The Information Paradox The more information you have to process, the less communication you conduct.

The Information Paradox

The more information you have to process, the less communication you conduct.

The goal of communications planning and information distribution is to increase understanding among the project stakeholders. Advances in communications technologies have introduced choices in the type of communications vehicles used. The addition of digital technologies to analog technologies has created new and innovative ways of combining interpersonal and mass communication interactions. Presumably, the greater the choice, the greater the chance for achieving the ultimate goal of communications planning and information distribution.

For the individual, the reverse is the norm. John Thorp, in his book, The Information Paradox, states that, "An increasing amount of money is being spent on new technologies that will deliver even more information as time goes on. Yet, neither the information nor the technology dollars are being consistently translated into business value." One of the primary reasons for this "information paradox," is the inundation of the individual with oftentimes useless information. It is nothing today to hear about project team members opening their e-mail in-boxes on Monday morning to find 50, 100, or 200 unread e-mails. Much of this is because of the "Reply to All" choice in responding to correspondence.

• Support or refute Thorpe's premise that the more information you have to process, the less communication you conduct.
• Take into consideration whether it is ethical to focus on the project team members to the detriment of the stakeholders, versus focusing on the stakeholders value to the detriment of your project team members.

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