There are, conservatively, 300 gazillion books published every year. No one has the time to list them, let alone read them or review them. That’s a problem because there’s a lot of value in many books you may not hear about because of the clutter. 

“Short Takes” is my humble effort to cut through the clutter and highlight business books that might be perfect for your next read.

When I was writing Net Income: Cut Costs, Boost Profits, and Enhance Operations Online (1997) I interviewed a vice president at a major corporation who raved about how the internet helped him master information for an important presentation. Before the internet, he said, he would spend 80 to 90 percent of his time finding information and only 10 percent preparing his presentation. He said using the net cut his total time and changed the percentage to 40 percent finding information and 60 percent preparing his presentation.

Naturally, he thought the internet was a boon to productivity. So did I. Today I find myself feeling like the sorcerer’s apprentice, repeating the line from Goethe’s poem, “I cannot rid myself of the spirits I summoned.”

Information overwhelms us. There is too much information to process easily and too much is not reliable. Keeping up has become a major challenge. Information overload is a common reality.

Ross Dawson’s book, Thriving on Overload: The 5 Powers for Success in a World of Exponential Information promises to show us how to fix that. If you’re concerned about information overload, it’s worth your time to check it out.

Start with a visit to the book website. There are pointers to many resources. Follow Ross Dawson on Twitter. Read reviews of the book.

Reviews of Thriving on Overload

Thriving on Overload: A book review by Bob Morris

From Small Business Trends: Thriving on Overload Will Make You an Information Processing Ninja