BUSINESS BRIEF

By Louise Harder Fischer, IT-Management Institute, Copenhagen Business School,External Research Partner, Jabra

Why concentration matters in creating competitive advantage.

LOST IN INFORMATION

Wise words from John Naisbitt in 2008 - seven years later they are more relevant than ever.

For years we have tried to come-up with a solution to the ‘information overload’. Often along the lines of; “how can we save and organize information” in knowledge nets, that just ends up becoming a part of the problem. You might say that we are caught in a tsunami of information, feeling flooded. So while producing and distributing more and more information to be productive, we feel simulta-neously - surprisingly enough - that speed is increasing and that we can’t keep up. Information is not knowledgeOne of the reasons for being caught in this counter-productive behavior is that we have confused ourselves with the terms “information” and “knowledge” using them interchangeably.

But there IS actually a big difference. In recognizing the difference lays both the revelation and the solution. While information is data in its most raw form, knowledge is information that we have acquired through reflection and experience. Information in itself isn’t worth much – it is easily copied and distributed – it is simple “know-that” and it doesn’t give you any competitive advantage. For it to become

unique and create a competitive edge, infor-mation has to be put in context by an individual or a group, being reflected upon and used, for then again to be re-combined to new unique knowledge (Nonaka, 2008). Knowledge creation requires focusThe challenge with this conversion of informa-tion into knowledge is, that it requires focus and concentration. It requires an individual that truly reflects upon new insights and hereby creating new knowledge.

To put in other words; reflection and the creation of new knowledge take time and it takes the form of “individual, focused and quiet work”.

Because of the many sources of interruptions such as noise in the open office, in-coming e-mails and chat request, the possibility of actually being able to concentrate is narrowing down.

With the number of square meter allotted to an employee in the modern open office space decreasing quite drastically, the need for knowledge workers around the world to escape the increasing noise and disturbances is increasing. Where fifty years ago every office worker could enjoy 50 m2, in 2020 that number will be reduced to 10 m2 (Gensler, 2013).

Focus for 90 minutes at a timeAccording to brain research, we actually just need 90 consecutive minutes to focus in on a task and get into at state of full concentration and flow. The ultradian cycle indicates that the human brain can only focus on one thing for up to 90-120 minutes, and then it needs a break (Paju, 2010). But way too often we stress ourselves by looking at a work day of 8 hours; instead we should plan our day around the 90 minute concentration peaks.

In a normal open office setting, 90 minutes of concentration without disruptions are very rare. Study shows that knowledge workers are interrupted at least every 10 minutes. And when being interrupted, “it takes an average of 23 minutes and 15 seconds to get back to the task” (Mark, 2008).

This fact leaves many of us doing our jobs in between interruptions, giving us a working environment with too little time to focus.

Concentration is necessary for zooming in on the very task itself. The core of productive knowledge work is focus (Wedrich, 2014).

“In a world in which our attention is increas-ingly under siege, better focus makes it possible to get more work done, in less time, at a higher level of quality”(Schwartz & Porath, 2014)

The key conclusion is that we have to both stop multitasking to avoid being distracted in our work environment and eliminate distrac-tors.

So if you - as a knowledge worker - want to actually turn information into real valuable knowledge, you can follow some of these simple advices:

1. Take control of your working environmentIf you are not able to “work from home” during the morning, then put on a good and visible headset. As some of the respondents in the research behind our New Ways of Working project are saying: “In general people respect that you are “Busy” when you are wearing a headset, because it is so obvious” and “In relation to behavior, wearing a visible headset, sends clear signals of not wanting to be disturbed”.

In a 2013 YouGov survey among 11.200 office workers; many indicate that the headset play a vital role in isolating themselves from the hustle and bustle of the open office; 32% use their office headset for listening to music, 24% to reduce background noises and nearly one fifth to signal “I am busy” and thereby avoid being disturbed. 2. Shut off all alertsThis advice will help you to not be disturbed by others. But you are still left with a lot of distractors in the form of alerts from your mobile phone, your mail system, instant messaging etc. Our advice is to shut it all off, when you are in concentration mode. Notify people in a status update, in your presence indicator, or in other ways, that you can’t respond for the next 90 minutes.

