to help people get better organized, and I've sketched out a few rough ideas. What you think? I'd love to hear your ideas for both the card types as well as games you think would be enjoyable and educational.


Related

I didn't realize I have a soft spot for combining games (and technology [4]) with learning, until I recently connected with Marc Shiman (his blog is Inspiring Discovery), who knows a lot about this area. I've heard it called simulation gaming, and NASAGA seems to be a great starting point. Also related is the broader field of professional training, and one of its top organizations is American Society for Training & Development.

In the category of simulation gaming, you might enjoy Playing With the Rules: An Interview With Thiagi and An Interview with Marc Shiman. In particular I like Thiagi's take-away tips:

• Take an improv class.
  
• Plan with your left brain and implement with your right.
  
• Keep an open mind and a playful mood.
  
• Always conduct a debriefing. The game is just an excuse for having a discussion among the participants.
  
• Don't count the number of games, but make a few games count.
  
• Play with the rules, rather than within the rules.
  
• Start with a minimal set of rules and introduce more as needed. Intervene only when necessary; let players' behaviors determine the flow of the activity.

Finally, Steve Sugar (another top-notch game thinker) writes Ten of the Very Best Reasons for Using Classroom Games (and for Justifying Their Use in Your Organization):

• Reason #1: Games are Fun with a Purpose
  
• Reason #2: Games Provide Feedback to the Learner
  
• Reason #3: Games Provide Feedback to the Trainer
  
• Reason #4: Games are Experiential
  
• Reason #5: Games Motivate Learners
  
• Reason #6: Games Improve Team Work
  
• Reason #7: Games Provide a Less Threatening Learning Environment
  
• Reason #8: Games Bring Real-World Relevance
  
• Reason #9: Games Accelerate Learning
  
• Reason #10: Games Give You Choices for Your Classroom

Neat!


References

• [1] I'm working on a "next generation" time management practice by integrating ideas from David Allen, Kerry Gleeson, Sally McGhee, and others.
  
• [2] I took their excellent five day Extreme Programming Workshop a while back, and I think every programmer should attend. Highly recommended!
  
• [3] The games include eXPlanations, XP War, Retrospective Roulette, and Value Squares.
  
• [4] In fact, I came to UMass to work with Beverly Woolf in the field of Intelligent tutoring systems.

Limited posting next ten days, plus a request for readers

First, for the next week or so I'll be in the Denver area with my family to visit some dear friends who recently moved there, so I'll be skipping a post.

Interestingly, Denver has some big-name productivity consultants, including Sally McGhee (an expert in a neat system with a lot of GTD similarities - see her book) and Laura Stack (a well-known writer and speaker). I haven't yet been introduced to either of them, but I admire them both and would very much welcome any connections you might offer.

Second, I would appreciate some feedback: Contrary to conventional wisdom, I cover a variety of topics here, rather than having separate blogs for each one. My question: Would you prefer separate blogs for productivity/GTD, creativity/ideas, personal growth/development, and consulting/coaching/networking (for example), or do you like the current mix?

Feel free to respond in comments, or email me directly. Thanks!

GTD: A tool for *forgetting*?

I once had a drum teacher (Afro-Cuban style, using drums like the djembe and ashiko) who, along with being a great player and drum builder, prided himself on his memory. I remember a time when he criticized people for writing down things like phone numbers, with the implication being people were lazy if they didn't work to memorize things like that. I felt bad about it for a while (I wasn't practicing GTD at the time, but I did have an address book), then forgot it.

However, he recently came to mind after reading the following passage from Kerry Gleeson's book The Personal Efficiency Program: How to Get Organized to Do More Work in Less Time [1]: Under Forget Remembering he says:

Most people I speak with take a certain degree of pride in their ability to remember "everything" that needs to be done. It is a mental game they play. While that may have been okay at one time, the pace of today's work and home life has accelerated and the volume of activities we could or should keep up with has grown so much that it is impractical to expect to keep on top of 1,000 things to do. No doubt you do remember these things to do, but it may not be at the time it's most convenient or effective, such as three o'clock in the morning, when you sit up in bed and think, "Oh, I have to take care of ..." This constant thinking about, planning out, tracking everything you need to do - remembering everything you need to follow up on - simply overwhelms people.

