Taming Overload

I love this post from Jack Vinson:

Good questions tame the overload fairy

http://blog.jackvinson.com/archives/2012/01/05/good_questions_tame_the_overload_fairy.html

Check out the post for these questions:

• What is the essential question?
• Where is your customer’s North Star?
• Should you believe the squiggly line?
• What surprised you?
• What does the lighthouse reveal?
• Who are your swing voters?
• What? So what? Now what? Expose insights.

• How is this (activity, information, meeting, etc.) going to help me answer the question?  (Reflecting #1 above.)
• If I answer the question, what then?
• Do I need to do this right now?
• What would be surprising to learn in this context?
• Can anyone else help me with this?
• How can I make this work better the next time?  Should there be a next time?

He is referencing Christopher Frank and Paul Magnone, coauthors new book Drinking from the Fire Hose: Making Smarter Decisions Without Drowning in Information and this interview:

American Management Association: Why You Need to Drink from the Fire Hose.

Stephen