David Lavenda

We live in an unprecedented time of overload; never in history have people felt so overloaded… or have we?

You might be surprised to learn that feeling of being lost with so much information is nothing new. In fact, these periods have recurred periodically throughout history. The advent of the printing press, the telegraph, the penny press, television, and the Internet all led to massive overload.

With an unprecedented amount of information to process, it’s natural to think that we are experiencing overload as never seen before in history. But that’s simply not true. Because with the advent of new information technologies throughout history, people were overwhelmed each time anew, with more information than they could process.

What marketing materials do you need when you are getting your company off the ground?

It depends… usually on the product or service, and the specific target market, but one piece that almost all startups need is company one-pager.

If you use Google or Microsoft text editors, you are probably familiar with their advanced language capabilities. These editors started by offering help with spelling, grammar and synonym suggestions. Then came predictive autocomplete suggestions for words and phrases. Called Smart Compose for Google and just “Show text suggestions as I type” in Microsoft Editor, the feature helps complete words as you are writing and also suggests next words or phrases while working in email or documents. More… רוצה לראות יותר

If you use Google or Microsoft text editors, you are probably familiar with their advanced language capabilities. These editors started by offering help with spelling, grammar and synonym suggestions. Then came predictive autocomplete suggestions for words and phrases. Called Smart Compose for Google and just “Show text suggestions as I type” in Microsoft Editor, the feature helps complete words as you are writing and also suggests next words or phrases while working in email or documents. More recently, Google Smart Reply and Microsoft Suggested Replies features provide automatically-generated suggestions so you can reply to common questions in emails with just one click.

Sure, completing emails and documents faster is a productivity booster. But the vendors also tout the tools’ abilities to improve the quality of your documents. If you haven’t tried this functionality yet, it's definitely worth a shot, but know you'll likely experience an uneasy feeling of having words put in your mouth when you first start. You either get used to it or turn it off. Both Google and Microsoft offer options to turn off autocomplete. רוצה לראות פחות

In today’s age of information, misinformation, disinformation and information overload, it’s a fair bet to that most of us think we are a lot smarter than previous generations. Those of us who are more modest realize we know more than our predecessors because “we are standing on the shoulders of giants,” which itself is a 900-year old statement originally crafted by French philosopher Bernard of Chartres, but often misattributed to Isaac Newton.

After you complete this challenge, you… רוצה לראות יותר

In today’s age of information, misinformation, disinformation and information overload, it’s a fair bet to that most of us think we are a lot smarter than previous generations. Those of us who are more modest realize we know more than our predecessors because “we are standing on the shoulders of giants,” which itself is a 900-year old statement originally crafted by French philosopher Bernard of Chartres, but often misattributed to Isaac Newton.

After you complete this challenge, you might be surprised by how long people have been struggling with the same information challenges as today’s smartphone generation. רוצה לראות פחות

The dizzying array of communication tools we use in the workplace has led to unprecedented levels of information overload. Is more technology the answer?

Four pillars form the foundation of team collaboration — and an increasing number of collaboration apps are looking to incorporate all four.

The B2B buying cycle is more complex than ever. Can salespeople adapt to the ongoing changes?

Advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning are giving knowledge management a second wind, prompting new tools like Microsoft Viva Topics, a knowledge management program that builds upon AI capabilities, to gain in popularity.

But is there something distinctly new, or are we just repeating history? It's a valid question. After all, knowledge management, by definition, isn't new.

Working with design partners from day one is a well-kept startup secret to ‘getting it right the first time,’ by delivering a product or service that customers want… and are willing to pay for. If you are bootstrapping your own startup, the importance of getting it right the first time is obvious. Even if you are a funded company, it is easy to understand that every day spent tweaking your product is one day less of sales; that means diluted equity and it jeopardizes your venture by potentially… רוצה לראות יותר

Working with design partners from day one is a well-kept startup secret to ‘getting it right the first time,’ by delivering a product or service that customers want… and are willing to pay for. If you are bootstrapping your own startup, the importance of getting it right the first time is obvious. Even if you are a funded company, it is easy to understand that every day spent tweaking your product is one day less of sales; that means diluted equity and it jeopardizes your venture by potentially ceding the market to competitors. רוצה לראות פחות

According to the latest buzz, the metaverse will change everything about how we interact with each other. While potentially true, we should heed some warnings.

