I believe there is some truth in a recent post on Penelope Trunk’s “Brazen Careerist” web site. She believes that Information Overload is for “weaklings.” Successful people have learned how to synthesize information and avoid being overwhelmed by it. Penelope goes on to say that information synthesizers make quick decisions to either use information, or discard it (but they NEVER whine about it).
I suppose I am a little weak, because I do get bogged down by the symptoms of information overload from time to time (although I try not to complain about it). I have also become better at quickly processing what is and isn’t important to me. This process is at the heart of Making Info Useful, and it is something I intend to explore in more detail on this Blog. In addition to the change in mindset needed to quickly discard information that is un-useful, there are many tools and techniques that can help. The goal is to get exposure to MORE information, not less, and to more easily capture the bits of information that are helpful. This can be very powerful, provided that you are able to synthesize the information you are exposed to.
This brings us back to another one of Penelope’s posts from 2007. To yield maximu effect, information synthesizers are able to take the bits of useful information they read (or see, or hear) and create new, highly valuable, ideas. I am not aware of any tools that can help with this – it is all about using your brain. However, those with the capacity to do this will become much more effective once they improve their ability to pick out fewer, more useful, bits of information from a larger, more diverse, stream.
