"It's as powerful a tool as any I've ever seen," says Andrew
Hoxsey, owner and operator of the Napa Wine Company in Oakville,
California. "I have done things I just couldn't have done without
the methodology." Kim Hagerty, chairman of Michigan-based Hagerty
Insurance and CEO of the Hagerty Group, its management group, calls
GTD "an amazing system, and not just an organizational system. It's
a lifestyle change as much as anything else."
Followers of Allen, who speak a language of RAM Dumps, Next
Actions, Weekly Reviews, 43 Folders, 10,000-Foot Views, and Open
Loops, say the GTD effect isn't limited to individuals; numerous
small and large companies have also been transformed by Allen's
teachings. At
General Mills, where about 2,000 employees have
volunteered for GTD training, chief learning officer Kevin Wilde
says GTD has become part of the cereal giant's culture.
"Lots of people really benefit from it," says Wilde. "It gives you
more tools to handle this crazy life. Some people have come back
from individual training and said they want their team or their
whole division to go through it. This approach doesn't reduce your
workload, but you're working on better things in better ways."
At Hagerty Insurance, about one-third of the almost 300 employees
have adopted GTD, with more to follow suit. "Implementing GTD
throughout the organization has increased our productivity and
reduced the general stress level," says Hagerty. And at the smaller
end of the scale, all 30 employees at Orchant's company, VanDyke
Software, have attended a GTD seminar. "It's a core part of our
culture, built into the molecular level of every conversation we
have," says Orchant, who also runs a GTD blog at
www.officezealot.com/gtd.