The flood of information brought to us by advancing technology is often accompanied by a distressing sense of “information overload,” yet this experience is not unique to modern times. In this book, Harvard University historian Blair describes how the invention of the printing press and the ensuing abundance of books provoked sixteenth- and seventeenth-century European scholars to register complaints very similar to our own. Blair describes how humanity managed to overcome information overload… רוצה לראות יותר

The flood of information brought to us by advancing technology is often accompanied by a distressing sense of “information overload,” yet this experience is not unique to modern times. In this book, Harvard University historian Blair describes how the invention of the printing press and the ensuing abundance of books provoked sixteenth- and seventeenth-century European scholars to register complaints very similar to our own. Blair describes how humanity managed to overcome information overload using a host of innovations. רוצה לראות פחות

We still have a long way to go to realize the potential of remote collaboration.

The pandemic significant altered work patterns. One result has been a surge of work-related research, particularly about the contribution of remote meetings to business productivity. Surprisingly, less attention has been trained on another work-related activity, namely, how reading and working with documents has changed during the move to remote work. Without access to the office printer, are we finally making the long-predicted move to the "paperless office?"

It’s been 10 years since Volkswagen announced a 'no email during off hours' policy. That email was encroaching on our personal time was not a new phenomenon, but new smartphones were making it worse. Volkswagen was just the first global company to take a public stand. The story received broad coverage in leading business outlets like the BBC, the Washington Post, NPR and others.

Remarkably, a flood of companies didn’t follow in Volkswagen’s wake. So when the BBC revisited the topic in a… רוצה לראות יותר

It’s been 10 years since Volkswagen announced a 'no email during off hours' policy. That email was encroaching on our personal time was not a new phenomenon, but new smartphones were making it worse. Volkswagen was just the first global company to take a public stand. The story received broad coverage in leading business outlets like the BBC, the Washington Post, NPR and others.

Remarkably, a flood of companies didn’t follow in Volkswagen’s wake. So when the BBC revisited the topic in a 2018 article entitled, "What would happen if we banned work emails at the weekend?" Volkswagen was still the poster child for neutralizing ‘off-hours’ email to promote a healthy work–life balance. Although seven years had passed since Volkswagen’s announcement, the article’s sage weekend advice for workers was to “delete your work email account from your inbox, and leave the worries until Monday.” רוצה לראות פחות

Is there something distinctly new about today's information revolution? Or have we been through this before and pulled through more or less intact? Society has had to deal with similar challenges in the past. Social media is only the latest of a number of prior information revolutions, so we have from where to learn about today’s social dilemma.

Whatever happened to Project Cortex? Microsoft introduced Cortex with great fanfare at its 2019 Ignite Conference, So far, got SharePoint Syntex, the first available service on the road to realizing the Cortex vision. Syntex is an add-on to SharePoint. With Syntex, a small effort exerted by a team of motivated knowledge managers enable large teams to reap the benefits of metadata tagging without incurring the overhead, but using AI to automatically tag content.

f you ask customers straight out what they want, their answers will be incremental suggestions to improve what they are doing today, at best. For example, if a customer fills out forms during their workday, they might have suggestions to complete forms faster. It is highly unlikely they will suggest an alternative business process that would eliminate the forms altogether. This is simply the way most of us are wired. Understanding this point demonstrates why many product managers and… רוצה לראות יותר

f you ask customers straight out what they want, their answers will be incremental suggestions to improve what they are doing today, at best. For example, if a customer fills out forms during their workday, they might have suggestions to complete forms faster. It is highly unlikely they will suggest an alternative business process that would eliminate the forms altogether. This is simply the way most of us are wired. Understanding this point demonstrates why many product managers and entrepreneurs struggle to get valuable customer input when designing new products and services. רוצה לראות פחות

The biggest problem facing digital marketers today is information overload: the strain of processing and correlating unconnected data signals emanating from multiple sources, signals like website visits, social media clicks, Google search results, YouTube views and many others.

The severity of the information overload problem explains the large number of digital marketing services offering access to marketing insights. With so many moving parts, marketers are struggling to keep up. And… רוצה לראות יותר

The biggest problem facing digital marketers today is information overload: the strain of processing and correlating unconnected data signals emanating from multiple sources, signals like website visits, social media clicks, Google search results, YouTube views and many others.

The severity of the information overload problem explains the large number of digital marketing services offering access to marketing insights. With so many moving parts, marketers are struggling to keep up. And with so much on the line, companies are forking over a lot of money to stay ahead of the pack. If you are considering using these services, you need to understand the root cause of the problem so you can focus on achieving your business goals. רוצה לראות פחות

It’s rare that one gets to witness the winds of change. But 2020 has brought about disruptive global events from the COVID-19 pandemic to the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, events that are driving real changes… and very abruptly.

