Archive for September, 2012

No Email Day: a Misunderstood but Promising Solution to Information Overload

Posted on September 21st, 2012 · Posted in Organizational Solutions

A sure-fire way to jolt awake an audience in a lecture about Information Overload is to mention the solution known as “No Email Day” (NED) or “Zero Email Friday”. As soon as people hear the name, there is guaranteed to be a major protest. A whole day without email? This would never work! I wouldn’t blame you if you reacted the same way. How could it possibly work? And yet it does work, quite well, if you have the courage to try it and the wisdom to do it right. The problem is possibly in the name: “Zero email day”.. Read more

What’s in a Name? Name Diversity as a Factor in Global Collaboration

Posted on September 14th, 2012 · Posted in Analysis and Opinion

Countless studies have been made of factors affecting Global Collaboration… but one factor seems absent from them. This is the cultural diversity of personal names. It’s as if this factor is a non-issue; which has always surprised me, because in my long career in a global corporation I’ve concluded that it definitely matters. Read on… Strange names leave you clueless in so many ways! If you work in a global corporation you are likely to be communicating routinely with remote team mates named, say, Ayelet Gilboa, Szendrey Erzsébet, John McDonald, SK Wong, Dögg Jónsdóttir, Phan Tấn Dũng and Pavel Andreyevich.. Read more

Will Gen Z Employees be Pre-wired for Collaboration in the Workplace?

Posted on September 10th, 2012 · Posted in Analysis and Opinion, Uncategorized

Improving Collaboration in global teams is on most managers’ hot issues list. It has just occurred to me that for once, time may be on our side in solving this issue… The rise of the new multi-generational workplace  has brought much attention to the behaviors, expectations and perceptions of Gen Y employees, and HR people who have the bandwidth to look farther out are busy deciphering Gen Z, which will hit the workplace in a few years. Now, we all know that these young people communicate with their peers through social media and mobile devices, a fact that puts them.. Read more

Who Should Teach Future Employees Information Overload Coping Skills?

Posted on September 6th, 2012 · Posted in Analysis and Opinion, Organizational Solutions

Houston, we have a problem Have you ever stopped to think how our information overload looks to a new college graduate? We all know that Information Overload is a problem; the staggering impact on the enterprise and the economy – about a Trillion dollars a year in the US alone – has been well documented. We know that knowledge workers in our corporations are in a state of constant distraction and stress; and some of us – myself included – are doing what we can to help them cope. But what of the inflow of new employees, those bright young.. Read more

The Dark Side of Information Overload

Posted on September 2nd, 2012 · Posted in Analysis and Opinion

What I find fascinating about Information Overload in organizations is that there’s so much more to it than meets the eye. There is a distinct layer of causes to this problem that I’ve been referring to collectively as “The Dark Side of Information Overload”, and they have a real presence in the murky undercurrents below the surface of the corporate culture. The formal culture, with its mission statements and values emphasizing fairness and cooperation, never acknowledges this Dark Side; but the employees can unerringly identify it and respond with defensive measures that can result in anything but cooperation. I’ve been.. Read more