Managers and the challenge of maintaining focus in an age of information overload

In recent years, whilst working with managers and teams within organisations that are becoming increasingly complex, matrix-based and interconnected, I have observed a recurring phenomenon: competent, motivated and well-trained people who are nevertheless finding it increasingly difficult to maintain clarity of thought, focus and a sense of priority.

Paradoxically, the problem does not seem to be a lack of information. On the contrary, we live in an age of information overload, inundated with an unprecedented volume of input: emails, constant notifications of all kinds, reports, dashboards, a virtually endless supply of digital content on any subject, and constant updates. Amidst all this, there is often contradictory or essentially useless information – sometimes distorted or incorrect – which makes it even harder to distinguish the signal from the noise: that is, to separate relevant or strategic information from redundant or superfluous information.

Some research has shown – and measured – how the volume of information we receive on a daily basis has increased exponentially compared with just a few decades ago. Furthermore, as early as the 1970s, Nobel laureate Herbert Simon observed that ‘a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention’: a reflection that seems more relevant today than ever. In the knowledge economy, in fact, the critical issue is no longer access to information, but the ability to discern which information holds real value and, consequently, to consciously protect and direct one’s attention.

Daniel Goleman, in his book Focus,, draws on various studies into so-called ‘mind wandering’: our minds naturally tend to wander far more frequently than we realise, often without us even noticing. Research from Harvard University shows that a significant proportion of our mental time is taken up by constant shifts in attention. In the absence of a clear focus, the brain, in ‘default’ mode, switches rapidly from one thought to another. A further critical issue is that today this mechanism also encounters an ecosystem – both physical and, above all, digital – designed to constantly capture our attention: social media, notifications, messages, alerts, personalised content, and constant requests for responses and interaction.

More and more often, during seminars or talks, I begin by telling participants that whatever I might tell them can also be found through other means and from other sources, but that it would be difficult for them to identify and select valuable information from the vast sea of material available; and, in any case, they would not have the time to read and explore what they find, as they are caught up in countless other inputs and stimuli! So, I tell them, it is all the more important that they seize the opportunity of the moment by giving their full attention to what they are hearing and the experience they are having; at the same time, I feel an ever-increasing responsibility to focus first and foremost on their concentration and the quality of their attention, even before the content itself.