I was going to wait until the polls closed before making a comment but after a couple of days some clear trends have taken shape:

(1) The trends (strengths v. weaknesses) do mirror each other. I guess thats not surprising, but I wasnt sure if the questions were indeed two sides of the same coin.

(2) Many people are really good at the collecting phase. Analysis from the amateur anthopologist point of view suggests that the primal need to gather is still in out genes, were just not collecting mastadon tenderloins or kindling; we're collecting open loops. Even before the current set of poll respondants got wind of the GTD concept they were always pretty good at collecting stuff, from marble and dolls to nextactions and open loops. I'm assuming that this bunch of people, myself included, have been always attracted to shiny new office pr0n. Indeed, a majority of the discussions seem to revove around the theme of "digital v. analog", "Palm v. 3x5" and the innocently voyeristic "whatsinyourbag" flickr series. Also the office supply stores are selling all of these products for collecting and possibly organizing but not in aiding the implementation of the other phases of workflow management.

As an aside I am noticing an increase in the amount of 3x5 card collecting and organization products as the hPDA meme has been gaining momentum.

(Merlin, has Mead sent you a thankyou note, or stock perhaps?)

(3) The corollary of (2) is that the guilt-laden suckage points are high in the review-do phase. Indeed there is a paucity of SNO (Shiny-New-Objects) to aid us in the area of review and DO. Is this more than coincidence? (Would the iPod version of a can of Whoopass make me a bazillionaire?)

(4) Look at the graphs (as of 2/15/2006). In the case of "GTD strengths" The decline of workflow management literally dives to zero at the REVIEW phase and flattens out at DO - this is mirrored quite nicely in the "GTD weakness" poll. I doubt that this trend and the effects of diminished efficiencies in the workflow processing pathway should surprise anyone. But the data, such as it is, is hard to ignore.

The poll echoes what the David has said in the book that we all have strengths in several areas of the GTD workflow methodoloy. We just need the discipline to strengthen the other areas to be a GTD Black Belt.

The marial artist theme is prevelant throughout the GTD philiosophy. (The David himself is a black belt in karate) We understand the "mind-like-water" that a GTD Blackbelt posessess and uses to react to the changing landscape in the daily work environment to accomplish next actions. But how do we get there, Grasshopper?

More in the next installment.