BP&R’s Peter Don recently circulated a link to a thought provoking youtube clip on the magnitude of change in the world - social, economic and of most specific relevence to us - the immense projected increase in available information and speed of supply.  Before going further you need to spend 6 minutes watching the video.

Watching this had my mind racing as to the consequences for us mere mortals.  What is going to be the effect on the human condition when you divide the 168 hours a week humans have to deal with life by the amount of information and sources we will be exposed to?  Supply and choice may speed up but consumption won’t…a record will still take 3:30 to listen to and a book or video screen about 175 words a minute to read. This means there is going to be a huge amount of content we will either not have time to consume or we will screen out so we can simply enjoy the stuff we are most interested in or like and absorb the information of most relevence to our lives. Are people going to be continually driven to absord and understand it all or will humans start to increasingly discriminate in their consumption choices?…wow…how many directions could you take this thread?….let me pick one relative me.

Some years back as the GM of a radio station I started contemplating my personal time management and I realised I was spending a massive amount of time simply absorbing other peoples ideas rather than developing my own.  I was in a vortex of reports, magazine subscriptions, clipping services, management books, newsletters and seminars with gurus.  I started to feel frustrated by the avalanche of other peoples ideas I never seemed  to have time to implement and the myriad little ideas circulating in my head I didn’t have time crystalize. I come to the conclusion to focus on my own ideas and I killed off 80% of my “packaged information consumption” allowing me time to listen to and watch the world (my listeners, staff and customers) through my eyes and form my own ideas and see them through to implementation…thats when I actually started to be really successful in what I did.  Sure, I kept myself informed but I simply became more discriminating in my information consumption and ensured that for every minute spent consuming ideas I spent 10 minutes thinking and implementing.  In more recent years working with BP&R I have found myself looking forward to those precious 24 hours in a plane without mobile telephone and email on the long Australia - Europe commute.  Alone without interruption (well all most) I usually fill many foolscap pages with ideas and thoughts or solve problems that have been frustrating me.  I call the ideas I come up with or develop with my colleages “original thought”.

I am not entirely sure where this line of thought is leading me and I hope someone else can pick up the thread, but I am fascinated by what will be the consequences of our 168 hours of weekly time hitting a wall of information and media supply and choice unprecedented by anything we can imagine.  Further segment fragmentation?….bet your life on it! but what about attitude and motivation towards this supply and choice?  What will be the hot buttons? Will there be winners or will everything be sliced so finely the concept of “mass media” is completely redundant. “Mass” will probably be defined by the relative appeal of the content…not the means of its delivery.

Absolutely intriguing!  Thoughts?

Wayne Clouten

Hi,

I guess using a blog to share thoughts and information is all about getting in the habit of checking this BP&R Blog.  They key thing is that its all about developing a spirit of community amongst our clients and friends who share a passion for this wonderful industry called radio. As I travel around Europe working in different countries and markets I am constantly fascinated by what is the same and what is different. Having respect for the fact there is always something to learn is critical if we are not to grow old and stale…trapped by our paradigms and pride.  It is amazing what you can achieve if you open yourself up to the opportunities and possibilities of different ideas and practices.  The day my journey of discovery comes to an end is the day I will know am too old and stupid to continue in this business.  One of the most important things I was ever told was “learn to listen like a listener”.  No matter how many years I may be in this business and how much success I can litter my resume me, I hope and pray I will always be able to hear radio like a listener.  May the evils of arrogance, pride and paradigms be free from this blog site.  Enjoy the ride!

 Wayne Clouten