3. Concentrate in the morningConcentration have better conditions in the morning and not in the afternoon (Friedmann, 2014), so plan for two times of 90 minutes concentration in the morning separated by a pause. Then plan your virtual or face-to-face meetings in the afternoon, where you accord-ing to your energy level need energy from other people.

4. Share your new knowledge in new waysKnowledge is not easily shared – information is - in codified formats as documents, but better shared trough conversations and collaborative activities (Nonaka, 2008). So plan and push for more sharing on open collaboration platforms and more face-to-face conversations or video calls.

Better performanceAnother benefit of increasing the room for concentration and focus at work is “that people feel better and perform better and more sustainably when four basic needs are met: renewal (physical); value (emotional), focus (mental) and purpose (spiritual)” (Schwartz & Porath, 2014). The research done by Schwartz and Porath, indicates that by meeting even just one of the four core needs will have a dramatic impact on every perfor-mance variable they studied. Join the movement of “New ways of Working”Our advice is – of course – to take the step towards more concentration. In the New Ways of Working project we advocate a reflection on how you best design work for better concen-tration, conversation, communication and collaboration for becoming more productive and innovative. And - on an individual level - becoming a wiser knowledge worker. Follow our blog and join the movement.

BUSINESS BRIEF

“We are drowning in information but starved for knowledge“.

jabra.com

Wise words from John Naisbitt in 2008 - seven years later they are more relevant than ever.

For years we have tried to come-up with a solution to the ‘information overload’. Often along the lines of; “how can we save and organize information” in knowledge nets, that just ends up becoming a part of the problem. You might say that we are caught in a tsunami of information, feeling flooded. So while producing and distributing more and more information to be productive, we feel simulta-neously - surprisingly enough - that speed is increasing and that we can’t keep up. Information is not knowledgeOne of the reasons for being caught in this counter-productive behavior is that we have confused ourselves with the terms “information” and “knowledge” using them interchangeably.

But there IS actually a big difference. In recognizing the difference lays both the revelation and the solution. While information is data in its most raw form, knowledge is information that we have acquired through reflection and experience. Information in itself isn’t worth much – it is easily copied and distributed – it is simple “know-that” and it doesn’t give you any competitive advantage. For it to become

unique and create a competitive edge, infor-mation has to be put in context by an individual or a group, being reflected upon and used, for then again to be re-combined to new unique knowledge (Nonaka, 2008). Knowledge creation requires focusThe challenge with this conversion of informa-tion into knowledge is, that it requires focus and concentration. It requires an individual that truly reflects upon new insights and hereby creating new knowledge.

To put in other words; reflection and the creation of new knowledge take time and it takes the form of “individual, focused and quiet work”.

Because of the many sources of interruptions such as noise in the open office, in-coming e-mails and chat request, the possibility of actually being able to concentrate is narrowing down.

With the number of square meter allotted to an employee in the modern open office space decreasing quite drastically, the need for knowledge workers around the world to escape the increasing noise and disturbances is increasing. Where fifty years ago every office worker could enjoy 50 m2, in 2020 that number will be reduced to 10 m2 (Gensler, 2013).

Focus for 90 minutes at a timeAccording to brain research, we actually just need 90 consecutive minutes to focus in on a task and get into at state of full concentration and flow. The ultradian cycle indicates that the human brain can only focus on one thing for up to 90-120 minutes, and then it needs a break (Paju, 2010). But way too often we stress ourselves by looking at a work day of 8 hours; instead we should plan our day around the 90 minute concentration peaks.

In a normal open office setting, 90 minutes of concentration without disruptions are very rare. Study shows that knowledge workers are interrupted at least every 10 minutes. And when being interrupted, “it takes an average of 23 minutes and 15 seconds to get back to the task” (Mark, 2008).