Like many concurrent but unrelated news events, these episodes are creating enormous information overload. This pattern repeats itself continuously. While the world is focused on one item, another one comes along and adds the flood of information. At such… רוצה לראות יותר

It’s rare that one gets to witness the winds of change. But 2020 has brought about disruptive global events from the COVID-19 pandemic to the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, events that are driving real changes… and very abruptly.

Like many concurrent but unrelated news events, these episodes are creating enormous information overload. This pattern repeats itself continuously. While the world is focused on one item, another one comes along and adds the flood of information. At such times of information overload, it becomes difficult to see the ‘forest for the trees’ and it is easy to lose track of the conversation. Moreover, with fake news so easy to generate and disseminate, it becomes extremely difficult to locate trustworthy voices who deliver accurate news accounts. רוצה לראות פחות

With all the talk about AI replacing people in business, here is (perhaps) welcome news. As part of Microsoft’s Project Cortex rollout, Microsoft is advocating for new knowledge management positions, staffed by living, breathing human beings:

You have a great idea for a product, and you may have an initial product specification as well. So far, so good.

But believe it or not, that is the easy part. Why’s that? It’s because your idea will compete for your potential customer’s attention, together with about a million other things. The tough part of your business is convincing folks to try your product and then plunk down cash to buy it.

In the spirit of the glass half full, here are some positive takeaways from the current lockdown situation, as well as some considerations for how you might improve your business and home life as businesses begin to re-open.

There is certainly no shortage of articles championing how Microsoft Teams, Slack and Zoom are helping organizations maintain productivity during the COVID-19 lockdown. And if the number of users is any indication of productivity, then something positive has happened during the last three months.

Microsoft Teams has 20 million users. Slack has 12 million users. That’s a lot of people using collaboration/teamwork software. And the numbers keep going up.

Will either of these players conquer the mass market? Well, it depends. Let’s take a deeper look at the state of the collaboration market to see where we're headed.

Ideally, teamwork tools should be conceived to increase interaction between workers. When designed and used properly, teamwork apps extend our inner thoughts and ideas to colleagues. Case in point, today most people are so comfortable with email and documents that they might even consider these artifacts part of themselves. In fact, a recent study found that when workers lost an important email or document, they felt like they lost a limb.

When was the last time you had a clear inbox, free of sales emails? Or scrolled through your social media feed without being served countless ads? In our saturated market, it’s almost impossible to avoid sales messages — so it’s no surprise that people are feeling jaded and overwhelmed with traditional advertising strategies.

As a result, people are becoming increasingly resistant to situations in which they feel like they’re being directly sold to. Instead, they prefer convenient access… רוצה לראות יותר

When was the last time you had a clear inbox, free of sales emails? Or scrolled through your social media feed without being served countless ads? In our saturated market, it’s almost impossible to avoid sales messages — so it’s no surprise that people are feeling jaded and overwhelmed with traditional advertising strategies.

As a result, people are becoming increasingly resistant to situations in which they feel like they’re being directly sold to. Instead, they prefer convenient access to educational, helpful content on their own time and terms. And, I believe, one of the best ways to deliver this type of valuable content is through thought leadership. רוצה לראות פחות

Project Cortex is a new service in Microsoft 365 that … uses AI to automatically classify all your content into topics to form a knowledge network ....it is the most important announcement at Microsoft Ignite 2019 for information managers.

If you thought Microsoft was simply a productivity company, think again. CEO Satya Nadella kicked off this year’s Microsoft Ignite 2019 Conference in Orlando, Fla. with a big sky vision for the company; read about the big announcements here.

Teams is a powerful collaboration platform. But getting people to use Teams, like any new tool, has been a challenge, even when some of the features are already familiar. Read more about what is driving, and inhibiting Teams adoption.

Why is discovery better than search? One reason is because of the overload of data – both online and in-house. Searching for something, whether via Google or using scripts written by programmers that peruse huge data storage repositories, requires you to invest a great deal of time and effort in order to ferret out the results you really need from a huge amount of non-relevant data – because the context of what you are searching for is not always clear. Discovery – where a system proactively… רוצה לראות יותר

Why is discovery better than search? One reason is because of the overload of data – both online and in-house. Searching for something, whether via Google or using scripts written by programmers that peruse huge data storage repositories, requires you to invest a great deal of time and effort in order to ferret out the results you really need from a huge amount of non-relevant data – because the context of what you are searching for is not always clear. Discovery – where a system proactively presents to you what you are really looking for based on the context of what you are doing or searching for – is the Next Big Thing in data usage. רוצה לראות פחות

Serendipity is especially important to information professionals because it plays a key role in knowledge work. On the simplest level, we all know the feeling of discovering a long-forgotten book or paper that provided a fantastic solution to a nagging question. On a deeper level, serendipity can be a godsend to addressing information-intensive business challenges.

