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The Right Things Done At The Right Time
UPDATE: For some reason this never posted to the Yahoo GTD-MindManager Group for people who use David Allen’s “Getting Things Done” approach to productivity and also use Mindjet’s MindManager business mapping software (talk about a niche market!). After two unsuccessful attempts, I’m posting it on my blog because I often get asked the type of questions she is asking.
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Jane asked:
“I am a Tony Robbins fan. I am a MindManager fan. I am a RM fan. I want to know who has successfully merged Robbins’ RPM system with RM ? How have you done it? Please be thorough and specific.
What problem have you encountered in so doing it?
What tips do you have to bring out the best of RM for the purposes of Tony Robbins’ RPM.”
Thanks
Jane
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My response:
Hi Jane,
Since I was a long-term dedicated, hard-core user of Robbins’ RPM system, and successfully made the integration between all the programs you mentioned, I’ll tell you how I’ve made them work for me.
I run three successful companies using MindManager, ResultsManager, Microsoft OneNote (and now, Gyronix’s GyroQ) as my core applications. And since one of those companies is my copywriting and marketing strategist business, and since at any given time I’m running the marketing strategies and writing copy for 6-10 various-sized companies — well, you can imagine that I need to be very fluent in my application of these technologies.
> How have you done it? Please be thorough and specific.
It’s a really simple conversion. The Areas stay the same and you divide them up into personal and professional. And depending on which Area you’re in — Categories are treated just the same, as either COI’s or AOM’s.
And that’s all you have to do to ResultsManager to make it RPM-like. Oh yes, there’s also a place to change the “sub-projects” label to “results.” You don’t need to, but it’s there for the dedicated RPM people. After a couple of months, I switched it back to “Sub-Projects” because I thought it was more descriptive.
> what problems have I encountered in doing it?
The hardest thing is to let go of the old, dogmatic ways of doing things “the RPM way.” The GTD folks have also faced a similar challenge, just as I would imagine anyone in any rigorous discipline faces the same challenge when moving on to something new.
Do I use purely RPM method? No. Nor do I purely adhere to the GTD method. I have found the most optimal medium for me is a point between — I have adopted some things from RPM and some things from GTD, and that all happily comes together in a MindManager map with ResultsManager accountability.
It’s a bit of a misnomer to say RPM is a “system.” It’s actually more of a series of productivity attributes that can enhance and improve any planning “system” you use. As an example, long ago I fulfilled my life’s dream of learning Bruce Lee’s martial art method called Jeet Kune Do (JKD).
Now the thing about JKD is that it is not a style or “system” and it’s not the ‘best of all the fighting arts taken out and put into one system’. It’s a series of fighting attributes that, when applied to whatever system you favored: boxing, kenpo, karate, wrestling, Muy Thai kickboxing, whatever — it made that martial art more effeciecent, more elegant.
And in my experience RPM and GTD work the same way.
Since you’re seeking guidance and insight — I would say doing less system-think and more attributes-think would make your transition easier and faster.
Besides, there’s no RPM system, anyway. It’s the TOYL Life Management System, of which RPM is a small part (and piece of really bad software).
And you can prove that to yourself by looking at the electronic forums dedicated to RPM and TOYL. Frustrated by that catastrophic little piece of . . . software, many created hardcopy binder systems based on the RPM attributes. Others customized the GTD plug-in for Outlook and they’re happy with that. Others custom-munged a balance between the two.
When I first started using ResultsManager, I didn’t think I could make it work without adhering to the RPM way of doing things. Months later I realized that was a pretty foolish stance to take. Like I said, when I let go of the dogmatic ways of ‘the system’ — I gained a lot more flexibility.
Hope that helps, Jane. Like you, I’ve been at the precipice of making the transition between the two and it’s really not a difficult transition to hold RPM (or GTD) as a series of attributes that can be applied to anything productivity system you settle on — whether that’s an off-the-shelf solution or one customized to the way **you** work.
Best of luck to you!
By Walter |
Topics: Client Top Secret, From The Trenches, Inside The Mind |