Thriving on Overload: The 5 Powers for Success in a World of Exponential Information

by Ross Dawson

When managing massive amounts of information is part of your job and daily life, how do you transform a feeling of overwhelm into a sense of abundance and empowerment?

This groundbreaking guide delivers the practical insights and strategies you need to build a positive relationship with information and excel at work and in all your ventures.

Ross Dawson draws on his work as a leading futurist and twenty-five years of research into the practices that transform a surplus of information into compelling value. In Thriving on Overload, he shares simple actionable techniques for staying ahead in an accelerating world. It's all about choosing to thrive on overload—rather than being overwhelmed by it.

Discover valuable lessons from some of the world's most extraordinary "information masters"—entrepreneurs, investors, executives, and researchers who excel at transforming vast mines of data into the solid gold of insight and effective action.

Packed with clear guidance, useful exercises, engaging stories, and handy resources, Thriving on Overload helps you build the capabilities that enable you to outperform your peers and prosper as never before in a world defined by excessive information.

Audible Audio

Published May 9, 2023

Reviews

[Erik · Rating 4 out of 5]

We live in a world with constant bombardment of both useful and useless information. This book is for everyone who seeks to get on top of this overload, distill the relevant streams and synthesize information effectively. The author provides straightforward methods and frameworks to chose the domains which are important from an individual perspective, chose the right information streams, distill and capture the relevant pieces and evolve one’s thinking in a time of massive digital information overload.

[Steve Brock · Rating 5 out of 5]

As Stevo’s Novel Ideas, I am a long-time book reviewer, member of the media, an Influencer, and a content provider. I received this book as a free review copy from either the publisher, a publicist, or the author, and have not been otherwise compensated for reviewing or recommending it. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

This book was Stevo's Business Book of the Week for the week of 11/20, as selected by Stevo's Book Reviews on the Internet and Stevo's Novel Ideas. When managing massive amounts of information is part of your job and daily life, how do you transform a feeling of being overwhelmed into a sense of abundance and empowerment?

In the digital world, everything is data that we must rapidly synthesize and use to improve our business and personal lives. In "Thriving on Overload," futurist Ross Dawson identifies the five powers that you need to harness in order to swim with the sharks instead of being eaten alive.

The powers are: Purpose (understanding why you engage data); Framing (identifying patterns); Filtering (recognizing what you need and discarding what you don't); Attention (maintaining your focus); and Synthesis (merging usable data with your goals to create opportunities and decisions).

The beauty of "Thriving on Overload" is Dawson's ability to help readers shape their goals, enabling them to focus on what information they need to succeed. A great example is Charlie Munger, right-hand man of Warren Buffet and advocate of using "mental models" to represent how each of us thinks the world works. When these models are incorporated into our goals and they coincide with real-world events, we deliver successful outcomes.

This is but one of many examples that Dawson illustrates in this book. I'll leave you to find, and be opened up and illuminated by, the others.

Find more Business Books of the Week on my Goodreads Listopia page at https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/9..., and find many more reviewed and recommended books and products by searching for me on Google.

[Stan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recommend this book for all of us coping with an endless stream of information. It helps you to focus your attention to benefit from it, rather than be overwhelmed by it. For more about the author, see my Profiles in Knowledge: Ross Dawson at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ross-d...

I really liked this book. It addresses the widespread challenge facing everyone today: how to deal with the relentless onslaught of news, noise, and notifications. I agree with everything Ross has to say, particularly on the need to filter our information sources, avoid doomscrolling, and focus on what is most important to us.

It has value for everyone. We all face the challenges of information overload, disinformation, propaganda, spam, and scams. Ross’s book provides practical advice and techniques for surviving instead of being overwhelmed. His companion site offers helpful resources that support readers of the book in implementing its strategies.

A Dozen Insights from the Book

1. How much do you want to and need to know about what is going on? Realize that it is all too easy to get sucked into the news vortex. Decide what will genuinely add value to your life and support your ability to participate and contribute to a better society. (page 28)

2. Use writing and presenting to test and refine your thinking. (page 68)

3. We need to be able to assess whether any given information has positive or negative value for us, based on our unique circumstances and intentions. (page 83)

4. We also need to heed the impact of information on our mood and emotions. Many studies have demonstrated a correlation between depression and overuse of social media. Avoid doomscrolling. (pages 83-84)

5. For anything important, always try to track back to the original information source. (page 91)

6. To thrive on overload, it is not essential to be a content curator, but it can be enormously helpful. Consistently sharing useful information and insights can bring you immense benefits. (page 110)

7. Block out Deep-diving. Schedule times for Regenerating. Set a time each day for something that helps revitalize your mind, perhaps a walk in nature. (pages 143-144)

8. Minimize notifications. Delay gratification—resist the impulse to check your email or social media or the latest news. (pages 145-146)

9. All innovation stems from connecting existing ideas in new ways. (page 159)

10. Deliberately seek inputs that challenge your existing ways of thinking. (page 174)

11. Make smaller decisions that will yield information to improve subsequent and potentially larger decisions. (page 181)

12. Whether you prosper or are overwhelmed in our world of excess is, more than anything, ad choice. (page 191)

[Wensupu Yang · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't normally write Book reviews on Goodreads because books I came across normally already have pretty good reviews. So I was shocked to see this book has no review yet. It's such a good and important book, I'll give it a try.

