Blink and Information Overload
I just finished reading an excellent book today entitled “Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking.” It’s a fascinating look at how we come to snap decisions based on very little data.
As a matter of fact, it’s helped me understand the concept of information overload a little better. In management, medicine, and military strategy, the common wisdom is that more information is better. Companies are constructing huge databases about what their customers buy and want. Doctors will order dozens of tests in an attempt to make the right diagnosis. Generals want every detail of the military situation at their disposal.
This all sounds good, until you read chapter four of this book. Turns out that when time is limited, when you need to make snap decisions, too much information is bad. You can’t figure out which data are relevant, or worse, you get so arrogant that you think you’ve found every possible option. Before long your enemy/competitor/patient will surprise you with something totally unexpected.
When time is unlimited, on the other hand, the slow, methodical, logical approach works nicely. Examine every option and study to find out which data are relevant and which are not. That way, when time is short, you’ll know which data to pay attention to and which to discard.
The book is full of neat little insights into a wide variety of topics, from interpersonal relationships and “mind reading” to product testing to implicit racism. Furthermore, it’s well written: I finished it in a weekend.
My next book: Getting Things Done, by David Allen.