Information Overload is a Major Issue: QMN005
The Quartermaster Newsletter, Tuesday, 30 April
NEEDED: a spigot. (Today’s report is a 4 minute read)
BLUF: Information overload is a major issue: Mission command (and life in general today) requires that we quickly filter out the info we don’t need, and access the information that’s critical to our work. It takes discipline.
Brady here. One of our goals with The Quartermaster is to explain elite military practices and principles for personal and professional use by anyone. The one we introduced yesterday, mission command, is a unique and all-consuming way of looking at planning, execution and communication that demands that only the foreseeable be planned for, that communications be very brief and contain only what’s needed, and that decisions be pushed to the level at which they’re best addressed (which is often the lowest level). It’s an ethic that trusts lower-level leaders to make decisions for themselves as long as they work within the intent of their commander.
But mission command as a concept and practice was created centuries before the internet we know today existed. Information overload is a major issue for decision making with or without mission command - decisions are delayed by research, based on incorrect, expired or irrelevant information and documented improperly for future use. Thus organizations and their effectiveness suffer - but so do the individuals tasked with gathering info and making the decisions themselves on a personal level. Even more, the context switching that comes with the notification extravaganza we’ve enabled with our devices reduces the completeness, quality and consistency of decisions and increases the time it takes to make them.
What’s needed are tools both human and artificial to better deal with large end ever growing amounts information - and the flows of it that we have access to. Human tools include practices like scheduling, inbox triage, and isolation. Artificial tools start with filters and rules on email, advanced search capabilities for knowledge management and work towards more advanced concepts of tagging, automated document classification, and Natural Language Processing -enabled discovery (not sure what I mean? Try it out here and use it on today’s news here). Today, in order to do Mission Command right, practitioners need to be personally and technically prepared to filter out the info they don’t need and find the information they do need very, very quickly. And if possible, or eventually, automatically.
Georgetown computer science professor Cal Newport’s approach detailed in both Deep Work and Digital Minimalism (and his blog) offer not just technical approaches but an overarching ethos about social media and digital distraction altogether: unless it’s critical to doing your job, get rid of it. He laments email-inbox-as-daily-taskmaster tendencies and Slack-channel-update-oppression that drowns out truly value-creating work.
What I think might be missing from the digital minimalism discussion is the injection of new, (possibly) vetted, valuable information - especially from sources one wouldn’t normally be exposed to. If a secret to creativity is combinatorial thinking, then what’s often needed is something new to connect existing ideas to and make meaningful connections of concepts. Many creators of all kinds have made connections both conscious and unconscious (Cormac McCarthy’s explanation of the Kekulé Problem is a great example) in their daily lives that guided their most consequential discoveries. The digital river that seems to drown us daily can provide these connections if used in a targeted way and with discipline. For me, Austin Kleon’s books and continuous stream of things I’d likely never find on my own are key.
The key to using these tools is discipline - what’s surprising is how much discipline it takes to use our tools appropriately. Like Coca Cola, our digital enablers have put distraction and confusion within arms’ reach of desire at all times.
SPEAKING OF DISTRACTION: Cultural Cartography (2 min) A look inside the heroin lab that’s viral media production: It’s basically Marketing Myopia cooked down to a listicle and injected into your smartphone’s mainline: “…don’t just think about the subject matter; think also about, and in fact, primarily about, the job that your content is doing for the reader or the viewer.” (BJM)
REDUCING COMPLEXITY: The Best Way to Explain Complex Concepts (7 min read) In considering how to better convey the value and flow of the Military Decision Making Process, I came across this set of explanations, which is pretty good and includes examples from Einstein, Copernicus and Nancy Duarte. (BJM)
AI PRIMER: McKinsey’s Executive’s AI Playbook (variable) For those looking for a concise yet remarkably detailed set of explanations and facts around AI, look no further. McKinsey’s interactive site is very, very good. (BJM)
Remarks Complete. Nothing Follows.
KS Anthony (KSA) and Brady Moore (BJM)