In this interview in CIO Insight, productivity consultant David Allen talks about advances in workplace information technologies and the impact on personal productivity, including Web 2.0:
"Web 2.0: Information Overload? So how can an organization exploit Web 2.0 technologies like blogs, wikis and social networking to improve personal and organizational productivity?
I'm not kidding—one of the best ways is to turn those things off. I am always curious as to why people have time to blog to begin with. I understand there's a lot of value to the information in these things, but what do we do with that information? The great hope of a lot of technology is the ability to glean best practices and share them efficiently so people aren't reinventing the wheel. But I have probably thrown away more Lotus Notes databases than we have staff simply because what you think is the way you want to slice and dice information can morph very rapidly."
Actually, he makes some good points about Web 2.0 and social software but just remember the conversation is bounded in the context of personal productivity and information management.
BTW Is it just me, but when ever I hear someone mention David Allen I always think of Dave Allen first. Hmm, I wonder if David has an opinion on how humour reduces or improves productivity?
Dave Allen used to end his routines with the toast "And may your God go with you". A potent reminder that our personal beliefs, not matter how deeply held, remain that: personal.
ReplyDeleteSo one observation to be made about David Allen's comments is that personal productivity is also, well, personal. How people use these new technologies (and they can use them in a myriad of ways) is critical to the value they get out of them as individuals and the value they generate collectively.