I love this quote and completely agree: “The ability to pay attention, focus and strategically disconnect will be a winning discipline of the next generation of business leaders. ”

By strategically disconnecting and processing only the quality information without further distraction is key.

Fantastic in concept but what about in practice? Can you truly eliminate all distractions that distort business focus?

Mike Boyd

This is awesome!

Paul – thanks for the slidehshare link — that is a great presentation. I was talking with Linda Stone at Social Foo camp this year about these same topics (she is quoted in the presentation).

Larry – What you are talking about reminds me of the concept of “ambient intimacy” first coined I believe by Leisa Reichelt of Disambiguity in March 2007. I am speaking about the ability to prioritize and pay attention for a prolonged period of time. The act of recollection you describe is probably best done while away from Tweetdeck…

Yes, a single tweet or facebook update is a distraction. Just as little can be gleaned, I suspect, from a single line of a poem. However, aggregating them over time for an individual or group begins to create the story.

The focus comes by following someone over time and taking note of their content. Something like 60% of twitter users drop out after a month. How many of those that are left are transmitting data but not taking it in? Reading and recalling take effort.

The concentration is remembering what was said last week or last month and filling in the gaps. Creating a picture of a person and validating that against the real life version if you get the chance.

The best part is making a connection with someone you may not know or have known in a very long time. Without the medium you don’t have the ability to grow in that direction.