My Analysis of using the most popular tools for GTD - Outlook, Evernote, OneNote, etc

[consultant]

I just spent the last 3 days solid testing various tools with the intent of trying to do everything in the least number of tools possible. Unfortunately there is no tool that does it all surprisingly if you also want to do collaborative project task management well. If you don't need that, then Outlook is the closest all-in-one GTD tool I found where you can have your GTD system tightly integrated with your email collection, calendaring, and note taking. This is what I found.

I had abandoned Outlook a few years ago and was quite happy with Thunderbird for email collection however since I have a Office365 Home subscription I went back recently and and happy with the exception there is no native unified inbox to more efficiently manage inbox traffic from multiple e-mail accounts (really Microsoft? really?)

I'd suggest anyone looking to do GTD, check out "The Secret Weapon" (www.thesecretweapon.org) which used Outlook + Evernote for at least a good model of how to do it. You get an 'add to Evernote' function in outlook when you install Everote and you don't need an Exchange account to pull it off either, you can use any POP/IMAP account or Gmail/Outlook.com as your email repository. One big benefit of using Evernote is that it's free and if you are not tied to Microsoft products if you don't want to be if you are not currently using them or stop using them in the future. In addition, the web interface is fantastically robust as is the iOS and Android apps. With Microsoft, the web interfaces of Outlook and OneNote and the ios and Android apps are severely limited (obviously to encourage you to buy and use their desktop products.) It's all about flexibility and portability.

I found that Outlook is a much better tool for GTD than OneNote. OneNote has more robust note taking abilities than Evernote, but it is MUCH more clunky/limited as far as setting up views to show lists of tasks based on matching multiple tags. It's really not what it was designed for obviously but I looked into it since it is the MS version of Evernote. Outlook tasks is a much better way as you can create custom views to say show me all tasks at.Work with 1 Now when context.

The problem with using Outlook though is you have to use the desktop app for all your GTD. The Web App is sorely lacking in functionality and only lists tasks by priority. If you use Outlook.com, it's even more basic as far as task management. Because of this, I've decided to use Evernote for GTD instead as it adds a function in Outlook to 'Add to Evernote' similar to add to OneNote but as expected you can more easily and directly link OneNote notes to Outlook tasks (even though you shouldn't be using those if you are using OneNote for GTD, and Outlook calendar events.)

The thing I was really disappointed in is that Evernote, while robust enough to easily do GTD, doesn't have the necessary functionality to also use it for collaborative project task management, especially with team members in multiple organizations. There's no ability to create a client folder with multiple sections (for projects) and then share the sections. Moreover, there's no ability to associated notes (tasks) with groups of users and have them get automated notifications when the status of the task is changed or the task's contents are updated. You need to use something like Asana or Basecamp for that so you end up having your team project tasks disconnected from your GTD system and you have to duplicate your own tasks in Evernote outside the project management system like Basecamp. Boo. Hiss. I would imagine though some of these project management systems could be configured so you can do your GTD there. But then most of these systems do have a good note taking capability with robust filing/organization like OneNote or Evernote and more importantly, they don't have easy ways (that I know of currently) to allow you to move emails in Outlook to tasks in the Project Mgmt System like OneNote and Evernote offer. I think there's a huge opportunity for either Microsoft to improve OneNote in these respects, Evernote to add better collaborative project functions/controls, or Basecamp or Asana to build more GTD like functions.

If you really want to stay in the Microsoft ecosystem, the best solution is to use Outlook Tasks for GTD, get an Exchange account via Exchange Onlin ($4/month) if you don't have it for access to the Outlook Webapp with a little more robust task features than outlook.com, and then use OneNote for your repository. If you do this, you may want to buy the GTD plugin by NetCentrics https://www.gtdoa.com/ (you need an Exchange based email account in Outlook to use it.) This plug-in is costly (around $75) and introduces another application & company essentially to have to manage and rely on. But for someone that doesn't want to create the categories, folders, and views themselves, this plug-in will get you a jumpstart on setting up Outlook for GTD.

Sidenote: It's funny to think that OneNote is really just a replacement for using Word and Windows Explorer / Search. I could see a lot of people putting too much in OneNote and then you have most of your documents in the OneNote file format which is less ubiquitous and transportable than Word, PDF, etc. However if you work for Microsoft or everyone you work with uses MS Office products, it may be the best choice for housing a library of project notes and support materials - I just caution people to think about what would happen should they not want to use OneNote in the future? Could be a lot of copying and pasting into a new document/system going on.

