I’ve personally just gone through a recent exercise in determining what’s important for me when it comes to information and what’s not. As someone who was tagged a thought leader many years ago, I’ve always found it challenging to enter new domains. Blogging was one such venture a year ago. I encountered a steep learning curve and soaked up many great ideas and loads of advice from a number of reputable bloggers. I subscribed to dozens of newsletters and blogs, to the point my head was swimming in data and information. STOP THE BUS!!
What I found after many months of reading, reading, reading… and adapting my blog was this: after a while I found I was reading the same content from the big shots. That’s fine, since there are new bloggers coming online every day. But I want a stream of new ideas and perspectives to help me with my own learning and personal growth, not stuff that’s been put back in the microwave to reheat and reserve.
I also realized that many of the top-rated blogs are essentially voyeurism, pursuits into peering into the sorry lives of people who just happen to want to share their exploits and foibles. Not this guy.
Earlier on in my entry into the blogosphere, an American virtual friend who writes several blogs commented to me that the blogs that often get heavy traffic are those that deal in emotional issues, where the bloggers open their kimonos to cyberspace. Sorry again, not this guy. I’ve raised four kids to adulthood; I don’t need to listen to others whine about their personal problems.
So in taking stock of my data overload and assessing what’s important to me and what role I wish to play with my own leadership blog and website, I started de-subscribing to dozens of newsletters and blogs. I subscribe only to high value-added online information sources that contribute to my thought leadership research, which I in turn share openly with people interested in leadership and management issues. These bits and bytes are supplemented by subscriptions to old-fashioned paper sources (so I’m guilty of killing some trees) such as The Economist newspaper, BusinessWeek, Canadian Business and the National post, plus an eclectic array of non-fiction books (usually two or three on the go dealing with economics, geo-politics and technology). Three online sites I find very useful are Strategy & Business, SmartBrief, and McKinsey & Co. Check them out.
The challenge, whether it’s yours truly, those in leadership positions or those trying to get a sense of what’s taking place in the world, is SYNTHESIS. There are no algorithms out there that will put it all together for you. For one thing, the world is much too subjective for an automated approach to figuring it all out. In fact, what we want (and deserve) are diverse ideas and opinions.
For me, I’ve been rethinking how I want to share ideas with my readers. Content is king, provided you can explain it clearly and have a relevant message. Voyeurism and repetitive information sharing that’s inherent in many blogs are something I avoid. It’s value-added that what counts when you’re in the information business, which is what blogging is essentially about.
Within organizations, trying to balance your personal information appetite with the information demands of your job is becoming increasingly taxing. A significant aggregate amount of time is spent by employees on social media sites, much to the chagrin of many employers. I find it interesting to observe where peak visits occur with my blog. It’s definitely not in late afternoon, evening or during the night, or even on weekends. Hmmmm!
This brings me back to the concept of value-added. My recommendation is to avoid the shallow and superficial and go for the depth and insightful, which is why I had to step back and reevaluate where I’m at in my use of social media and what I’m trying to achieve. And it’s not just the information we seek out for personal use but equally information we’re confronted with at work where we need to become more discerning. In short, we need to develop the capacity to assess what’s superfluous and what’s critical to mission success.
So I encourage you to reflect on what you’ve just read. If I haven’t irritated some of you then I guess I failed in this post to spark some thinking and conversation.
In the meantime, enjoy the following quotation from the late John Kenneth Galbraith. As a long-practicing economist, I believe that it’s always a good idea to remain humble.
“The only function of economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectable.”
James Taggart has been a student of leadership for over 15 years, devoting over a decade to applied work in leadership development, organizational learning and team building. As a thought leader, he has initiated and led several change management projects. He is also an economist, and has conducted research into labour market functioning, business innovation and industrial competitiveness.
In addition to a masters degree in economics, Jim holds a masters degree in leadership and organizational learning. He is an active member of Toastmasters International and currently president of his club.
Jim’s passion for leadership extends to openly sharing with others. He invites you to visit his leadership website: http://www.leadershipworldconnect.com/
He also writes a leadership blog: http://changingwinds.wordpress.com/
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