Video Snacking Will Starve the Mind. Long Live the Knowledge Center.

Lucy Kellaway's article -- "When Too Much Information Harms the Office" -- was published in the U.K.’s Financial Times in late November. Kellaway wrapped up a story that’s been obsessing Marketing Brillo for months, to wit: What are people actually doing about information overload? Answer: Stuffing the ears, closing the blinds, shutting down.

Kellaway offers anecdotal feedback that workers aren’t reading anything. “The first comes from a friend who works in communications for a large organisation. She has noticed that her staff are responding to the information overload not by digesting too much of it, but by stopping to digest anything at all. She tells me that, in her company, the written word has lost almost all its power. No one reads e-mails any more - with the exception of those from the boss. Messages from anyone else are either deleted unread or given a cursory glance and then ignored.”

Counter-offensive #2 also is pretty shocking. Kellaway reports that companies are dealing with too much information by closing down their libraries and knowledge centers. “In one big consultancy, all the people who used to sort information into usable chunks have just been fired, and consultants have been told that they will have to 'self-service their knowledge needs'."

The buzz that prompted Kellaway’s article came from Carol Bartz, president and CEO of Yahoo, who contributes to The Economists’s “the World in 2010.” Bartz notes that -- in the free flowing information waterfall -- managers are losing control of employees. “That’s why the greatest mandate for leadership in business is the ability to cut through the information clutter and make clear decisions without apology. More than at any time, employees need—in fact, desperately want—unequivocal direction.” As for Yahoo itself, Bartz talks about video “snacks,” calling video the “cornerstone” of Yahoo’s strategy.

That's confusing. Where does a a preferred diet of light weight video snacks square with a CEO's mandate to lead, manage information overload, and make unapologetic, unequivocal decisions?

Snack video may be able to effortlessly quell hunger pangs for "vital information," but factoids have little to do with thought and judgment, and not a whit to do with leadership. Marketing Brillo sincerely hopes that CEOs will remotivate employees to consume a full-course of considered, well-written, prudent content, no matter how long it takes to serve it. Long live the knowledge center.

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Leadership Lessons from the Dog Whisperer

I’ve been studying the Dog Whisperer for several months. Like all people with core insights, Cesar Millan’s understanding of dog sociology and psychology borders on the mystical. Quite simply, like no other dog trainer or animal professional I’ve been able to find, Cesar “gets it.” He can be both man and dog.. and when he’s dog he is always alpha-dog, the pack leader.

In the dog world, Cesar understands what it means to be pack leader and demonstrates that understanding in every movement, every decision. Understanding pack leadereship holds clues for human leadership, too. Here are a few leadership lessons from Cesar Millan.

1. Above all, a leader is “calm and assertive.” Unless seriously (and stupidly) challenged, no need to growl, fight, or injure. The leader simply takes charge.

2. The pack wants to follow the leader because – above all- the pack needs the leader for its own survival. If the leader doesn’t take control, another dog will.

3. With leadership goes responsibility. The leader goes first, makes decisions, assumes risk, protects all pack members. Calm and assertive.

4. Leaders see the value of every pack member. With proper leadership, weak members can be made stronger, impetuous pack members can be calmed, over-aggressive pack members can be dominated. The pack wins.

5. When necessary – though rarely -- the leader can follow. In doing so, he accedes nothing permanent, but gains pack control advantage.

Final note: Cesare teaches that dogs are ready and eager to give humans the lead. The vast array of dog “problems” stem from humans who are weak, unwilling to assume the responsibilities of leadership, and choose “bonding” over leadership.

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