Summer’s here again and it’s time to hit the trails. But if you plan to recharge your mental batteries with a visit to nature, be sure to leave your smartphone behind.

Personal analytics is just the latest software to make the transition from the consumer world into the workplace. Smart businesses will try to combine personal analytics to obtain large-scale workplace insights that can optimize entire business operations.

Keeping pace with today’s digital workplace is a challenge for most enterprise organizations. This article outlines four actionable ways that IT leaders can future-proof their companies for achieving business success and retaining talent.

Microsoft's recent announcement about a free version of Teams set the industry abuzz in a new round of Slack versus Microsoft Teams rivalry.

The nature of work is changing but are organisations ready to embrace remote working?

With only two months until the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation goes into full effect, many organizations still seem to be slow-moving when it comes to compliance.

Facebook released a report earlier this month which, among other things, found a link between online interactions and improved well-being. While it would be hard to imagine the company reaching any other conclusion, the report provides an even-handed critique of the role social networking plays in human well-being and happiness.

The realization that Microsoft collaboration tools have significant feature overlap is crippling their ability to maximize collaboration, as enterprise Office 365 customers suddenly have access to too many options to connect with colleagues. When each worker is free to select a collaboration tool of choice, chaos ensues. People don’t know which tool to go to for information, so information gets lost and people drop the ball on important work tasks.

It appears that cognitive abilities are negatively impacted by a ringing phone and the physical anxiety associated with smartphone separation is well documented. These conditions can be explained by two social theories - the extended self and the Self-Determination Theory (SDT).

Artificial intelligence has been getting a lot of play recently; but how much of this really contributes to productivity.

Productivity is all about efficiency -- doing more, faster and with less. And with increasing demands from today’s anytime, anywhere workplace, it is has never been more important. To get the most out of your day, you need to focus on these three segments of your life: time, space, mind.

At Microsoft’s recent Worldwide Partner Conference, CEO Satya Nadella laid out his vision for a world in which A.I.-powered chatbots “fundamentally revolutionize how computing is experienced by everybody." This article takes issue with this claim, suggesting that bots will first augment human intelligence rather than replace human agents.

The philosophical war between artificial intelligence (AI) and intelligence augmentation (IA) has been waged for more than half a century, with the focus shifting between the two as each has made important strides.

How will we interact with technology in the world of tomorrow?

Email is dead, Twitter is dead, web design is dead … believe it or not, even ‘LOL’ is dead.

Does Microsoft’s recent layoff of 40 Yammer Customer Success Managers spell the end of social business? I think the answer is yes … and no.

Consider how political information reaches our (virtual) doorsteps … and what this means for how we form decisions about who to vote for, and how to take a stand on other important topics.

Technology that helps interpret situational awareness will provide new opportunities to connect with customers.

We are still years away from realizing the full potential of the mobile enterprise. Here's why.

The cloud offers a lot of benefits, but here are some things to consider before making a move.

IN A WORLD OF SUPPOSED DECLINING PAPER USE, POST-IT NOTES ARE GETTING A SECOND LIFE, SEEING A RESURGENCE IN A NEW AND UNFORESEEN WAY--AS A TOOL FOR INNOVATION AND COLLABORATION.

Ten tips to help you manage your mobile work/life balance.

The NSA highlights the value of metadata - the ability to catalog information so it can be found later on.

As an information worker, you need to work anytime, anywhere - here are 12 steps to achieving that goal.

GIVING A VOICE TO ENTRY-LEVEL EMPLOYEES IS A POWERFUL NEW WAY TO IMPROVE YOUR BUSINESS. HERE IS HOW ONE COMPANY IS DOING IT.

Rogue IT is a grass roots movement through which business users requisition unapproved, usually consumer-grade technology for work purposes.Here is what you need to know to deal with it.

HOW FAILURE, INTUITION, SERENDIPITY, AND PERSEVERANCE GAVE US ONE OF THE WORLD’S MOST IMPORTANT INVENTIONS OF THE LAST 100 YEARS, AND WHAT IT TEACHES US ABOUT INNOVATION TODAY.

EMAIL IS ONLY THE BEGINNING. BETWEEN TWITTER, FACEBOOK, LINKEDIN, AND MORE, WE ARE CONSTANTLY BOMBARDED WITH NEW INFORMATION. HERE'S ONE POSSIBLE WAY OUT OF THE DATA DELUGE.