If you want to see the Gold Nuggets/ Highlights of core ideas, head over to the Amazon Page. (https://amzn.to/3U2iIHl) John W. Pearson and Robert Morris already did a great job on this. This review is from a more personal perspective.

I start following Mr. Dawson because of his work as a futurist, but when I saw the title of his new book, I know I MUST read it as soon as it came out. Trying to Drink from the Firehose is a fairly accurate description of my biggest challenge in the past two years.

I graduated from UC San Diego 2 years ago, According to University Ranking, it's a good school and I had a good experience. However, In terms of readiness for real-world information overload, the coursework didn't help at all.

Real-life Learning doesn't have a Syllabus; the information doesn't come neatly packaged with "required reading" vs "recommended reading"

Information Skills, as a crucial skill to thrive in today's sociality, are rarely taught.
This book is a MUST READ, especially if you were similar to me just graduate from school, and feel overwhelmed by the information to solve real-world problems.

[Darren Van Soye · Rating 5 out of 5]

We are living in the golden age of self-directed learning. Never before in history has so much, high-quality information been available. If only we were able to reframe our experience to take advantage of it. Ross Dawson's Thriving on Overload does exactly this by providing a simple yet profound model for exploration. This model has five steps:

Purpose - We need to choose what news is relevant, who matters to us, and what we need to know to have a positive impact.

Framing - Any piece of information in isolation is close to meaningless. To make useful what we learn we need to form relationships, discern patterns, and build frameworks that describe the most important connections.

Filtering - It is a simple fact that human cognitive capacity is limited. To find what is relevant to us we need to cast our nets wide, yet we must take care not to try to take in more than our brains can process.

Attention - Develop information routines that give you what you need to achieve your objectives without overwhelming you

Synthesis - The ultimate outcome of our enhanced capability of synthesis is making better decisions and more successfully creating the outcomes we desire.

If you feel overwhelmed by the amount of information that's available on TV, news sites, social media, and podcasts then this is the book for you.

[Shannon Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

We are all spoiled for choices and sources and demands on our time and attention. I highly recommend that you divert some of it to read my friend Ross Dawson’s latest book and his book and the exercises and resources within it will help you whether you are a experienced information junky or just finding yourself in your career in the modern world.

Ross Dawson spoke at a conference I organized years ago and it is a pleasure to read a book by a friend that in turn cites and refers to many folks I know on a topic that we are all struggling with daily. While I use my own approaches and choices of tools and methods to (try) to have a handle on information overload these days I’m really glad to have read Thriving on Overload and I will be thinking about the approach within it as I work going forward.

To us all thriving.

[AJ Shreim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thriving on Overload* serves as a comprehensive guide for anyone looking to manage and make sense of the overwhelming amount of information available today. The book offers a wealth of practical tips and strategies, making it a great one-stop shop for aggregating and organizing data. Many of the insights are especially useful for newcomers who are just beginning to navigate the complexities of information overload.

However, while the book provides solid foundational advice, some of the content feels a bit outdated, particularly in the fast-evolving digital landscape. Despite this, the overall value it offers—especially to beginners—can't be overlooked. If you're new to the idea of information management, this book is definitely worth a read.

[asuddenwhim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having personally experienced the pitfalls of information overload, I appreciate the author's exploration of this pervasive issue. The proposed framework, coupled with the provided resources, offers a tangible path toward mindful content consumption. While I've experimented with various digital detoxes, this book provides a more sustainable and nuanced approach.

[Peta M · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book because I felt I was drowning in overload, not thriving. The title seemed such a paradox. But Ross’s clarity in articulating the ways we are inspired, motivated, and productive, and the relatable strategies make this a must read! It’s a catharsis for the bus-I-ness in you life!

[Maria Frade · Rating 5 out of 5]

⭐️4.5
Easy to read and follow, and a lot of it really does make sense. I’m probably not going to do the exercises right now, but even just the awareness is useful. Also really loving the idea of going back to mind maps.

[Dimitri · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book helps you to get into harmony with the flood of information. Using six spheres to define your relationship with information.

[Navida · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too dry for me. I like the concepts but presentation was dense and made it hard to get to the meat of the book.