The area that I didn't explore that much is taking an existing project task management system like Asana or Basecamp and trying to use it for GTD. I'd love to hear if anyone has pulled this off elegantly, especially in conjunction with moving email in Outlook to tasks in these systems as then you could simplify down from a 3 tool system to a 2 tool system and more importantly, not have to duplicate your project tasks from the project task management system to your GTD tool.

 

[TesTeq]

There are GTD-oriented applications!

I just spent the last 3 days solid testing various tools with the intent of trying to do everything in the least number of tools possible. Unfortunately there is no tool that does it all surprisingly.

As I see you haven't tested any real GTD-oriented application. Try Nozbe or OmniFocus.

I found that Outlook is a much better tool for GTD than OneNote.

How can you compare an email/PIM application with a note-taking application?

The thing I was really disappointed in is that Evernote, while robust enough to easily do GTD, doesn't have the necessary functionality to also use it for collaborative project task management, especially with team members in multiple organizations.

I can easily list many more useful functionalities that Evernote is not equipped with: spreadsheets, vector graphics, image manipulation, Gantt charts, org charts... But wait - isn't it just a simple online notes organizer?

The area that I didn't explore that much is taking an existing project task management system like Asana or Basecamp and trying to use it for GTD.

Try Nozbe.

 

[bcmyers2112]

I spotted a few factual errors I'd like to correct...

One big benefit of using Evernote is that it's free and if you are not tied to Microsoft products if you don't want to be if you are not currently using them or stop using them in the future.

That's only partially correct. Evernote does offer limited functionality for free, with the most significant limitation (at least from my POV) being an upload quota of 60 MB per month. There is a Premium service available (I'm a Premium subscriber myself) for $5/month or $45/year. There is an even more robust service called Evernote Business available for $10 per user per month.

Here is a link to some information about what's available with the free and paid services:

http://evernote.com/contact/support/kb/#!/article/23283158

The thing I was really disappointed in is that Evernote, while robust enough to easily do GTD, doesn't have the necessary functionality to also use it for collaborative project task management, especially with team members in multiple organizations. There's no ability to create a client folder with multiple sections (for projects) and then share the sections. Moreover, there's no ability to associated notes (tasks) with groups of users and have them get automated notifications when the status of the task is changed or the task's contents are updated.

That's not true. As a Premium subscriber I can share individual notes or entire notebooks (in Evernote, a "notebook" serves the same function as "folder"; same concept, different name). The only thing you can't do is share notebook stacks. You can choose to grant read-only access or give collaborators editing privileges. I've used this functionality myself.

One could easily set up a folder for various projects, creating a separate note for each one and sharing those notes as appropriate. Collaborators could add and edit text notes, attach and edit documents (which they would edit in their native file formats even though they're stored in Evernote), and more.

You can get a high level overview of Evernote's sharing capabilities using the following links:

http://evernote.com/premium/?origin=(not set)&offer=work

http://evernote.com/business/

I could see a lot of people putting too much in OneNote and then you have most of your documents in the OneNote file format which is less ubiquitous and transportable than Word, PDF, etc.

I'm not sure what you mean by this. OneNote apps are available for Windows, iOS, and Droid smartphones. It syncs via Skydrive and there is a web version of OneNote. Any documents you attach including PDFs would be viewable and/or editable via their native applications.

I suspect you tried the free version of Evernote and were unaware of the paid version, which might explain your misconceptions about what Evernote can and can't do. I'm not trying to persuade you or anyone else to use the tool; I don't work for Evernote, I'm not an Evernote evangelist, and frankly I believe that if someone can do GTD using a quill pen and parchment paper and achieve maximum productivity with minimum stress then quill and parchment is a kick-@$$ GTD tool. But I happen to use Evernote and used to use OneNote extensively, and given my knowledge of both tools felt I should correct the misinformation in your post.

BTW, please don't take this personally. It's great that you took the time to share your experiences, but I think you may need to dig a little deeper before deciding you've learned all there is to know about a particular solution. Nevertheless, I am grateful that you posted and look forward to whatever else you choose to contribute here.

 

[bcmyers2112]

I can easily list many more useful functionalities that Evernote is not equipped with: spreadsheets, vector graphics, image manipulation, Gantt charts, org charts... But wait - isn't it just a simple online notes organizer?

No, it's a bit more than that but I've really taken as much time as I can to discuss it. You've obviously got internet access so if you really want to know what it's all about, Evernote's website is just a few keystrokes away.

 

[bcmyers2112]

Try Nozbe.