This fact leaves many of us doing our jobs in between interruptions, giving us a working environment with too little time to focus.

Concentration is necessary for zooming in on the very task itself. The core of productive knowledge work is focus (Wedrich, 2014).

“In a world in which our attention is increas-ingly under siege, better focus makes it possible to get more work done, in less time, at a higher level of quality”(Schwartz & Porath, 2014)

The key conclusion is that we have to both stop multitasking to avoid being distracted in our work environment and eliminate distrac-tors.

So if you - as a knowledge worker - want to actually turn information into real valuable knowledge, you can follow some of these simple advices:

1. Take control of your working environmentIf you are not able to “work from home” during the morning, then put on a good and visible headset. As some of the respondents in the research behind our New Ways of Working project are saying: “In general people respect that you are “Busy” when you are wearing a headset, because it is so obvious” and “In relation to behavior, wearing a visible headset, sends clear signals of not wanting to be disturbed”.

In a 2013 YouGov survey among 11.200 office workers; many indicate that the headset play a vital role in isolating themselves from the hustle and bustle of the open office; 32% use their office headset for listening to music, 24% to reduce background noises and nearly one fifth to signal “I am busy” and thereby avoid being disturbed. 2. Shut off all alertsThis advice will help you to not be disturbed by others. But you are still left with a lot of distractors in the form of alerts from your mobile phone, your mail system, instant messaging etc. Our advice is to shut it all off, when you are in concentration mode. Notify people in a status update, in your presence indicator, or in other ways, that you can’t respond for the next 90 minutes.

3. Concentrate in the morningConcentration have better conditions in the morning and not in the afternoon (Friedmann, 2014), so plan for two times of 90 minutes concentration in the morning separated by a pause. Then plan your virtual or face-to-face meetings in the afternoon, where you accord-ing to your energy level need energy from other people.

4. Share your new knowledge in new waysKnowledge is not easily shared – information is - in codified formats as documents, but better shared trough conversations and collaborative activities (Nonaka, 2008). So plan and push for more sharing on open collaboration platforms and more face-to-face conversations or video calls.

Better performanceAnother benefit of increasing the room for concentration and focus at work is “that people feel better and perform better and more sustainably when four basic needs are met: renewal (physical); value (emotional), focus (mental) and purpose (spiritual)” (Schwartz & Porath, 2014). The research done by Schwartz and Porath, indicates that by meeting even just one of the four core needs will have a dramatic impact on every perfor-mance variable they studied. Join the movement of “New ways of Working”Our advice is – of course – to take the step towards more concentration. In the New Ways of Working project we advocate a reflection on how you best design work for better concen-tration, conversation, communication and collaboration for becoming more productive and innovative. And - on an individual level - becoming a wiser knowledge worker. Follow our blog and join the movement.

BUSINESS BRIEF

“In a world in which our attention is increasingly under siege,

better focus makes it possible to get more work done, in less

time, at a higher level of quality”

– Schwartz & Porath, 2014

BUSINESS BRIEF

Wise words from John Naisbitt in 2008 - seven years later they are more relevant than ever.

For years we have tried to come-up with a solution to the ‘information overload’. Often along the lines of; “how can we save and organize information” in knowledge nets, that just ends up becoming a part of the problem. You might say that we are caught in a tsunami of information, feeling flooded. So while producing and distributing more and more information to be productive, we feel simulta-neously - surprisingly enough - that speed is increasing and that we can’t keep up. Information is not knowledgeOne of the reasons for being caught in this counter-productive behavior is that we have confused ourselves with the terms “information” and “knowledge” using them interchangeably.

But there IS actually a big difference. In recognizing the difference lays both the revelation and the solution. While information is data in its most raw form, knowledge is information that we have acquired through reflection and experience. Information in itself isn’t worth much – it is easily copied and distributed – it is simple “know-that” and it doesn’t give you any competitive advantage. For it to become

unique and create a competitive edge, infor-mation has to be put in context by an individual or a group, being reflected upon and used, for then again to be re-combined to new unique knowledge (Nonaka, 2008). Knowledge creation requires focusThe challenge with this conversion of informa-tion into knowledge is, that it requires focus and concentration. It requires an individual that truly reflects upon new insights and hereby creating new knowledge.

