Three reasons why personal productivity/following up/getting things can be difficult
1. The Smart Talk Trap: Even the best managers sometimes forget that to inspire action, they need to do more than simply spout platitudes.
2. The Knowing-Doing Gap: Hollow talk, debilitating fear, destructive internal competition, poorly designed and complex measurement systems and mindless reliance on precedent can stop effective action in its tracks.
3. Attention Deficit Trait: Omnipresent modern technology (blackberries, iPods, laptops, IMs, popups...) overloads our "brain circuitry".