I did. I found it burdensome. The Evernote and Dropbox integrations are to me clunky and difficult to use, and I don't like Nozbe's design choice to force you to assign every task to a project which contradicts the GTD methodology that Nozbe supposedly enabled. Considering what you get, the $8/month price tag isn't worth it. There are less expensive services that offer similar functionality.

Personally I've found that GTD-specific apps are always constraining. The beauty of GTD is that it leaves the implementation up to the individual. There are as many ways to do GTD as there are people. GTD-specific applications lock you into someone else's vision of GTD, and having tried the majority of the most popular apps that purport to be "GTD tools" I've found that most of them get the methodology wrong in one or more fundamental respects.

 

[mcogilvie]

I just spent the last 3 days solid testing various tools with the intent of trying to do everything in the least number of tools possible. Unfortunately there is no tool that does it all surprisingly if you also want to do collaborative project task management well. If you don't need that, then Outlook is the closest all-in-one GTD tool I found where you can have your GTD system tightly integrated with your email collection, calendaring, and note taking.

The Microsoft ecosystem is made up of overlapping dysfunctional products, each with its own limitations and significant costs. In a world where people successfully use smartphones, tablets and laptops/desktops together (and wearables are getting more useful), I see Microsoft as way off the radar. Unless one is in a corporate environment where the significant support costs of providing a reliable comprehensive Microsoft solution are taken care of, I can't see devoting limited resources to Microsoft products. To be blunt, I see Outlook as a tool for cube farms, and not a good personal choice in today's world.

The area that I didn't explore that much is taking an existing project task management system like Asana or Basecamp and trying to use it for GTD. I'd love to hear if anyone has pulled this off elegantly, especially in conjunction with moving email in Outlook to tasks in these systems as then you could simplify down from a 3 tool system to a 2 tool system and more importantly, not have to duplicate your project tasks from the project task management system to your GTD tool.

Attempts to integrate GTD with powerful project management software have largely failed. It will be interesting to see how more lightweight approaches such as that used by Wunderlist will do.

 

[Folke]

Some other apps that call themselves GTD are Things, Nirvana, MyLifeOrganized, Doit, Zendone, Getitdoneapp, IQTell ... and dozens of others. I currently use Doit and I also like Nirvana a lot. Zendone has its plusses for those who want to integrate mail and Evernote etc. IQtell, too, but it is a more complicated app. MLO is super-complicated but powerful.

 

[bcmyers2112]

My criticisms of Nozbe and other GTD-oriented apps had more "bite" than they should've. It's all a matter of preference.

That said if people want to pooh-pooh Evernote that's their right. What I'd suggest to anyone reading such diametrically opposed points of view and trying to make sense of them is to look at the use cases each person has. When I read something by someone with a use case similar to my own that's often the advice I'll try out first. It's not a 100% accurate gauge of whether I'll find the advice useful but more often than not it works.

Other than the facts about what a specific solution can or cannot do, there is no right or wrong answer. Or to be more accurate there are right and wrong answers but they vary according to the individual.

 

[Folke]

mcogilvie, I did not notice your post (apparently you posted it while I was still writing mine).

Attempts to integrate GTD with powerful project management software have largely failed

This is interesting. Project management and collaboration seem to be difficult to integrate with GTD, and from my viewpoint of what makes GTD unique this is no big wonder.

Project management and collaboration are traditionally - and I'd say almost necessarily - based on agreed scheduling of tasks and time plans whereas GTD favors a more open calendar and leaving decisions to be made at the spur of the moment, based on context, energy etc.

This obviously does not make it impossible to combine the two in one app. It would be perfectly possible. The big plan, agreed among everyone (or decided by a big boss), with its fixed milestones and even dates for each task, could very well serve as input to the individual's personal planning of his/her own smaller tasks. A task in the big plan would typically be a whole project in the individual's world, and the deadline for the agreed "task" would be the deadline for the individual's "project", but everything within the individual's project could be handled as per GTD. In fact, this is how we normally handle it today, but often using different tools at the two levels (organizational and individual level).

It would not be impossible at all to have both in one app, but it would mean a (necessary and justifiable) mixing of two fundamentally different philosophies in one and the same app. This might make it slightly more expensive, but the biggest problem of all might be that the people who love scheduling and project management often do not seem to like GTD - or am I wrong? (And vice versa, perhaps, too.)