He goes on to say

What people need is the right system in place, to allow them to remember this myriad of details when, and only when, it's necessary for them to remember.

...which will make any GTD-er feel warm and fuzzy. Why? Because one of David Allen's central insights is that our minds work best when unfettered by daily minutiae like phone numbers, things to do, checklists, etc. "Write it down" is a classic time management concept, and Allen has taken it further by observing that getting it all out of our heads frees up tremendously our natural creative potential. I've experienced it [2], as have my clients, and apparently many other practitioners.


I researched the idea a bit further and came across some great related quotes attributed to Albert Einstein [3], [4]. From How to Gain (or Lose) 30 IQ Points - Instantly! [5]:

Einstein himself was fond of saying that his pencil was smarter than he was.

I also loved this passage from Time Management for System Administrators (sample chapter here):

In Chapter 1, I mentioned the story about Albert Einstein trying to reserve as much of his brain as possible for physics by eliminating other brainwork, like deciding what to wear each day. Legend also has it that Einstein didn't memorize addresses or phone numbers, even his own. The important ones were written on a slip of paper in his wallet so as not to use up precious brain capacity. When someone would ask him for his own phone number he would tell them that it’s in the phone book and politely ask them to look it up. Be like Einstein; reserve your brain for system administration.

A final piece of evidence comes from the field of memorization tricks, such as The Memory Book and (ironically) The Einstein Memory Trainer. If it takes methods like these to get our minds to reliably store and recall such bits of information, isn't that evidence that they're not meant to be used in this way? This is the essence of why such tricks are so impressive.

To wrap up, consider the post GTD means never forgetting by user flexiblefine:

My biggest general success with GTD is adopting the collection habit. Collecting things as they come to me means not having to worry about remembering anything until "later" when I can do something about it.

So give yourself a break, forget (smartly) some things, and let your brain do what it's great at.


More Einstein Quotes

OK, the man was not just brilliant, but wise and had a sense of humor. Here are a few more quotes I really liked:

• Any man who can drive safely while kissing a pretty girl is simply not giving the kiss the attention it deserves.
  
• He who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead; his eyes are closed.
  
• I do not know with what weapons World War 3 will be fought, but World War 4 will be fought with sticks and stones.
  
• I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.
  
• The important thing is not to stop questioning.

References

• [1] From the second edition. Note: I found a lot of useful ideas in his book, with much GTD overlap (though there are points of conflict). More at Institute for Business Technology (via their international listing).
  
• [2] In my thank you email to Allen I mentioned some of the big changes his book enabled in my life, including loosing 15 pounds, curing my insomnia, making great strides in a back problem I've had all my life, and switching careers after 20 years. Pretty neat!
  
• [3] I couldn't find any authoritative versions online, unfortunately. I'd love to know some sources if you have any.
  
• [4] Interestingly, my neighbor has apparently met him - see My Half Hour with Einstein.
  
• [5] From the same article: "Einstein himself was fond of saying that his pencil was smarter than he was."
  

Double your income in a year ... by reading!? An update on reading for learning, plus a current list with brief comments

Reading "Meta" Thoughts

As I mentioned earlier (see How to read a lot of books in a short time) I've been reading like a madman. Why? First, to understand how David Allen's work sits in relationship to preceding efforts (part of my self-defined Master's Degree in Personal Productivity), and second to simply see what happens. (I tell people I'm mixing into a stew pot everything that catches my attention [1]; I don't know a) what it will taste like, or b) if it will even be edible - read value -> income - but that's what my current path seems to be.) I wanted to share a few ideas regarding the economic and intellectual value of reading non-fiction, and to give a quick update on what I've read, because I've had some "what are you reading" requests from readers.

