Getting Things Done

THE ART OF GETTING THINGS DONE I PART ONE

to park them for use in the most appropriate way. The primary

criterion must be expansion, not contraction.

Go for Quantity, Not Quality Going for quantity keeps your

thinking expansive. Often you won't know what's a good idea

until you have it. And sometimes you'll realize it's a good idea, or

the germ of one, only later on. You know how shopping at a big

store with lots of options lets you feel comfortable about your

choice? The same holds true for project thinking. The greater the

volume of thoughts you have to work with, the better the context

you can create for developing options and trusting your choices.

Put Analysis and Organization in the Background Analysis and
evaluation and organization of your thoughts should be given as
free a rein as creative out-of-the-box thinking. But in the brain-
storming phase, this critical activity should not be the driver.
Making a list can be a creative thing to do, a way to consider
the people who should be on your team, the customer require-
ments for the software, or the components of the business plan.
Just make sure to grab all that and keep going until you get into
the weeding and organizing of focus that make up the next stage.

Organizing

If you've done a thorough job of emptying your head of all the

things that came up in the brainstorming phase, you'll notice that

a natural organization is emerging. As my high school English

teacher suggested, once you get all the ideas out of your head and

in front of your eyes, you'll automatically notice natural relation-

ships and structure. This is what most people are referring to

when they talk about "project plans."

Organizing usually happens when you identify components

and subcomponents, sequences or events, and/or priorities. What

are the things that must occur to create the final result? In what

order must they occur? What is the most important element to

ensure the success of the project?