Instead of trying to fix “the big problem,” we should handpick issues that we could have a decent chance of addressing successfully.
The concept of managing data in the second decade of this century can be daunting. As a society, we are living, breathing, eating, and sweating information. Overload may be too nice of a word to describe the daily data consumption for folks in all walks of life, even more so for marketers in the AEC industry.
Two quotes come to mind, one by Nobel Memorial Prize winner Herbert A. Simon who said, “a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention,” and the other from American writer, consultant, and professor Clay Shirky who said, “It’s not information overload. It’s filter failure.” Both statements narrow down the main issue to noise reduction so we can successfully assimilate a manageable amount of data.
In the data game, we are both culprits and victims. We complain constantly about being overwhelmed by so much information but often ignore the fact that we are addicted to sharing as much content as possible and thus contributing to “the problem.” But can we afford to scale back on both sides – share less content and consume less content – and how much are we affected by the fear of missing out, or FOMO?
Push – our contribution to the noise. Looking through an ethical lens, we should address content development and sharing as nothing short of intentional. It must be our responsibility to only push content that has a valid and specific purpose and provides value to the intended audience. In the AEC industry, we are failing in this regard as we treat this process as transactional: “I have one piece of content, therefore I must put this out there as soon as possible.” Why shouldn’t we stop to consider if we are saying something worthy of consumption? Why shouldn’t we stop to figure out if this piece of content can and will be filtered through the noise? Why shouldn’t we scale back and only contribute impactful messages that transcend the passive threshold and are actually “actionable”? Why shouldn’t we stop sharing the same type of content as everyone else? Maybe this is the way we become good neighbors and work toward the common goal of sharing information we can all consume without feeling stressed – and bored. Like my stance with SOQs, I say we stop sharing content you could just replace the logo with any other and the message would be the same.
Pull – filtering out the noise. “Less is more,” at face value, may not be an alluring strategy but still applicable at some degree. We are compelled to be, at the very least, “in the know” in this industry. This leads to a movie-like scenario; did you watch Everything Everywhere All at Once? That is exactly what it feels like when discussing the reading/browsing habits of marketers; it literally seems everyone is engaging with the exact same things. Why? I think it’s FOMO and you should stop. One thing I admire about the more recent generations is that they do not wait to step out of a situation they do not want to be a part of. When a millennial starts a new job, if it is not the right fit, they do not waste time before looking for a new one. Older generations functioned on the premise that they had to stick it out for a significant amount of time. Applying this approach, if you engage with sources which are not providing meaningful and actionable information, stop! I promise you will not miss anything. Be picky, selective, and intentional, not a hoarder and archivist. I know it feels good to save that 100-page report on social media trends on your OneDrive folder that you will never fully read. I must have done this many times, but I stopped – and I am still here successfully functioning as a marketer in the AEC industry.
Baby steps – conquering the overwhelming system. We are all too close to the action to see things clearly. Too much information, a drowning influx of data, and an overbearing amount of content. Taking a few steps back to have a different perspective is warranted. A common mistake we all make is trying to fix “the big problem.” We should handpick issues that we could have a decent chance of addressing successfully. Basically, taking baby steps to travel a short distance from point A to point B instead of trying to travel around the world in 80 days.
In the movie What About Bob?, Bill Murray’s character (Bob) suffers from several debilitating phobias. In a pivotal scene, Bob has a hard time picturing going from the doctor’s office to his apartment. His therapist suggests he takes baby steps focusing on one small goal at a time. Bob takes baby steps to the door, then baby steps down the hallway, etc.
In the massive web of algorithms, let’s be Bob, pick one thing, address it, then move on to the next. When we add a bunch of baby steps they amount to a decent trek. Start walking!
Javier Suarez is a principal corporate marketing manager with Geosyntec Consultants. Contact him at jsuarez@geosyntec.com.