First, something provocative: In his book Time Power: A Proven System for Getting More Done in Less Time Than You Ever Thought Possible [2], Brian Tracy encourages us to improve ourselves by reading an hour a day in our fields, expose ourselves to lots of ideas (i.e., possibilities). More specifically, he gives us his Guaranteed Formula For Getting Rich:

Invest as much in your mind each year as you do in your car." "The average driver spends $600 per month on his car... In the first year of practicing this formula, you income will increase 25 percent to 50 percent, or more, and your entire career will take off.

I love it! I've shared this with friends, who uniformly react very positively, or very negatively. Sadly, in my case we have only one car (a '95 Geo Prism), and our monthly expenditures aren't steep. Thus, I felt good having negotiated ~$200/month in wish list purchases with my wonderful wife.

Related to this is Tim Sanders' encouragement from Love is the killer app (one of my favorites) to READ BOOKS!!. He suggests an 80/20 ratio - 80% on books, rest on articles and newspapers. (He has much more on reading, including a four-step program to make knowledge work for you, which he breaks into aggregation, encoding, processing, and application.) One thing I love from his book is the idea of talking what you're reading:

When you talk about a book, it forces you to know it inside and out.

(I now try to keep a list of books in my head for conversations with new contacts.)

The last thought before listing my recent reads is that I'm satisfied with both a) the scanning technique of Jason Womack's that I describe in my How to read post, and b) the idea of "if you are recommended it more than once, read it," which has really paid off. (This is a specific example of the listening to your environment strategy.)


Recent books

I'll finish up with a list of what I've read so far, plus a thought or two that stood out from each. Note: In the last few months I seem to be averaging about 10 books fully read and summarized per month. This is about 1/2 or 1/3 of the ones I receive (i.e., a good percentage doesn't make it past the scan stage - something I may have to think about).

As always, I love to hear your reading suggestions!

• Blink : The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcom Gladwell - A bunch of interesting stuff, but a bit verbose (Gladwell is clearly brilliant, though). Got my attention: Damage to the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (behind the nose): plays crucial role in decision making. If damaged, causes suffering trying to make decisions. A GTD connection?
  
• The Strangest Secret in the World for Succeeding Today by Earl Nightingale - Great audio tape from way back. Got my attention: We become what we think about.
  
• Love Is Letting Go of Fear Gerald G. Jampolsky - Very nice book. The Big Thought: To perceive the world differently, we must be willing to change our belief system, let the past slip away, expand our sense of *now*, and dissolve the fear in our minds.
  
• Love Is the Killer App : How to Win Business and Influence Friends by Tim Sanders - Great book. The Big Thought: It's very good to intelligently and sensibly share your intangibles with your bizpartners - your knowledge, network, and compassion.
  
• Time Power: A Proven System for Getting More Done in Less Time Than You Ever Thought Possible by Brian Tracy - Mentioned above. Here's a goodie: The success formula that never fails: T x R = P ("talent times relationships equals productivity").
  
• Organize Your Office! Simple Routines for Managing Your Workspace by Ronni Eisenberg - A ton of ideas, but relatively unrelated. Tips for working with an executive assistant:
  • physically open all mail
    
  • train to process mail (take 1-2 weeks)
    
  • crates file folders for mail passing: urgent, to do, to approve, to sign, to read, to file, to toss?
    
  • color code urgent ones (red = urgent, etc.)
    
  • create index at front of file with >1 item
    
  • teach if background info required, then pull
    
  • return items in same folder to assistant
  
  
• How to Have a 48-Hour Day by Don Aslett - Only a few take-home goodies I found, including the idea of keeping a frontlog, not a backlog.
  
• Freakonomics : A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner - Lots of ideas. I love this quote:

  The risks that scare people turn out to be very different from the risks that kill people. And they are also different from the ones that cost us money. Emotion is the enemy of rational argument. And emotion is more potent that other emotions.

• Nightingale-Conant's Insight Audio Cassette Series, tape one - four shows (Brian Tracy, Zig Ziglar, Jack Zoofelt, Ernst Nightengale), all mostly great. From the last, a definition of success: loving what you do, and being happy with your choices.
  
