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'Information rich, knowledge
poor'. Does that describe your organisation? There may be plenty of paper
floating about, forms filled in, reports submitted, memos written, letters
read, but at the end of it, how much have you really learnt. The introduction
of computers into offices was heralded as the start of the paperless office,
but instead it has simply provided greater opportunity to produce more
paper.
In these two books, Declan Treacy wages a war against unnecessary paperwork
- and unnecessary handling of paper. He provides a lively analysis of
the problem facing far too many managers, of paper-chasing rather than
people-leading, and offers some simple but effective suggestions on how
to overcome the bad habits which we are all too guilty in demonstrating.
In the process he demolishes some strongly supported myths about the meaning
of a cluttered desk - it doesn't increase your efficiency, reflect your
creative ability or help you to keep on top of your workload - it just
means that you're disorganised. And the first step to overcoming this
is to admit your faults, only then can the simple strategies Treacy suggests
enable you to improve your effectiveness.
These two books offer managers good ideas for an assignment on Information
Management, and will certainly assist anyone keen to improve their own
effectiveness in order to demonstrate their competence at any level. In
particular, Conquer the Information Mountain represents not just a management
development strategy but an organisation development strategy - and could
lead you to consider a complete revamp of your information system!
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