Category: “Personal Productivity”

In 1982, General Motors closed its plant in Fremont, California. It was GM’s worst factory: absenteeism routinely exceeded 20%, there were more than 800 pending union complaints, and wildcat strikes were almost routine. The cars coming out of that plant were of the lowest quality in the system. Toyota reopened it two years later as NUMMI, rehiring almost all of the same workers, including the former strike leaders. It used the same machinery. It manufactured similar cars. And in less than a year, the plant went on to have the best quality in GM. Absenteeism dropped to 2%.

1. The traditional separation: a cultural tradition more than half a century old

Here’s an important thought: The quality of your life isn’t determined by the things that happen to you—although they obviously have an impact—but by what you choose to focus on.

There are phrases that start out with good intentions but end up becoming dogma. “The tool doesn’t matter” is one of them. GTD and personal productivity coaches often say this to remind you that it’s the method that counts, not the app you use to implement it. And they’re right in what they mean. But not in what they say.

The Golden Rule of Habit Transformation