• Fish! A Remarkable Way to Boost Morale and Improve Results by Stephen C. Lundin, Harry Paul, John Christensen - Another great book. Four ingredients: Choose your attitude, Play, Make their day, Be present.
  
• The Organized Executive: A Program for Productivity--New Ways to Manage Time, Paper, People, and the Electronic Office by Stephanie Winston - Lots of good stuff. Here's a favorite quote:

  The real cause of a paperwork crisis is a problem with decision-making: picking up the same piece of paper five times and putting it down again because you can't decide what to do with it. ... The key to paper management is processing: that is, channeling each piece from your in-box to its appropriate destination.

• The Personal Efficiency Program : How to Get Organized to Do More Work in Less Time by Kerry Gleeson - Really useful stuff, with a lot of GTD overlap. I've really internalized his ideas about work, and that we're not trained in how to do it efficiently. For example:

  Although most of us have been formally educated to work in our professions, few of us, especially white-collar workers, have been taught how to work efficiently and effectively. Too many white-collar professionals have no idea how to organize themselves or how best to process their work. They may understand how to draw an architectural plan, write a clever ad, or negotiate a deal, but they can't effectively organize their week or cope well with interruptions and unexpected new opportunities and priorities.

• Organized for Success : Top Executives and CEOs Reveal the Organizing Principles That Helped Them Reach the Top by Stephanie Winston - An OK book, though I do respect Winston quite a bit. I like her organization "laws," including Organizing Law #1. Relentlessly process all papers and emails, personally or through an assistant. She's also the author of the TRAF system (see How to process stuff - A comparison of TRAF, the "Four Ds", and GTD's workflow diagram).
  
• The Business of Consulting: The Basics and Beyond by Elaine Biech - Quite a few things to consider when starting your own consultancy (a tad overwhelming at this point, I have to say). Here's something to wrap your mind around: If you are just starting, consider offering 100% satisfaction guarantee.
  
• How to Study and Make the Most of Your Time by Bob Kizlik - Not a book, but hey - good stuff anyway. This seems to be a standard college approach to studying: Use SQ3R: Survey, Question, Read, Recite, Review.
  
• Free to Succeed: Designing the Life You Want in the New Free Agent Economy by Barbara Bailey Reinhold - Quite a few good thoughts from an impressive local author. Here are her 10 essential strategies for the new free agency economy:
  1. learn to tolerate ambiguity
     
  2. forget the old identity
     
  3. forget job descriptions and bosses
     
  4. button the wallet and stash the credit cards
     
  5. take back time
     
  6. save time for relationships
     
  7. develop skills or find help
     
  8. remember the bigger picture - look at trends in your own and related fields
     
  9. get a gang - support group, networking group, board of directors
     
  10. find a coach. someone who understands free agency, is informed about your field, and builds your confidence
  
  
• What Should I Do with My Life? by Po Bronson - Interesting concept, couldn't make it through. I like the idea of thinking about whether you're comfortable with the inevitable cocktail party question ("What do you do for a living?")
  
• How Full Is Your Bucket? Positive Strategies for Work and Life by Tom Rath, Donald O. Clifton - Another great book. There's a nice summary at Filling Kids' Emotional Buckets.
  
• The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century by Thomas L. Friedman - Interesting and important, but couldn't finish it. I like the idea of untouchables: people whose jobs cannot be outsourced. He lists four categories: Special (only a few people - CEOs, stars, sports), specialized (knowledge workers whose skills are always in demand and not fungible), anchored (most Americans - work that must be done in a specific location, involving face-to-face contact), and really adaptable. More in the wikipedia.
  
• Time Management for Unmanageable People : The Guilt-Free Way to Organize, Energize, and Maximize Your Life by Anne Mcgee-Cooper - I remain skeptical - I think Allen's system applies, but I'm surely biased. I do like the various dimensions she provides for thinking about how we work - two opposite ways of viewing time (monochronic and polychronic), and two ways to approach life, time, and work (convergers and divergers).
  
