Far Wise in Knowledge Management

FOMO – With Books

Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) is often mentioned as a reason why people can’t put down their phones or check social media or news sources more often than they should. I don’t recognize this so much for news or social media, I find it easy to ignore or delete unread news items when the list gets too long. However, I do recognize it when it comes to books and the feeling that I want to read all the books that people talk about.

Although I read a lot, I always feel that there are so many interesting books that I haven’t read. I tend to make a list of the books that I want to read, but often I don’t read them because new, more interesting books have been published in the meantime! Or worse, I buy them and they just sit in my bookcase waiting to be read. Sometimes I feel that having them available in the bookcase, means the urge to read them has gone. And library books go first because there is an end to the loan period, which works as a deadline (I'm good with deadlines).

I saw this great YouTube video, which talks about many of the things I considered to read more or faster. Like speed reading. I read a lot but I’m not a particularly fast reader. I tried some of the techniques but find it hard to turn of the reading voice in my head (subvocalization, it’s called), which I know slows down pace a lot. Making time is a bit easier, as I don’t or hardly watch tv. The suggestion to use audio books is a good one, although it needs attention too, which doesn’t always make it an ideal combination with something else. I listened to audio books when I had to drive to work, but I knew I missed section when the traffic (usually quiet) demanded my attention. Besides, I remember more of the book's content when I read it.

The YouTube video shows some amazing bookstores. I know the one in Maastricht (Dominicanen), one of my favourite bookstores. I’ll check the one in Brussels (Cook and Book) if I get the chance, it looks so big (it’s actually 9 thematic stores). Although visiting bookstores make my FOMO worse and I usually walk out with books that I’ll add to the ‘to read’ pile! As the text in the YouTube video announcement “Bookstores have always driven me crazy. So much to read and so little time!”.

I am not going to solve my book FOMO just by reading as fast as I can. There are just too many books, in my bookcase, in the library and coming out all the time. I think I’ll have to be selective, just like I do with social media and news (subscribe to the ones that bring me something useful or the people I know and like) and ignore the rest. Otherwise, I’ll miss out on the best parts of reading: fun, relaxation and learning.

What are you working on? WOL

A virtual knowledge café that I attended recently, started with a presentation on Working Out Loud (WOL). It was not a new topic to me, I heard about it before at the Social Now Event in 2015. In the blogpost about that event, I only mention WOL as an interesting concept, probably with the idea to blog more later, which I apparently did and had forgotten about. So this presentation was a good reminder!

Now that most of us are working from home, WOL is a good way to inform your colleagues what you’re working on. Working Out Loud is what is says: tell what you’re going. Don’t show (only) the final product, but for example the research you are doing, the questions or doubts you have. It’s a way of sharing and an invitation to collaborate. When I know what you’re doing, I’m able to help you.

After the first presentation in 2015, I tried out WOL myself by updating my profile status on the intranet every day. I noticed people would read it by the reactions I sometimes got. The experiment wasn’t long enough to really benefit (as in, someone would give me something that I didn’t think of), but I was motivated to update my status because I knew it was read by a broader circle than my ‘usual coffee group’. That was a motivation in itself. After I left that company, I forgot about it. We now use Microsoft Teams, which also has a status update option. I never use it because we’re such a small team and start everyday with a quick online ‘stand up’ meeting. It’s something to keep in mind.

I’m probably not doing justice to this method, as there is much more to be found on the WOL-website and the book (which I haven't read). Developed by John Stepper, who implemented this method in many companies. On the website, you can find a 12-week ‘getting into it’. Here is another good source, by Stan Garfield, which is more a collection of pieces about Working Out Loud with many links.

Now is the time to share, collaborate, connect!

(Note: Wol means yarn in Dutch, which explains the picture. I also thought of WOL as a thread of communication)