Valuable Words about the Art of Communication

D on't think a sequel is ever as good as the original? Here's an exception: "Information Anxiety 2."

When "Information Anxiety" first was published in 1989, it became what some called "a culture guidebook to understanding." But what has occurred since then is not an information explosion so much as a non-information explosion of data that fails to inform.

In his new book, author Richard Saul Wurman reminds us that the key to moving through this glut of information is our ability to understand, and he benevolently guides us through the traffic jam by giving us a road map to successful communication.

Information overload is a term often discussed but seldom explained or much less examined. It is really a futile attempt to understand the emotions, frustrations and bewilderment that we all experience. We are greatly affected, on both the intellectual and emotional levels, by the anxiety we feel just to keep up with the world around us, beginning with the basic assumption that we are supposed to keep up in the first place.

"Information Anxiety 2" addresses such topics as how to effectively deal with information anxiety in the "internet age," the business of understanding and "land mines" in the field of understanding.

"The most essential prerequisite to understanding is to be able to admit when you don't understand something," Wurman writes.

In an age where everything is interrelated, Wurman shows us exactly what connections are considered to be integrated messages and how the quality of information is not only judged by its accuracy and clarity but also by the ease of navigation and interest.

Wurman writes, "The industrial-design critic Ralph Caplan was talking to a woman, who was trying to explain something to him. 'I know what I want to say, but I just can't seem to put it into words,' she told him. Puzzled, Caplan asked her, 'Can you tell me what form it is in now?' "

Wurman examines and dissects the lost art of conversation, the art of listening and, most important for ISOs, how you connect with your customers. He shows us how to teach with questions, how to find the right question to ask and how to find out what we need to know.

"Most things can be found in context with a map. A map provides people with the means to share in the perceptions of others. It is a pattern made understandable; it is a rigorous, accountable form that follows implicit principles, rules and measures," Wurman writes.

Wurman's "guide map" through the information age also gives you the tools that allow us to fly through this information, tools for searching the Internet and search engines and beyond.

"Our work environment is still far from paradise: Mistakes abound, work needs to be redone, and people operate with different understanding of the same project," he writes. "If our personalities were the only difficulty we had to surmount in the office, working wouldn't be such a dirty word."

Wurman shows us how people work better when they can see that what they're doing helps further group goals, how everyone needs to know what is expected of them and that information is the final product. He points out that instructions are not the goal but merely a means of getting the job done.

"Every successful communication is really an instruction in disguise - from love letters to company brochures," he writes.

The typical manager wades through a million words in one week. The jobs of both workers and managers are becoming increasingly abstract. In an increasingly global market, companies must customize instructions to meet the demands of different languages and perspectives.

In "Information Anxiety 2" Wurman teaches us one of the most valuable tools in our arsenal of "sales bullets" - how to learn. He addresses learning about learning, parallel learning and learning fantasies.

Not only are we overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information thrust upon us, but most of us are hampered by an education that inadequately trains us to process it. "Learning is remembering what you're interested in," he writes.

Remember that you really only learn, and thereby convey to your customers, things relative to something you understand. The most effective salespeople are those who fully understand the role interest plays in the successful delivery of your messages.

Your customers and prospects are not only seeking conversation, they're searching for intelligent conversation. They will wade through a myriad of options in search of someone who can provide fast, beneficial information on their subject of interest.

We now have the technology to bring customers from all over the world to your merchant's doorsteps 24 hours a day. The size and location of your establishment doesn't matter anymore. With one click of a button, anyone on earth can visit their stores, anytime of the day or night, and you've captured them. Communication is not one big, huge thing, it is thousands of little things.

Wurman sums up his work with this nugget: "The fundamental lesson of the author's travels has been learning that without prior knowledge, without training, you can find your way through information simply by making it personal, by deciding what you want to gain from it and by getting comfortable with your own ignorance."