One of the foundational aspects of social technologies I talk about is the ability for a person,
or an organization to use new tools to harvest huge amounts of information from the Websphere and pack it into our brains. I often regale people on the concept that it is a knowledge economy and the smart people will win. When I say smart by the way, I do not mean just the high IQ people, I also mean those that are best informed on what is happening in their industries. After all, it takes both an ability to process data and find the useful analytics, combined with a huge amount of relevant data to do magic things. One without the other is useless. So in a practical world, a smart person without access to new and complete data has a quickly declining value. A person with terabytes of powerful data is worthless if they cannot process it and draw correlations. The world is full of people at both these extremes.
Recently, I moved to a new house and my paper newspaper was not delivered to the new house. So I went online and downloaded the iPad app for my local newspaper. That was the last paper based information source I still relaxed with on the couch at night. Now I use my iPad as the delivery source for all my information on the couch. I use Flipboard to digest everything on Twitter, Facebook, Google Reader, etc. I read the current news on MSN.com, and have a few other dashboard sources built so I can bury my brain in a flow of information in 45 minutes a night and assure that I see most everything that might be important to me. I have become an information digestion bigot. I say this because I get annoyed if it takes me 3 minutes longer than necessary to get the information I want into my brain. Maybe it would be better to say I am an information snob. I want it all, I want it now, and I want it into my brain with the least work possible.
I was technically on vacation, but I found myself feeling naked without harvesting my normal reams (just a metaphor now) of information and digesting it. I had this sneaking suspicion there would be a hole in my knowledgebase if I ignored the flow all week. So from time to time I found myself drinking from the flow little bits at a time just so I did not miss anything critical. Am I addicted to the river of information? Maybe… Actually I think I am addicted to having answers to the questions people ask me. I am addicted to being current with my knowledge – and by current I mean up to the minute, not the week. Have I mentioned that it is a knowledge economy and the smart people win?
We have a lot of tools at this point to harvest information on any subject and get it into our brains. The tools will also get better. They will help us filter more concisely, and will aggregate the right kinds of information to the proper places for us automatically. They will alert us to specific pieces of information that might be critical to us. Even though we have a growing toolbox to do this, most people are still stuck in the rut of digesting tiny amounts information at a slow pace. Stanford did a study that said that we now consume 3 times the information as we did in 1960. I have to believe that the curve is speeding up, and that in 5 years we will be digesting 3 times what we are today. The toolbox we have been given (and will be given) allows for this. The question is are you ready? Your brain has capacity from what I hear, so will you use it? It is a knowledge economy and the smart people win – and being a “smart people” is a choice…
P.S. For those of you that like to make excuses for continuing to digest information at the slow pace that used to be acceptable, here is the top five so you don’t waste brain cells convincing yourself…
- I don’t have time to digest more information. (Really? Don’t have time to get smarter?)
- I am overwhelmed with the information that is out there. (Really? That is what all the new aggregation and filtering tools are for.)
- I don’t know where to start. (Email me and I will send you a document that teaches you how to do this
- I already learn about my industry from magazines, meetings and trade shows. (And how stale is that information?)
- I already know everything there is to know about my industry, or I don’t need to know much about my industry because I am in the middle to lower part of the org chart. (In both cases you are deluded and will not prosper with this viewpoint. I say that as a friend that would like you to reexamine…)
How are you going to improve your “river of information?” Leave your comments below.
Scott Klososky, a former CEO and author of the new books, Enterprise Social Technology and The Velocity Manifesto, specializes in having the vision and ability to see trends in emerging technologies, which allows him to be a thought leader who applies his skills to help organizations thrive, leaders prosper, and entire industries move forward. His unique perspectives on technology, business culture, and the future allows him to travel the globe as a speaker and consultant, working with senior executives in organizations ranging from Fortune 500 corporations to universities and nonprofits. Contact Scott at 760-603-8110 or moc.yksosolk@ttocs.