• Taming the paper tiger at home by Barbara Hemphill - I have trouble separating her concepts from her product (software that mixes reference and action - a GTD "no no"). However, I've definitely internalized her idea on clutter and decision-making:

  Paper clutter is postponed decisions; paper management is making decisions.

• Sham : How the Self-Help Movement Made America Helpless by Steve Salerno - A welcome, questioning voice on the world of life coaching. Made me realize that I'm not interested in certifying myself with one of the current coaching organizations, or taking the professional organizer track. (Can you see an atheist doing feng shui?)
  
• Networking - The great new way for women to get ahead by Mary Scott Welch - My first introduction to the positive world of networking, so I have a soft spot for it. I use this almost daily to introduce myself: "I'm calling at the suggestion of ____, who thought you might be willing to talk..."
  
• What They Don't Teach You At Harvard Business School by Mark H. McCormack - A nice book with lots of ideas. One I use daily: Always introduce yourself if you're not 100% sure they know your first and last names.

References

• [1] Allen says Pay attention to what has your attention.
  
• [2] I like books that have a Big Thought (as defined in Love Is the Killer App). Sadly, this work seems to be more of a quasi-related mixture of principles, steps, tools, techniques, and formulae. I very much respect Tracy's work (Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time is next on my list), but I can't recommend Time Power.
  

What does it take to work with flourish?

Have you ever worked with someone and noticed they seem to slip in little flourishes as they happily go about their business? I'm thinking of the programmer who gives a little viola after typing a tasty morsel, of the pianist who adds additional movement during a rapid passage, or of the actors who bow for the audience with grand flourish. I was reminded of how uncommon these flourishes are when my five year old daughter and I recently enjoyed the antics at the great local college pizza place, where the workers (young guys from the University) like to toss the slices into the air then catch them on the paper plate before sticking them in the oven.

This got me thinking: Why don't we see these more often, and what does it take to enable us to work with flourish? I think the first ingredient is joy. If we are feeling heavy and weighed down with duties and responsibilities, how can we add these light touches? Second, I believe we need a supportive work environment at which we feel good about what we do. Who wants to put on a show (which is what a flourish is, after all) when you're not feeling playful yourself [1]?

So what's the connection to personal productivity? Simply this: After adopting Getting Things Done (the system I use for mastering the deluge of stuff entering my life) I now have the lightness and energy needed to let those little flourishes express themselves. For example, when making tea, I now sometimes give the cup a flip before setting it down. (And no, I haven't broken any ... yet.) Or I'll sometimes when my daughter has music on I'll let a few guitar moves come out (nothing to showy, mind you - we are very tasteful people).

In other words, once I got a handle on the modern world's (often severe [2]) distractions, I've found it is natural to perform the work of life with flourish. So how about you - Do you work with a flourish? What would it take to do so?


Related

• In Use Pizzaz!, the authors point out that having a little pizzaz lets us stand out and be noticed. They have some suggestions, including:
  • Using illustrations or pictures,
    
  • telling funny stories, and
    
  • making outrageous statements.
  
  
• In GTD Is Conscience-Clearing, the author reflects on how GTD's collection phase helps to clear the conscience:

  When I sit down and empty my head by putting every thought on paper, my heart gets poured out as well. Weights are taken off my chest. Burdens are lifted from my shoulders.

References

• [1]I think this came up partly because I recently read Fish! A Remarkable Way to Boost Morale and Improve Results by Stephen C. Lundin, Harry Paul, John Christensen. The book's Big Thought is that our attitudes shape the places we work, and are important. According to the authors, the four ingredients to make work fun and productive are:
  • Choose your attitude,
    
  • Play,
    
  • Make their day, and
    
  • Be Present
  Highly recommended.
  
• [2] In Why can't you pay attention anymore?, Edward Hallowell talks about Attention Deficit Trait, a disorder related to ADD that has environmental causes. He considers the core symptoms distractibility, inner frenzy, and impatience, and links it to difficulties staying organized, setting priorities, and managing time. He claims it can undermine the work of even gifted executives.