Revised Edition
Welcome to ... "knowledge work," ... you have to think about your stuff more than you realize but not as much as you're afraid you might. ... Peter Drucker wrote: "In knowledge work ... the task is not given; it has to be determined. 'What are the expected results from this work?' is ... the key question ... There is usuall no right answer; there are choices instead." ... We're never really taught that we have to think about our work before we can do it ... Thinking in a concentrated manner to define desired outcomes and requisite next actions is something few people feel they have to do (until they have to),
— Getting Things Done by David Allen (Page 16)
This is something that really surprised me when I first started a career after college. I was surprised. I still regularly try to explain this feeling to newcomers - I typically lump it in with the personal quality of "taking initiative". It's interesting to me that here it's defined without that word - and that it's intrinsic to all knowledge work.