TMI

I work in an information-rich environment.

I suppose most people exist in the midst of roiling reams of multimedia input opportunities these days.  We have it coming at us from multiple outlets all day, everyday.

But my job actually involves intentionally inviting information to intrude into my inmost being.  Truly.  I go looking for information to ingest.  And then I create some information of my own based on all the information I have consumed. 

It's like making snowballs, though.  I take a bunch of information, pack it tightly and quickly into a projectile, dispatch it toward its target, and before I even witness the disintegration of my latest creation on the  back of my target's head, I am already busy creating my next ball of pre-masticated data.

Seriously.   It seems like much of my analytical effort explodes briefly into a million sparkling bits of spectacular crystalline wonder, barely noticed by the intended target.  In fact, too often the target is laughing and lobbing their own missile in my direction.

The results of all this lobbing back and forth is supposed to be increased understanding of whatever it is we are analyzing at the moment; whether it be business processes, workflows, performance metrics, status of projects, market research, or any of dozens of other human capital assessments.

Sometimes I think the main thing we are accomplishing is making more stuff to be stored in the archives.  Sometimes it does not seem to help the current situation much.  In fact, usually by the time we have written our incisive analysis the leadership has moved on to the next exhibit in the rotating display cases that are the various sections, divisions, departments, and branches who are valiantly endeavoring to prove themselves worthy of retention.

So, for those of us poking, peering, pondering, pilfering, and postulating, it often appears that our efforts were for naught.  At best. 

Every time I write a new "Recommendations" section to crown my analysis, I am entertaining thoughts in the back of my head - remembrances, I should say - of how often my recommendations have been taken to heart; or even noticed, for that matter.  I'm pretty sure I could count on one hand the times I have had a recommendation actually accepted, implemented, and praised.

Well, that turned into a rant, I guess.

When I began to compose this post I was thinking about the irony of how overwhelmed I sometimes feel by the tsunami of information coming my way everyday, when in fact I am literally asking for it.

It helps to have good music playing through it all.