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Interviews document toll of too much information in industry-first movie

NEW YORK, May 20, 2009 – “How does information overload impact you?” That’s the question Jonathan Spira, chief analyst at Basex, a knowledge economy research firm, has been asking senior executives at companies large and small. The answers he received – now part of a new video called Information Overload – The Movie – may surprise you.

Information overload describes an excess of information that results in the loss of ability to make decisions, process information, and prioritize tasks. Organizations of all shapes and sizes have already been significantly impacted by information overload: the problem costs the U.S. economy $900 billion per year in lower productivity and throttled innovation according to Basex.

Basex produced Information Overload – The Movie to demonstrate the impact that the problem has on knowledge workers of all levels. From top managers to administrative assistants, information overload has a detrimental effect on our ability to perform at our best, leading to poor decision-making, slow project completion and stifled idea generation. By 2010, the average number of corporate e-mail messages received per person per day is expected to reach 93. Meanwhile, individual knowledge workers lose as much as 28 percent of the day due to unnecessary interruptions.

Quotes from the Movie:

Information overload “basically slows me down,” said IBM Vice President Larry Bowden.

Andy Chew, senior vice president of Siemens, complains that the “sheer volume” of information makes it very difficult to prioritize work.

Information overload is “driving me bananas,” said Larry Thaler, vice president at NBC Universal.

Doug Heintzman, Lotus Software’s director of strategy, finds that the penalty of information overload is “frankly quite debilitating.”

Jim Balsillie, co-CEO at BlackBerry-maker Research in Motion, points out that devices such as the BlackBerry do have an off button.

Information Overload – The Movie is available immediately on Apple iTunes, YouTube, Blip TV, and from www.basex.com.

About Basex
Basex is the world's foremost knowledge economy research and advisory firm. Founded in 1983 and headquartered in New York City, Basex provides senior business executives from organizations across the globe with strategic advice, business and technology guidance, best practices, and insight about knowledge worker management and productivity.