 

[mcogilvie]

It would not be impossible at all to have both in one app, but it would mean a (necessary and justifiable) mixing of two fundamentally different philosophies in one and the same app. This might make it slightly more expensive, but the biggest problem of all might be that the people who love scheduling and project management often do not seem to like GTD - or am I wrong? (And vice versa, perhaps, too.)

I think different people have different work styles, but primarily jobs are just different. If your job is largely to take stuff from a queue and deal with it, e.g., a help desk, then the queuing system is what you use for a lot of your day. If you are a project manager building a building, you are going to hope that you can get the plumbing done when the plans says for it to happen. In my job, I have three components with very different scheduling: research, where progress is hard to predict; teaching, where I have a syllabus (the project plan) but time required is not completely predictable; and administrative, which involves mostly simple, short-range projects. GTD works for me, but time estimates and schedules? No way.

 

[bcmyers2112]

This is interesting. Project management and collaboration seem to be difficult to integrate with GTD, and from my viewpoint of what makes GTD unique this is no big wonder. Project management and collaboration are traditionally - and I'd say almost necessarily - based on agreed scheduling of tasks and time plans whereas GTD favors a more open calendar and leaving decisions to be made at the spur of the moment, based on context, energy etc.

I don't see it that way at all. In one of my roles now -- and also in roles I've had in the past -- I've managed projects where others were accountable to me and where there were a lot of moving parts. Scheduling "tasks" is ineffective. It's micromanagement, which is inherently a destroyer of productivity. When I manage projects I hold people accountable for milestones or outcomes, and if it is logical to attach dates to those I do so. How they achieve them is their responsibility. I don't get involved unless my progress checks reveal they've made inadequate or no movement toward the milestones they committed to.

If someone needs me to hold their hand every step of the way I will try to find a way to keep that person off my teams in the future if at all possible.

Anyway, in my personal system outcomes from the team are represented on my waiting for list. Shared resources on Google Drive allow me to keep track of progress and allow the team to share information. I consider that project support. I expect team members to have personal systems robust enough to allow them to keep up with their commitments, whether they do GTD or use some other methodology.

This obviously does not make it impossible to combine the two in one app. It would be perfectly possible.

Maybe not but I don't like mashing the two together. I tried to participate in a conversation about how to instill GTD in an organization. I tried to inject into the discussion thoughts about how the best way to do it would be for everyone on the executive team to really walk the walk and set the example, how it could be offered as part of training and development plans, and how to encourage employees to learn it, etc. But all everyone wanted to do was talk about tools. "Maybe it could be done with TRELLO!" Uhm, yeah. Just use Trello. Everything will fall into place.

There's nothing wrong with Trello, of course. It's just that software can't cause people to change their thinking and their habits. The idea that simply installing a tool will change everything is the type of thinking emblematic of inept executives and managers.

The problem with mashing together collaborative systems and personal productivity systems is not just philosophical but practical. They're for different purposes. Collaborative systems will by their very nature be one-size-fits all. Personal productivity systems should be left up to the individual.

Mind you, I have set aside a section of Evernote for collaboration with colleagues in the past. But Evernote isn't a dedicated task manager. I set up my lists in one set of notebooks and set aside another bunch of notebooks for collaboration. They may have been in the same tool but I handled them separately and in different ways.

 

[43user]

My problem with Evernote is that its syncing is slow, especially with Windows. You also have to remember to constantly force syncs if you need an up to date page. The other thing is that I find its layout boring for something to use a lot daily. As a note manager and research organizer (something I use a lot but less frequently), it is unsurpassed.

 

[Folke]

... primarily jobs are just different.
GTD works for me, but time estimates and schedules? No way.

I think we share that sentiment. What I meant was that developers of apps might have preferences which affect their ability to create an app that serves both kinds of needs, plus it would make the app more expensive (and complex). And this could be one reason why such efforts have failed.

Scheduling "tasks" is ineffective.

I think we share the same sentiment, and I also think we have a semantic issue here again, concerning the word task. What I meant was that in the very big, overall plan, the lowest level detail (possibly called "task" in that plan) could be an immense long-term effort (possibly called project or even goal) in the eyes of the person in charge of it. Example: maybe you as a salesperson are "tasked" with something like "secure contract with XYZ Corp" (one single "task line" in someone's overall plan, and they may even have set up a deadline and/or a start date for you whether you like it or not), but to you as a salesperson that could be a major key account sales "project" or even a 30 k "goal" that will change what your job is all about.

The problem with mashing together collaborative systems and personal productivity systems is not just philosophical but practical. They're for different purposes.

