The old paradigm of neatly filing emails is one which favored a world where our inbox was metered and could be managed with pristine. Of course in the old days, institutions like libraries rewarded employees that could organize under the Dewey Decimal System and place cards back in its place. It worked for a time when things moved slower.
Today, information systems based on searching for what you want instantly rather than finding what you want via a file system map to the realities of getting to what we want when we need it.
We don’t organize the web. It’s organized when we search. Organization is something which happens in real-time versus in predetermination. Activities such as organizing your email or documents have a low return on investment. Many folders and files may not be accessed, and their utility has been a giant zero.
The Google ecosystem is founded on search. Your ability to move quickly, decisively and in the moment based on your changing demands is seamless when you can Google your information.
The gains in productivity for you and your team across your email, documents, calendaring and knowledge base allow you to grow your business according to the speed and reality of change. Your archives now become strategic rather than hopeful. Search increases the value of your content across the knowledge work items you touch as you process, decide and execute.
Embrace the new knowledge work approach. Just-in-time knowledge with a system that is your slave, not your master, keeps you moving in an agile fashion.
