Better Communication is not More Communication

A few weeks ago, my business partner Corey and I were having a conversation about process maturity.  I said, “Better is not More.”  That’s become a mantra for us and it’s showing up everywhere.

Today Mark Evans has a post about this in communication.

He says:

My read is consumers of digital services and content are being swamped, and madly scrambling to keep up. As a result, I think there’s going to be a growing demand for tools that filter and synthesize things to reduce the amount of noise.

Social media has put is in the middle of a cocktail party.  Lots of conversations to track, lots of interesting people.

However, tabbed browsers and multiple applications now mean that we are attending several cocktail parties at the same time.  Or at least we can if we choose to.

I set a cap at 10.  And ten is still pretty insane.  So my standard tab set comes up with 10 social media apps every morning. 

I’ve made a point to make Google Reader one of these and that’s non-negotiable.  Why?  Because immediate communication is enticing.  So Twitter and the like are like crack.  I force myself to go for the slower world of blogs.

I’ve killed off FriendFeed, Plaxo and others like them – apps that go mental on trying to bring you 40 services at once.  With 100s of people in that world, information goes by faster than anyone can process.

So, go for quality and and not quantity.  Join the conversations you can actually participate in.  Slow down and think.

Technorati Tags: mark evans,social media,corey ladas,better is not more

Comments

[shani lee]

So what are your ten, Jim?

[Mark Evans]

Jim,

I like the 10 tabs rule. I often find myself with 20 or so tabs open, and then get into an exercise of killing the tabs that don't seem as interesting. It's probably not the best way to manage things. :)

Mark

[Sue Thomas]

Jim - snap. Just yesterday I was saying to a colleague that I'm trying hard to work more slowly and concentrate on one thing at a time. If I don't watch myself, I race through the day and at the end of it feel exhausted and worried I've missed something. But there is another way - I have a great job, so why not enjoy it? Write a thoughtful document, a friendly email, a carefully-structured plan - and **not all at the same time**!. I'm sure I am getting through my todo list more slowly, but the tasks are more satisfying, and after all we only have one life so let's experience it fully as it goes along. And as for Friendfeed - does anyone actually read through all of that mountain of stuff? I'll probably follow your example and unsub, I think.