Information overload: you need to get organized: August 19, 2002 issue of New Thinking

August 19, 2002 New Thinking:
Information overload: you need to get organized

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August 19, 2002

Information overload: you need to get organized

By Gerry McGovern

Information overload has striking similarities to pollution. Long-term thinking and planning is what is required to find a genuine solution. While national and global initiatives are important, the individual has a role to play too. We can create less content. We can organize what we have better.

The ability to organize content efficiently is one of the key skills of the information worker. It is a skill that is often ignored or undervalued.

The problem begins at school. Historically, a principal function of the school has been to organize subjects around curricula. Learning very often became an act of memorizing what you were given.

The computer is becoming our memory. We are moving from a society that remembers to a society that searches and finds. To search and find content efficiently we must organize that content effectively.

What is an organization if not organized? Organizations organize people and assets so as to achieve objectives and goals. Content is an increasingly critical asset of the organization. And yet, many organizations are incredibly poor when it comes to organizing content.

Of course, it all begins with the individual, and how the organization trains and supports the individual in learning the skills of organization. In an age when we need more organizational skills and training than ever, it would seem we are getting less of both.

At a conference some time ago, I heard independent consultant, Adrian Dale, talk about his work with the British Army. He talked about how, historically, officers were sent on courses to improve their organizational skills. These courses were no longer being run.

This is because organizations are assuming that once people have computers, they're organized. One of the biggest mistakes you can make is to assume that technology will organize your life. If you don't learn the skills of organization, then technology will overload your life.

Organization requires an ability to carry out long-term planning. How many of us do that? Caught up in the speed of the modern age, it's hard to stand back and think about structures that will work in the long-term.

How do you manage your email? Is your in-box bulging? How do you manage your hard disk? How do you manage your website? How do you manage your time? Do you plan your day, or does your day plan you?

Effectively managing your content (emails, documents, etc.) requires that you think seriously about classification and metadata. This is not easy because we have become accustomed to getting an immediate payback from what we do.

We're always too busy to spend the time to work out a comprehensive and effective classification for our content. Why are we too busy? Increasingly, we are too busy spending time searching for content that we didn't bother properly classifying in the first place.

The very essence of management is to have time for the things that require time. It means to plan for success, to be in control of the situation. This is an information-driven economy that is fuelled by content. Are you driving your content, or is it driving you?

Gerry McGovern

Note to readers: There will be no issue next week (August 26, 2002), as I will be on holidays

Next issue: Information architecture: learning how to classify
Previous issue: Information overload: learning to take your time

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This is an information-driven economy that is fuelled by content. Are you driving your content, or is it driving you?

Gerry McGovern's books are recommended reading at the following universities

Augustana College, United States
Brandeis University, United States
Drury University, United States
Dublin Institute of Technology, Ireland
Indiana University, United States
Monash University, Australia
Northeastern University, United States
University of Applied Sciences, Germany
University of Regina, Canada
University of Teesside, UK
Manchester Metropolitan University

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