To put in other words; reflection and the creation of new knowledge take time and it takes the form of “individual, focused and quiet work”.

Because of the many sources of interruptions such as noise in the open office, in-coming e-mails and chat request, the possibility of actually being able to concentrate is narrowing down.

With the number of square meter allotted to an employee in the modern open office space decreasing quite drastically, the need for knowledge workers around the world to escape the increasing noise and disturbances is increasing. Where fifty years ago every office worker could enjoy 50 m2, in 2020 that number will be reduced to 10 m2 (Gensler, 2013).

Focus for 90 minutes at a timeAccording to brain research, we actually just need 90 consecutive minutes to focus in on a task and get into at state of full concentration and flow. The ultradian cycle indicates that the human brain can only focus on one thing for up to 90-120 minutes, and then it needs a break (Paju, 2010). But way too often we stress ourselves by looking at a work day of 8 hours; instead we should plan our day around the 90 minute concentration peaks.

In a normal open office setting, 90 minutes of concentration without disruptions are very rare. Study shows that knowledge workers are interrupted at least every 10 minutes. And when being interrupted, “it takes an average of 23 minutes and 15 seconds to get back to the task” (Mark, 2008).

This fact leaves many of us doing our jobs in between interruptions, giving us a working environment with too little time to focus.

Concentration is necessary for zooming in on the very task itself. The core of productive knowledge work is focus (Wedrich, 2014).

“In a world in which our attention is increas-ingly under siege, better focus makes it possible to get more work done, in less time, at a higher level of quality”(Schwartz & Porath, 2014)

The key conclusion is that we have to both stop multitasking to avoid being distracted in our work environment and eliminate distrac-tors.

So if you - as a knowledge worker - want to actually turn information into real valuable knowledge, you can follow some of these simple advices:

1. Take control of your working environmentIf you are not able to “work from home” during the morning, then put on a good and visible headset. As some of the respondents in the research behind our New Ways of Working project are saying: “In general people respect that you are “Busy” when you are wearing a headset, because it is so obvious” and “In relation to behavior, wearing a visible headset, sends clear signals of not wanting to be disturbed”.

In a 2013 YouGov survey among 11.200 office workers; many indicate that the headset play a vital role in isolating themselves from the hustle and bustle of the open office; 32% use their office headset for listening to music, 24% to reduce background noises and nearly one fifth to signal “I am busy” and thereby avoid being disturbed. 2. Shut off all alertsThis advice will help you to not be disturbed by others. But you are still left with a lot of distractors in the form of alerts from your mobile phone, your mail system, instant messaging etc. Our advice is to shut it all off, when you are in concentration mode. Notify people in a status update, in your presence indicator, or in other ways, that you can’t respond for the next 90 minutes.

3. Concentrate in the morningConcentration have better conditions in the morning and not in the afternoon (Friedmann, 2014), so plan for two times of 90 minutes concentration in the morning separated by a pause. Then plan your virtual or face-to-face meetings in the afternoon, where you accord-ing to your energy level need energy from other people.

4. Share your new knowledge in new waysKnowledge is not easily shared – information is - in codified formats as documents, but better shared trough conversations and collaborative activities (Nonaka, 2008). So plan and push for more sharing on open collaboration platforms and more face-to-face conversations or video calls.

Better performanceAnother benefit of increasing the room for concentration and focus at work is “that people feel better and perform better and more sustainably when four basic needs are met: renewal (physical); value (emotional), focus (mental) and purpose (spiritual)” (Schwartz & Porath, 2014). The research done by Schwartz and Porath, indicates that by meeting even just one of the four core needs will have a dramatic impact on every perfor-mance variable they studied. Join the movement of “New ways of Working”Our advice is – of course – to take the step towards more concentration. In the New Ways of Working project we advocate a reflection on how you best design work for better concen-tration, conversation, communication and collaboration for becoming more productive and innovative. And - on an individual level - becoming a wiser knowledge worker. Follow our blog and join the movement.