The concurrent social, mobile and cloud revolutions offer new opportunities for savvy CIOs and their IT departments because the balance of power of who dictates which technology can be used for work is clearly shifting

A mobile enterprise is one where people can work from anywhere, anytime. There is a host of reasons businesses are finding it hard to “go mobile.” Here are 10 tips you need to heed to become a mobile enterprise.

WE ARE ENTERING A NEW PC ERA--ONLY THIS TIME WE'RE TALKING "PERSONAL CLOUD." HERE, FRESH GARTNER RESEARCH PREDICTIONS ABOUT HOW THE WAY WE WORK WILL IMPACT OUR LIVES AND CAREERS IN SIGNIFICANT WAYS.

MANY COMPANIES ARE GOING EXACTLY THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION FROM YAHOO WHEN IT COMES TO REMOTE WORK--AND HAVE BEST PRACTICES TO PROVE IT.

NO DOUBT ABOUT IT, EMAIL CAN BE A SOURCE OF STRESS. BUT IT'S ALSO (SOMEWHAT UNFAIRLY) BECOME A SYMBOL FOR A LARGER PROBLEM.

The vast majority of marketers say social media is important to their business, so why do so many initiatives fail?

Troubleshooting is an effective way to fix technical problems--but more importantly, you can apply the same techniques to your career and colleagues as well.

Even in that age pre-dating personal computers, the Internet, and iPads, people were overloaded by information. What can we do to deal with the information tide? Here are seven strategies for dealing with information overload, updated for the times:

How much has a manager’s day changed in the almost 40 years. Less than you think.

. Here are some practical tips, as well as some apps and websites, to make business travel run more smoothly.

ALMOST HALF OF TODAY’S INFORMATION WORKERS BRING AT LEAST ONE DEVICE TO WORK. IF YOU ARE ONE OF THEM, USE THESE TIPS TO MAKE SURE YOU'RE COVERED IN CASE SOMETHING GOES WRONG.

Have you ever noticed how similar inventions seems to materialize out of thin air at precisely the same time? While this may seem like a consequence of our highly connected and hyper-competitive society, it turns out that this phenomenon is nothing new.

Activity streams promise to alleviate the email overload we've all come to know and dread. But we've got a ways to go before they can truly replace email as our main mode of electronic communication.

The risk of distractions while driving are well-documented. What can we do?

James Grimmelmann, ("Saving Facebook," Iowa Law Review, 1139-1205, 2009), provides some good ideas about what works ... and what doesn't. Here is my take.

Leon Battista Alberti (1404-1472) was a true Renaissance man, distinguishing himself as an author, artist, poet, architect, and philosopher. Here are some of Alberti’s astute life observations for today’s scholars of the art of living.

Distractions at work are nothing new. Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch) wrote about strategies for dealing with work distractions way back in the 1300s. What can we do to fight distractions and reduce stress? Here are six proven strategies, three for individuals and three for organizations.

new industry survey looking at the impact of distractions at work has been released. The survey polled 515 IT users working in U.S. and global companies and discovered some amazing facts.

Several recent university studies have exposed some surprising findings about social network, email, and IT usage.

10 suggestions to improve the chances of your startup's success.

Digital overload caused by a deluge of information and frequent interruptions is a phenomenon that you cannot ignore. A recent spate of articles in the popular press highlight the impact of distractions on our lives. Here are just a few "must read" articles.

With the explosion of newly-available mobile computing options, many companies now support their employees’ smartphones and tablet computers. The unique needs of the mobile worker and mobile devices’ form factor mandate for a fresh look at what it means to collaborate on the road.

There has been a lot of online handwringing about losing our privacy online, but specifically, what are the dangers of having personal information visible to all?

Even if you hire a professional organization to help you design and build your own website --consider the following checklist, before you start the process.

People have trouble "switching off," but they are more likely to do so in situations where they are having fun and where they are mentally engaged.

Young companies have small margins for error. Mistakes made early on can sink a company before its gets off the ground.

With the arrival of a dizzying array of Web 2.0 technologies (Facebook, iGoogle, etc.) for businesses both large and small, there come new security challenges that must be taken into consideration. These risks are especially critical for small to medium-sized organizations, whose business is likely to be seriously affected when sensitive data is leaked.

The way people interact is radically changing. In fact, we are in the midst of a social networking revolution which impacts both our personal and professional lives.

Here are some practical solutions for using email and activity streams together at work.

Today, business stands at a crossroads of changing corporate structure, a transformation of employee behaviour driven by a new generation entering the workforce, and the availability of a bevy of new technologies led by the new world of Web 2.0.