Archive for the 'Analysis and Opinion' Category

Now, Facebook has its medals!

Posted on August 15th, 2011 · Posted in Analysis and Opinion, Off-topic

One common response to mention of Facebook among the Gen X and Baby Boomer (in other words, over 30) crowd is the disdainful “Why would I want people to know what I had for breakfast?!”  Use of Facebook, these people declare, is shallow and silly. Now, it is true that many people – and not just youngsters – post to their Facebook stream rather unimportant  snippets from their daily routine; and their Friends on the service can ignore it or react to it with equally inane comments. But that’s hardly unique to Facebook; people getting together in a bar or.. Read more

The unsung heroes of Information Overload

Posted on August 3rd, 2011 · Posted in Analysis and Opinion, Organizational Solutions

By now there are many people out there helping others to cope with, and mitigate, information overload. Some, like me in my  previous career as an Intel Principal Engineer, do it because it’s their job and helps their employer. Others, like me in my current consulting career, do it to help our clients. Either way, it’s always been my passion, but you could argue that it’s also a living, and that’s true: we get paid to apply our knowledge and skills on behalf of the companies we help out. But there is a third type of people who act against.. Read more

He’s working!

Posted on July 26th, 2011 · Posted in Analysis and Opinion

A relative of a distinguished Professor told me that he had the habit of sitting in an armchair at home with his eyes closed. When someone would come in and try to converse with him, the Prof would say “Quiet! I’m working!” As indeed he was… to sit quietly and think is a key element at the heart of an academic’s job; they need to disconnect from all distractions and THINK. One must note that this particular scholar is now in his eighties, so his habits had evolved in the middle of the previous century. I wonder whether the professors.. Read more

How to keep distribution lists short

Posted on July 20th, 2011 · Posted in Analysis and Opinion

I was lecturing about Information Overload at an MBA course in Haifa University, and a student shared a lovely story. Long ago, she said, before email replaced paper correspondence, she used to work at a company where memos were written on special forms that came as a three-layer stack with chemical copying. You’d write or type the top layer and two copies were created on the layers below. This was very convenient (you didn’t need to mess with Carbon Paper) but had one side effect: you could only create up to three copies at once. If you needed more, you’d.. Read more

Telemarketing Information Overload

Posted on July 12th, 2011 · Posted in Analysis and Opinion

Today I got a call from a telemarketer who did her best to entice me to subscribe to a certain business journal. I told her I already had a subscription to a similar one, and she went out of her way to explain to me that hers contained that much more – more articles, more pages, more information! I may be too polite, so she kept going on even after I pointed out that I barely read a tenth of the pages of the journal I already receive; she continued until I decided enough was enough and told her that.. Read more

Audio recording of IORG “Literary Salon” webinar available for download

Posted on July 3rd, 2011 · Posted in Analysis and Opinion

The IORG “Literary Salon” online event last week was very interesting, with five authors of books about Information Overload comign together to discuss their books. A recording of the entire event is available for your enjoyment here. A summary by one of the attendees is available here. Enjoy!

Yes, I do!

Posted on July 2nd, 2011 · Posted in Analysis and Opinion

An attendee at a lecture at a multinational tech company pointed out to me that part of his problem with email overload stems from situations where he is part of a functional distribution list, say “All Engineering”. Some messages to the entire group he does need, but there are other specific recurrent  messages that other engineers need and he doesn’t. Then when he goes to the sender and asks to get off, he is told it can’t be done – you can’t “unsubscribe” from the list: if you’re an engineer, you are automatically included and cursed for all eternity to.. Read more

Respect and Telephony

Posted on May 30th, 2011 · Posted in Analysis and Opinion

A manager at a small company told me over coffee of a job interview she gave a young candidate, in the middle of which he received a cellphone call from his wife (who wanted, with the wrong timing, to wish him luck in the coming interview). I was curious how this had affected her attitude to the candidate. After all, on one hand, it is nice that he’d answer his wife – he proved to be a considerate spouse. Yet on the other hand he had interrupted the interview and did not have the courtesy to either shut the phone.. Read more

Royalty, too, has Information Overload!

Posted on April 23rd, 2011 · Posted in Analysis and Opinion

In the film Her majesty Mrs. Brown, we see a grieving Queen Victoria refusing to return to her duties in the years following the death of her husband, Prince Albert. The film has much else to recommend it, but as an Information Overload practitioner I couldn’t help but enjoy the moment when the Queen – played by Dame Judi Dench – angrily exclaims “my ministers send me letters to read – boxes and boxes of letters!“ This was before email, before Facebook, before our BlackBerry-distracted modern existence; and yet even then Management involved Information Overload – and even then, senior.. Read more

What comes first – email or a phone call?

Posted on April 7th, 2011 · Posted in Analysis and Opinion

I was giving a workshop on Information Overload and an attendee   proposed that email is more effective when you precede it with a phone call. His thinking was this: if you first discuss the matter at hand on the phone, and only then send an email to confirm or flesh out details, then there will be no lack of clarity because both parties are aligned. This means less back-and-forth emails to seek clarification or correct misunderstandings. Now, this actually makes a lot of sense, and in fact I use this system when I need to broach a subject or a.. Read more