Managing information overload in a world of too much %$#&* information

The Institute for the Future said cognitive load coping was a 'got to have it' skill for 2020. I've been keynoting at conferences on Day 1 giving delegates these much needed 'cognitive load coping' skills.

Are we ever 'taught' or 'shown' what to do in a situation of information overload? Many people zone out, reach for the comfort of their mobile device, feign understanding (head nodding) or daydream.

Info overload at conferences happens:

🐌 g-r-a-d-u-a-l-l-y (end of Day 1 you feel zombie-ish)

or

🚀 rapidly (presentation is so fast, laden with charts and stats you lose the threads ... gone).

Part of the 'it's all too much' zone is when we foolishly choose to REWORK information. We store it (take photos of slides at conferences, save PDFs, type notes, screenshot stuff) fully intending to 'look at it later'.

But it's one of the most ineffective and inefficient ways to handle information overload. Rather, get up out of the 'it's all too much zone'. It's worth building the confidence and capability to handle all that information, live ... in the moment so you are indeed 'all over it'.

Drowning in it

Drowning in it. Have you felt the ‘drowning in it’ feeling? It happens daily in meetings, or on Day 1 of a new job, drowning in all that information!

The Institute for the Future named ‘Cognitive Load Coping' as something we’ll need to be good/better/best at for the 2020s. We can't wait for a magic pill - we need to do better with information, now.

A key is understanding that cognitive overload can happen:

🌕 s-l-o-w-l-y without you barely noticing it (until you're in a daze, like at a conference), or

🌕 swiftly (when someone presents lots of complex info, data, results and - aaargh, we've lost the thread).

We can build skills to manage our own cognitive load (more on that over the coming weeks). But as leaders, we must focus and ruthlessly prioritise when presenting information to others - for their load.

TIP: Package information up in chunks that are easy for digestion. This means losing long lists of bullet points; too tough to make sense of.

Here's my infamous slide presented at a conference on Day 1. (The Day 2 speakers stayed up late deleting all their bullet points! 😆 And the presentations were better!) Ditch the list of dots, it's zzzzz. What helps your cognitive load? 

Don’t put anything on the walls.

Thinking information on a wall is ugly or damages the decor might be good for aesthetic folks, but there’s a lot of pragmatic people who need to see things to make sense of 'em.

Seeing helps us make sense of what’s happening, why it's happening and what's yet to happen. And it reduces uncertainty and anxiety.

If there’s nothing visible about the work going on, then is there any work actually going on? It’s like that philosophical statement: “If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” If our work is hidden in digital files, apps and emails of ‘reply all’, is progress actually happening? Too much information is hidden deep in dungeons, vaults and rabbit holes and it's too complex to work with.

What’s happening at your workplace: Are you ‘allowed’ to put things on the wall? 

Did you know that Sensemaking is a ’thing’?

You know when you’re having a meeting or a conversation and you’re listening to what people say, trying to work out what it means, what it’s about?

That’s Sensemaking. We do it intuitively, habitually, automatically. But we might also be doing it in ways that don't get the most out of our grey matter - our brain - or the other people in the room.

It's why we miss out on information, feel overloaded and get overwhelmed with too much information.

It’s certainly why we get into heated debates, arguments, confusion and misunderstandings. Even though we’re trying to get on the ’same page’, we often don’t even have a page, anywhere to be seen. It’s all talk.

We can make Sensemaking a more deliberate action in our daily work and daily lives. It’s more than taking notes, it’s more than listening.

It’s a kind of super power or rapid path to clarity when we’re dealing with complex issues and information. Plus it’s the way to make decisions quicker and work together better.

Sensemaking. It’s a thing and we can most defintely be more deliberate about it.

3 Questions to help them 'get it'

Speaking with a leader last week and there was that frustration you get when people in the team and across the business just don’t ‘get it’.

The leader said 'people aren't understanding what the change project is really about, even though there have been plenty of presentations, packs, information sessions and hours spent talking about the information.'
 
Yes there’s plenty of information available, but which pieces are important; how do you help people make sense of it… and quickly?
 
My distilled visual is from a presentation by Tom Shanley on Interactive and Immersive Data Visualisation and there's some insight there about beautiful, insightful and functional information. 
 
When there’s a torrent of information flooding in from all directions, people are secretly asking three questions in their mind:

1. What are you trying to tell me?
2. What’s the story?
3. What am I meant to be looking at?

The rise of infographics and data visualisations certainly help convey deep information and data quickly, clearly and with creative appeal.
 
These and other visuals work because our eyes see patterns – it’s Gestalt Theory. Images help people see the trees and the forest ... and helps it become a two-way conversation.

And what's so beautiful about information? I love thumbing through David McCandless' book 'Information is Beautiful' (also called The Visual Miscellaneum in some countries). It's one for the coffee table, reception or waiting area or the meeting room, to give you a boost of visual inspiration. 
 
So what do you need to help people ‘get’ right now? Answer this:

1. What are you trying to tell them?
2. What’s the story?
3. What are they meant to be looking at?

Answer those questions and you'll help people 'get it' and make sense of it all – otherwise it’s all too much and they'll give their attention to someone else answering those three questions.