4 SIMPLE ADVICES

» Take control of your working environment

» Shut off all alerts

» Concentrate in the morning

» Share your new knowledge in new ways

BUSINESS BRIEF

jabra.com

www.blog.jabra.com

Wise words from John Naisbitt in 2008 - seven years later they are more relevant than ever.

For years we have tried to come-up with a solution to the ‘information overload’. Often along the lines of; “how can we save and organize information” in knowledge nets, that just ends up becoming a part of the problem. You might say that we are caught in a tsunami of information, feeling flooded. So while producing and distributing more and more information to be productive, we feel simulta-neously - surprisingly enough - that speed is increasing and that we can’t keep up. Information is not knowledgeOne of the reasons for being caught in this counter-productive behavior is that we have confused ourselves with the terms “information” and “knowledge” using them interchangeably.

But there IS actually a big difference. In recognizing the difference lays both the revelation and the solution. While information is data in its most raw form, knowledge is information that we have acquired through reflection and experience. Information in itself isn’t worth much – it is easily copied and distributed – it is simple “know-that” and it doesn’t give you any competitive advantage. For it to become

unique and create a competitive edge, infor-mation has to be put in context by an individual or a group, being reflected upon and used, for then again to be re-combined to new unique knowledge (Nonaka, 2008). Knowledge creation requires focusThe challenge with this conversion of informa-tion into knowledge is, that it requires focus and concentration. It requires an individual that truly reflects upon new insights and hereby creating new knowledge.

To put in other words; reflection and the creation of new knowledge take time and it takes the form of “individual, focused and quiet work”.

Because of the many sources of interruptions such as noise in the open office, in-coming e-mails and chat request, the possibility of actually being able to concentrate is narrowing down.

With the number of square meter allotted to an employee in the modern open office space decreasing quite drastically, the need for knowledge workers around the world to escape the increasing noise and disturbances is increasing. Where fifty years ago every office worker could enjoy 50 m2, in 2020 that number will be reduced to 10 m2 (Gensler, 2013).

Focus for 90 minutes at a timeAccording to brain research, we actually just need 90 consecutive minutes to focus in on a task and get into at state of full concentration and flow. The ultradian cycle indicates that the human brain can only focus on one thing for up to 90-120 minutes, and then it needs a break (Paju, 2010). But way too often we stress ourselves by looking at a work day of 8 hours; instead we should plan our day around the 90 minute concentration peaks.

In a normal open office setting, 90 minutes of concentration without disruptions are very rare. Study shows that knowledge workers are interrupted at least every 10 minutes. And when being interrupted, “it takes an average of 23 minutes and 15 seconds to get back to the task” (Mark, 2008).

This fact leaves many of us doing our jobs in between interruptions, giving us a working environment with too little time to focus.

Concentration is necessary for zooming in on the very task itself. The core of productive knowledge work is focus (Wedrich, 2014).

“In a world in which our attention is increas-ingly under siege, better focus makes it possible to get more work done, in less time, at a higher level of quality”(Schwartz & Porath, 2014)

The key conclusion is that we have to both stop multitasking to avoid being distracted in our work environment and eliminate distrac-tors.

So if you - as a knowledge worker - want to actually turn information into real valuable knowledge, you can follow some of these simple advices:

1. Take control of your working environmentIf you are not able to “work from home” during the morning, then put on a good and visible headset. As some of the respondents in the research behind our New Ways of Working project are saying: “In general people respect that you are “Busy” when you are wearing a headset, because it is so obvious” and “In relation to behavior, wearing a visible headset, sends clear signals of not wanting to be disturbed”.

