I just finished reading Ross Dawson’s Thriving on Overload, and it’s a worthy read. The subtitle basically explains it: The 5 powers for success in a world of exponential information. The book has balance between principle and practice, with clear and cogent explanations. It’s not the only model for information management given the increasing challenge, but it’s a worthwhile read if you’re looking for help in coping with information deluge.
I’d heard Ross speak at an event, courtesy of my late friend Jay Cross. Ross is renown as a futurist, perceiving trends ahead of most folks. An Aussie (my 2nd home ;), I can’t say I really know him, but he has a well-established reputation, and keynotes around the world. He was perfectly coherent then and is again here.
Dawson frames elements in terms of how our brain works, which makes sense. He suggests: having an initial purpose, understanding the connections, filtering what’s coming in, paying attention to what’s important, and synthesizing what’s seen. Then, of course, it’s integrating them into a collective whole. He tosses in many interesting and useful observations along the way.
I’ve been, and remain, a fan of Harold Jarche’s Personal Knowledge Management (PKM). His framework is fairly simple – seek, sense, share – though the nuances make it powerful. He receives a mention, but I see some synergies. Harold takes the ‘purpose’ as implicit, and I see Dawson’s framing and synthesizing as both parts of Jarche’s ‘sense’. Similarly, I see Dawson’s attention and filtering as equivalent to Jarche’s ‘seek’. Where they differ most is, to me, where Jarche asks you to share out your learning, and Dawson’s is more personal.
Dawson’s steps are coherent, individually and collectively. As a fan of diagramming, I liked his focus on framing. He grounds much of his arguments in the natural ways our brains work, which I also am a fan of. I will quibble slightly at the end, where he says our brains are evolving to meet this new demand. If we use a metaphor between hardware and software, I’d agree that our brains adapt, but that’s not unique to information overload. What isn’t happening is our brain’s architecture changing. I think his claim maybe slightly misleading in that sense. A small quibble with a generally very good book.
Overall, I think the practices Dawson recommends are valuable and sound. In this era of increasing information, having practices that assist are critical. You can take Harold’s workshop, or read Ross’s book; both will give you useful skills. What you shouldn’t do is continue on without some systematic practices. If you’re looking for help coping with information, it’s available. Recommended.
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