Little wonder when we often feel our head is fit to burst when are now bombarded with five hundred times more information on a daily basis than we were in 1986.      

This blog was inspired by Holly Green, CEO of The Human Factor who reports that each year a typical American reads 100 newspapers and 36 magazines, and watches almost 2,500 hours of television.

When you add to this more than 700 hours of radio, three books, 20 CDs, and 500 hours on the phone – and that’s before you even get down to a single Tweet and other social media outputs– and you’re left with serious information overload.

This overload apparently stems from the same sources – particularly in business. Green says that as leaders we gather data about our customers, markets, and industries from similar sources while paying scant attention to what goes on outside our companies or industry.

To expand your data-gathering horizons and cut through the overload, Green recommends listing all your information sources according to the percentage of data they provide. Then ask questions like: “How much time do we spend collecting information? What are our primary sources of data? Are these still reliable sources for our business or industry? Where else can we look?”

Conduct a “cold-eye” review

Another technique for gaining fresh perspectives is having executives from differing disciplines researching various aspects of your business. For example, says Green have your top finance person looking at customer data, your head of manufacturing reviewing customer information, and so on. Done well, this “cold eye” review often discovers the obvious (things previously missed owing to subject familiarity) and occasionally reveals the unique.

For example, “cold eye” reviewers can unearth unsafe conditions in a plant because workers stopped seeing the situation a long time ago. They can identify new applications for a current product because they don’t know what it’s supposed to do or not do. They can also uncover significant opportunities to reduce costs, cut cycle time, and/or dramatically shift processes because they don’t know about the way things “are supposed to be.”

Green recommends having your “cold eye” reviewer present on data found and give a summary of key points along with recommendations. As business leaders you should ask questions and discuss possible outcomes.

Have you tried doing something familiar in a different way which has given you fresh thinking and let you see the world in a different way?  If so share your experiences on the blog.