In a 2013 YouGov survey among 11.200 office workers; many indicate that the headset play a vital role in isolating themselves from the hustle and bustle of the open office; 32% use their office headset for listening to music, 24% to reduce background noises and nearly one fifth to signal “I am busy” and thereby avoid being disturbed. 2. Shut off all alertsThis advice will help you to not be disturbed by others. But you are still left with a lot of distractors in the form of alerts from your mobile phone, your mail system, instant messaging etc. Our advice is to shut it all off, when you are in concentration mode. Notify people in a status update, in your presence indicator, or in other ways, that you can’t respond for the next 90 minutes.

3. Concentrate in the morningConcentration have better conditions in the morning and not in the afternoon (Friedmann, 2014), so plan for two times of 90 minutes concentration in the morning separated by a pause. Then plan your virtual or face-to-face meetings in the afternoon, where you accord-ing to your energy level need energy from other people.

4. Share your new knowledge in new waysKnowledge is not easily shared – information is - in codified formats as documents, but better shared trough conversations and collaborative activities (Nonaka, 2008). So plan and push for more sharing on open collaboration platforms and more face-to-face conversations or video calls.

Better performanceAnother benefit of increasing the room for concentration and focus at work is “that people feel better and perform better and more sustainably when four basic needs are met: renewal (physical); value (emotional), focus (mental) and purpose (spiritual)” (Schwartz & Porath, 2014). The research done by Schwartz and Porath, indicates that by meeting even just one of the four core needs will have a dramatic impact on every perfor-mance variable they studied. Join the movement of “New ways of Working”Our advice is – of course – to take the step towards more concentration. In the New Ways of Working project we advocate a reflection on how you best design work for better concen-tration, conversation, communication and collaboration for becoming more productive and innovative. And - on an individual level - becoming a wiser knowledge worker. Follow our blog and join the movement.

Office headsets helps create a concentration zone

32% use them for listening to music

24% to reduce background noises

20% to signal “I am busy”

Sources:

Leonhard Wedrich, 2014 The Blog, Huffington Post: Retrieved: 08.18. 2014: 16:56 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/leonhard-widrich/the-ori-gin-of-the-8-hour-_b_4524488.html

Tony Schwartz and Christine Porath, 2014 HBR Blog Network. Retrieved: 08.19. 2014: 00:04 http://blogs.hbr.org/2014/06/the-power-of-meeting-your-employ-ees-needs/

Ron Friedmann, 2014HBR Blog. Retrieved: 08.19.2014: 00:51 http://blogs.hbr.org/2014/06/when-to-schedule-your-most-impor-tant-work/

Gloria Mark, 2008 Refered from an interview with Gloria Mark, Professor in the department of informatics at the University of California, Irvine in this article: http://www.fastcompany.com/944128/worker-interrupt-ed-cost-task-switching

Sami Paju, 2010 Blog at: http://lateralaction.com/articles/productivity-ultradian-rhythms/

Articles:Susan Cain, 2012“The rise of the new group think”, NY Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/15/opinion/sun-day/the-rise-of-the-new-groupthink.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&

Gensler, 2012“Focus in The workplace” http://www.gensler.com/uploads/documents/-Focus_in_the_Workplace_10_01_2012.pdf

Books:Ikujiro Nonaka, 2008, “Managing Flow: A Process Theory of the Knowledge-Based” 2008 by Ikujiro Nonaka, Ryoko Toyama, Toru Hirata. Palgrave Macmillan

John Naisbitt, 2008”Mind Set – reset your thinking and see the future”, HarperCollins.

ABOUT JABRA

Jabra is the brand of GN Netcom, a subsidiary of GN Store Nord A/S (GN) - listed on NASDAQ OMX. Jabra employs approximately 950 people worldwide and in

2014 produced an annual revenue which amounted to DKK 2,871 million. Jabra is a world leader in the development, manufacturing, and marketing of a broad

range of communications and audio solutions. With a reputation for innovation, reliability, and ease of use that goes back more than two decades, Jabra’s

consumer and business divisions produce corded and wireless headsets, plus mobile and in-office speakerphones that empower individuals and businesses

through increased freedom of movement, comfort, and functionality.

jabra.com