December 1999

BY RICH TEHRANI

With the world focusing on the Y2K bug and the bigger-than-ever New Year's celebration, the fact that we are about to enter another Olympic year seems to have escaped the media's attention— at least for now. I recently happened upon the Olympics' Web site and was reminded of one of the Olympic events I have always found most interesting: the decathlon, a grueling 10-event competition consisting of the shot-put throw, the discus, the pole-vault, and many other contests. What amazes me about this event is that, compared to almost all other competitions where an athlete can focus exclusively on one sport, decathletes must simultaneously devote their time to mastering 10 events — a tremendous challenge by any standard. In many ways I feel for decathletes, as they will never master a single event as well as if they were to focus on that event exclusively.

THE OFFICE OLYMPICS
In the last few years, especially with the advent of the Internet, office workers have had to change their work habits to mimic the training of decathletes. No longer can we afford to focus on individual topics the way we used to; we must constantly switch between tasks and information sources, just to keep up.

In fact, in a recent informal discussion with some of my office team members, the subject of Web skimming arose; more specifically, how the proliferation of information on the Web continues to distract individuals from focusing on any one topic for long. In fact, Web skimming has gotten so out of hand that when many people read, they don't absorb the full content. We are slowly losing our ability to focus on a single topic the way we should. In the process, many of the subtle nuances of the content remain unappreciated.

TECHNATHALON
This problem is only amplified for those of us who work in technology. Aside from keeping track of up-to-the-minute stock quotes, sports stats, and global news, we must also know about the latest computer, communications, and networking technologies. The number of Web sites and newsletters devoted to disseminating news seems to grow exponentially, and the number of relevant newsletters covering almost any field imaginable is astonishing.

Technologists have little choice but to learn as much as possible about the happenings in their field. Otherwise, they risk obsolescence. At TMC, we also feel this pressure as we try to keep up with developments in the world of convergence and report them to you in a manner that is if not exhaustive, then at least useful. And perhaps this usefulness is the better choice; after all, exhaustive news may prove to be exhausting, whereas useful news gives you just what you need.

And in fact, even though at times it may seem like everyone is shouting and you don’t know what to listen to, there is information out there that you need, and that I need, to stay on top of the industry. And hidden among all of the press releases and new products that seem so distracting may be that one piece of information you needed to know about and somehow missed, because you either had unreliable information resources or you just gave up on the whole thing altogether.

We all need to spot significant trends before they happen. But in trying to stay on top of so many trends, the quantity of information sources we rely on is causing information overload. And it’s getting worse. Take a personal example: I often work weekends, and many times when I send out e-mails to TMC team members or vendors in the communications market on a weekend, I am deluged with responses. Even on a Sunday night!

Let’s face it, the information overload is only going to get worse, and five years from now, we will focus even less on any single article or information source. Free time will continue to erode as we spend time on our vacations and at home answering e-mail and surfing the Web in search of ways to better our careers, get a jump on our competitors, and keep up with the present while predicting the future.

CHAMPION IN TRAINING
So what can you do to avoid falling victim to information overload? For starters, you might follow the six suggestions I’ve listed below. (If you have additional suggestions, please e-mail them to me at rtehrani@tmcnet.com. I’d like to publish them, so we can all combat information overload together.)

1. When reading e-mail or surfing the Web, use discretion. Just because something is interesting, it may not demand your full attention. Try not to get sucked into everything interesting, but instead look for information sources with effective headlines that you can use to quickly ascertain the value of articles or columns.
   
2. Set up policies to minimize frivolous e-mail. At TMC, we have a policy in place that asks people not to send frivolous e-mail as it interrupts everyone in the company. Make sure that you set up a policy and also have someone to enforce it. For some reason, when TMC team members have extra concert or baseball tickets, they think they are exempt. Try to nip this problem in the bud.
   
3. Minimize forwarding of less-than- critical information. I am a huge believer in education, and I especially want the people I work with to understand the technologies that TMC covers in its publications. To that end, I spend a great deal of time reading and forwarding Web sites and newsletters to others in my company. I need to be careful not to overdo the information I send or I risk overloading others at TMC and desensitizing them to further e-mail from me.
   
4. Use the CC line on e-mail as often as possible. Respect others, and hopefully they will respect you as well. Have people that you work with make liberal use of the CC line when information may be interesting to you but not crucial.
   
5. Whatever your e-mail system, try to set up rules to help you organize your messages more efficiently, requiring less user interaction.
   
6. Find a few Web/news sites and newsletters that are exceptional and rely on them. And don’t be afraid to replace them if something better comes along. Don’t be tempted to subscribe to every related newsletter you can find. You will regret it later.

The communications technology field is truly burgeoning right now, and we have never had as many choices for information as we have today. We at TMC know this, and that’s why we have made it our business to cover this industry, providing you not only with information, but with information that has been sorted and evaluated — you might even say compiled — with your needs in mind. We have been an important information source for you in the ’80s and ’90s, and we intend to continue providing this service to you into the next century.

In order to keep up with the most crucial information that affects each of us, we must keep in mind the decathlete, who spends his time working hard at 10 different events simultaneously. By concentrating on what is truly important and filtering out extraneous news sources and e-mail, we will be sure that we are all in good condition for the future.