Yes, in many ways they are. It probably would be very difficult and expensive. I am constantly bewildered when I hear people asking for collaborative GTD apps. What is it they want?

 

[bcmyers2112]

I think we share the same sentiment, and I also think we have a semantic issue here again, concerning the word task. What I meant was that in the very big, overall plan, the lowest level detail (possibly called "task" in that plan) could be an immense long-term effort (possibly called project or even goal) in the eyes of the person in charge of it. Example: maybe you as a salesperson are "tasked" with something like "secure contract with XYZ Corp" (one single "task line" in someone's overall plan, and they may even have set up a deadline and/or a start date for you whether you like it or not), but to you as a salesperson that could be a major key account sales "project" or even a 30 k "goal" that will change what your job is all about.

A few hours after I posted my remarks I had a feeling I had misunderstood you but didn't have the chance to do anything about it. Given the context you provided around the term "task" I should've realized we were talking about the same thing. Sorry. Anyway we're on the same page now.

I'm sure this is very tangential but I was thinking about your very correct observation that projects almost always involve timelines. On the one hand I think it would be difficult to manage a project without attaching dates to key milestones. Yet there is a management philosophy called "holocracy" that has as one of its tenets a prohibition against arbitrary timelines for managing projects. Proponents of holocracy would say that doing so often influences the person to whom the task is delegated to assign it a higher priority than is warranted because what one's priorities are at the time of accepting the task might not be the same as that person's priorities when the task is approaching its "due date." I don't know a great deal more than that about holocracy but learning more about it is on my "someday maybe" list.

 

[bcmyers2112]

I am constantly bewildered when I hear people asking for collaborative GTD apps. What is it they want?

An excellent question. Ironically, I do use one app for both personal activity management and collaboration: Evernote. But I keep my personal GTD system "walled off" from those parts of Evernote I use for collaboration by keeping them in separate folder structures (actually Evernote technically has no "folders" but instead uses "notebooks" and "notebook stacks").

 

[Oogiem]

I am constantly bewildered when I hear people asking for collaborative GTD apps. What is it they want?

I use Omnifocus and in my ideal world I could define projects as either personal or shared. Default would be personal, I'd have to set a shared project explicitly. Contexts likewise can be either shared or personal but the default for contexts is shared. My husband (or in the case of a business all team members) would see the same shared projects in their own private systems. With sync to their local server, or cloud server if you are comfortable with that, as tasks get done on those projects everyone has an updated view. Sure, some individual tasks within the projects would be only able to be done by a single person but others are more general and can be done by anyone on the team. But since it's a shared project everyone knows the next action and the plan for the project and has current status. Anyone on the team can edit and change and add and delete tasks just as if it was their personal project. The weekly review for shared projects has to be shared. When I worked in regular business my small group always had a 10-15 minute check in once a week. That could easily be expanded to cover following the workflow for shared projects.

As a farmer there are projects and tasks that can be done by either myself or my husband. Some have start dates (can't be started until some date in the future, some have due dates, must be finished by some date in the future and some are more normal GTD tasks. Some are combined goals/projects we share for the farm. These would benefit from a true collaborative GTD app.

Here is one example:

We have discussed and both agree that improving the back cedars pasture is a long term goal. During one of our family discussions we talked about various aspects (projects) involved with that goal. We defined the outcomes we want from them and did the required project planning. I put all those projects into my Omnifocus system. They include:

Remove poplars and willows from cedars west field
Repair the rock wall where the bears broke it
Fix the drainage to collect the tail water from Moore's and use it to irrigate both the east and west fields
Clear out dead junipers and brush
Remove lower branches of junipers for fire mitigation
Burn brush
Clear major rocks​

and so on. Each of those things is a project in an of itself. Within those projects there are actions that can be taken now and ones that must wait. Various individual tasks have contexts that vary depending on who can do it or what tool is needed yet it would be very helpful if we both had a current view of the overall plan. Replicating the projects in our respective systems is a waste of effort and energy. None of those projects is big enough or complex enough to require a full project management system but they all would benefit from being shared. There are hundreds of similar things that we do on the farm. A shared GTD app would sure make my life easier.

 

[Folke]

Yet there is a management philosophy called "holocracy" that has as one of its tenets a prohibition against arbitrary timelines for managing projects. Proponents of holocracy would say that doing so often influences the person to whom the task is delegated to assign it a higher priority than is warranted because what one's priorities are at the time of accepting the task might not be the same as that person's priorities when the task is approaching its "due date."

In a way, that sounds like something we in the GTD camp might say (among other things) when we argue with someone who advocates the opposite rule - to put everything important on the calendar.

