Merlin’s weekly podcast with Dan Benjamin. We talk about creativity, independence, and making things you love.
GTD 'cult'
duus | Sep 5 2006
so a friend of mine sent me this message. I am a big fan of GTD and find it very useful. I'm just puttin' this out there. [INDENT] Uh-oh. "J-R" seemed like it might stand for John-Roger -- the controversial cult leader and spiritual guru. And it does. http://religiousmovements.lib.virginia.edu/nrms/msia.html David Allen, his wife, and many of his employees are ministers in the MSIA (Movement of Spritual Inner Awareness), John-Roger's church: http://www.ndh.org/template.php3?ID=65 http://www.davidco.com/coaches_corner/Ana_Maria_Gonz%E1lez/article14.html (employee quoting John-Roger) Anti-cult websites accuse GTD of being part of a program to recruit people into MSIA. Their view seems paranoid to me, but you can read it for yourself: http://forum.rickross.com/viewtopic.php?t=2193 http://forum.rickross.com/viewtopic.php?p=15025&sid=e3195755a2185f9b4710580921d3f527 Now, I'm not saying that Getting Things Done isn't a good book about priorities and organization. David Allen may have very good advice about that stuff. But I am saying don't go to a David Allen seminar, get mixed up with the David Allen Company, or get too involved with the hard-core GTD crowd -- at least not without taking some anti-brainwashing measures. Seriously. This John-Roger character and his followers are not a joke. I learned about John-Roger a long time ago, as it happens, because in high school I read a self-help book called "Life 101" that he "co-wrote" with Peter McWilliams, the poet and anti-drug-war activist. In 1994, not long after I read "Life 101," McWilliams wrote an expose called "Life 102: What to Do When Your Guru Sues You." McWilliams left MSIA in 1994 after 15 years of being brainwashed. It turned out that John-Roger manipulated him into giving him co-authorship in return for keeping McWilliams alive. You see, John-Roger had the power to keep McWilliams alive because -- and this will surprise you -- John-Roger claims to be the incarnation of God on earth. John-Roger has also made headlines in connection with Arianna Huffington -- who admits to being a close friend and who has been accused (though she's never admitted it) of being an MSIA minister as well. [/INDENT] 72 Comments
POSTED IN:
 Reply to FreeWilly Part IISubmitted by moises on September 25, 2006 - 12:22pm.
FreeWilly;6060 wrote:
Have your read Ready for Anything? David wrote some very short occasional pieces over the years. Some poor editor was given the task of trying to put these together into some kind of coherent whole. That was impossible to do. I could find no coherent philosophy to Ready For Anything. I challenge you to tell me what that coherent philosophy is. If the editor could have done that, perhaps that book would have had sales that approached the sales of GTD. FreeWilly;6060 wrote:
As a matter of fact, that is a great way to put it. There is an embedded "leading philosophy" inside GTD, (the larger system of it), that draws people in, and makes them "want more", and thus leads to the coaching, GTD Connect, and all the rest of it. It does draw many people in. I keep being told that there is some foundational philosophy underlying GTD. But no one can tell me what it is and what it's going to make me do. I have identified the underlying philosophy of GTD and I find it to be relatively benign, given the cultural and historical context of the United States in 2006. The philosophy states the following: A. Wholes consist of parts. This is the analytic method. It is somewhat controversial but it is only cult-forming insofar as you believe all of Western Civilization is a cult. David Allen tells us that the best way to get stuff done is to break that stuff done into small, easy-to-perform pieces. David Allen, like thousands before him, tells us that we can complete a daunting project if we focus not on doing the daunting project but on doing the small task. B. Writing your commitments down (in digital or analog form) increases the probability that you will complete those commitments. C. Your life is a project and the meaning of your life consists of the projects you work on. This kind of stuff can be found in existential philosophy as well as contemporary Anglo-American philosophy. This is the philosophy that underlies the GTD system. If I have it wrong, please correct me. I would like to understand it better. There is the additional complaint from FreeWilly about GTD Connect. The claim is that David Allen Co. is creating new products to generate more cash flow for David Allen Co. That does appear to be the case. A few months ago David Allen mentioned that marketing people told him that, contrary to his personal proclivities, the best way to build his business (which is a major desire of his) is to market "David Allen" as a personality. I could understand how FreeWilly might believe that David Allen is trying to create a "cult of personality." But what is the point of this cult? It is to get you to buy David Allen Co. products. This might be threatening to someone in 1992 Eastern Europe who has spent her entire life under a Stalinist regime and does not understand the ABCs of marketing in a free-market society. But anyone living in the USA in 2006 should have a basic comprehension that people make a living by selling things. And David Allen is selling something. What's the problem with that? FreeWilly;6060 wrote:
Now you might choose to discount everything I have written because you might believe that I have already been brainwashed by David Allen. I would argue that common sense would tell you that that is not the case. If you like at my postings on the David Allen Co. forum I have expressed open disagreement with some of the things David Allen has said. But maybe that was all a sinister move to hide my true identity. (You might ask yourself why, if I were so brainwashed by GTD, that I am not a member of GTD Connect. You can verify that I am not by going to the David Allen forum and seeing that I don?t have the GTD Connect avatar by my name.) I have been doing GTD for more than three years. I have been following the David Allen Co., forum for three years. I once had a private message exchange with Jason Womack, who is one of the GTD coaches. We were discussing some of the finer points of the GTD method. He never mentioned anything related to MSIA. Where is the evidence that this kind of recruitment is going on? » POSTED IN:
|
|
| EXPLORE 43Folders | THE GOOD STUFF |