I have not heard of holocracy before, but if they are referring to "projects" managed by a single person or a small tightly-knit team it might be almost the same as GTD. In those cases each person can use his own gut, exchange glances or messages to confirm with the others, and make team decisions based on context, energy etc. These kinds of teams probably do not need require collaborative task management apps.

But it would be fascinating to see a project "manned" by independent actors (different companies, departments etc, or peripherally acquainted individuals) using context and energy as a basis for their decisions: "No, we did not put up the scaffolding because we happened to be busy in another context. And we are low on energy, too." I cannot imagine that this is what "holocrats" or anyone would advocate, but if they are talking about real collaborative projects between independent parties, and propose a way of managing those without agreeing on timelines, then I would be interested to learn more. Perhaps (probably?) all they mean is, from a general management perspective, that if you have a given number of people, say, a department, participating and collaborating in various ways in a number of concurrent projects (efforts), then it can often be better to communicate to "everybody" what the overall goals and contractual commitments etc for all these efforts, and their current status, than to pin down in detail exactly when each particular piece of work in each single project must be done. People can figure that out for themselves, usually. And they usually know best what has been agreed with external parties for "their" projects and how much ahead or behind they think they are.

 

[cwoodgold]

Proponents of holocracy would say that doing so often influences the person to whom the task is delegated to assign it a higher priority than is warranted because what one's priorities are at the time of accepting the task might not be the same as that person's priorities when the task is approaching its "due date."

Influencing someone's priorities could be seen as a benefit. Some method is needed whereby finishing a part of a multi-person project is seen by the person doing it as having an appropriate priority level. What are some other ways of communicating priority? Priority can also be communicated by a person to themself by marking "appointment with myself" on the calendar and keeping it even if they don't feel very enthusiastic about it when the time comes.

 

[bcmyers2112]

Influencing someone's priorities could be seen as a benefit. Some method is needed whereby finishing a part of a multi-person project is seen by the person doing it as having an appropriate priority level. What are some other ways of communicating priority? Priority can also be communicated by a person to themself by marking "appointment with myself" on the calendar and keeping it even if they don't feel very enthusiastic about it when the time comes.

I probably didn't quite communicate the idea clearly enough. It was from an interview with someone involved with the holocracy movement. The scenario offered was that of a meeting in which someone asks a subordinate to do something in a week. Not wanting to seem uncooperative, the subordinate agrees without really knowing if that makes sense against the rest of his or her priorities. The argument made was that this often causes people to incorrectly prioritize, often treating the task agreed upon at the meeting as a higher priority than it should be given what else is on their plate.

I think it's a valid argument and a real problem, but one that is easily solved. In the scenario described above, the manager could say, "Jane, I'd like you to get this done in a week. If there is a reason why you feel this is unrealistic, I need you to tell me that ASAP so we can decide what to do." I've done that myself when I've been in management positions. Renegotiating a commitment was always OK in my book (assuming the commitment could be renegotiated) as was asking for help, but people who worked for me learned pretty early on that broken promises accompanied by excuses were unacceptable to me.

 

[bcmyers2112]

But it would be fascinating to see a project "manned" by independent actors (different companies, departments etc, or peripherally acquainted individuals) using context and energy as a basis for their decisions: "No, we did not put up the scaffolding because we happened to be busy in another context. And we are low on energy, too." I cannot imagine that this is what "holocrats" or anyone would advocate, but if they are talking about real collaborative projects between independent parties, and propose a way of managing those without agreeing on timelines, then I would be interested to learn more.

I don't think they're talking about things that come with real deadlines. If you work for a construction company and are awarded a contract for building a 50-story office structure, that contract will include a deadline, and there will be many, many milestones that will also have to have deadlines attached in order to make the ultimate deadline for the project. In the scenario offered during the holocracy interview, the hypothetical boss was setting an arbitrary deadline and let's face it, this happens a lot.

Getting back to your construction scenario, I think it's pretty safe to say that planning the project with dates, milestones, sequences, etc. is very much in keeping with GTD. GTD isn't anti-scheduling, anti-prioritizing, etc. DA simply advises against putting things on your calendar that aren't truly date- or time-specific, and to avoid using priority coding. But if I were involved in a construction project and I knew I had to order certain parts prior to X date so that a certain phase of the construction could be completed by Y date, so that the project could ultimately be completed on time, I think using some kind of a due date in my task list would be a) a damn good idea and b) thoroughly consistent with GTD.