Ubiquitous Capture

Another key learning from this process of researching and composing my MA dissertation has been a rediscovery of the centrality of ‘Ubiquitous Capture’ as a behaviour. This is a core practice of the GTD methodology, and one I am mostly in the habit of observing. But given the amount of work to be done on this dissertation and the time scale involved I have gained a new appreciation for its utility. Whether it was on my daily commutes, lunch breaks, or sitting in the car with a sleeping baby in the back seat, all opportune thoughts, ideas, and insights went into the Notes app on my iPod , or were jotted into one of many small black notebooks as they occurred to me.

Even as the majority of these notes were heavily revised or simply abandoned, the importance of recording all such relevant thoughts as they occur made the task of actual composition far more efficient. Being able to start with some raw materials ready for crafting and refining means that I always have something to work on for those days when my mind was unprepared to tackle an intimidating blank page.

Thinking that your brain works on any project only during its allocated time is a self-defeating fallacy, one that this practice routes around. Helpful as this practice was in marshaling all of my thoughts for this dissertation, it really is a critical life skill with broad application to all projects.

The Necessity of the Analogue

One of the more interesting personal learnings from this project is a rediscovery of what I have come to call ‘the necessity of the analogue’. After spending time constructing a moderately elaborate, robust infrastructure of online services to support my research and writing, I found myself writing many of my key insights and findings in black ink in small notebooks.

One detrimental aspect of researching blogging is that there is a practically infinite buffet of blog-related news always available no more than one distracted mouse-click away. I found that writing on the laptop affords far too many distractions. Typing is not a problem, but I have done the majority of my most effective thinking, analysing and writing off-line.

A blank page is a blank page affording only opportunities — not endless distractions.

Twitter as a Research Asset

Given that the key books that I am referencing all happen to have been published around 2006, it seems useful to follow up on the author’s activities in 2009. I reason that, in evolving, fast-moving, early-stage activities like blogging and social media, any expert’s thinking should have evolved significantly as they incorporate the last three year’s worth of developments.

I found that all of the key authors had active current blogs. Keeping up with those within my work-flow and time commitments proved problematic. Of much more utility was that all of them also had active Twitter accounts. This meant that every day, as part of the casual act of reading my Twitter-feed, I was continually being made aware of further useful material pertinent to my research. Most of the author’s tweets pointed to both their own blog posts and to relevant thoughts and analysis they had sourced online. While the majority of my research has to be ‘pull-based’ – with me going out looking for material, this added a ‘push’ dimension – with content being directed towards me.

One downside to this methodology is that, once following enough experts in your field of interest, you may become overwhelmed with the fire-hose of content pointed at you. This can be mitigated by developing good personal content filters and ruthlessly unfollowing anyone whose tweets are not adding value to your research.

I have found this practice very beneficial in the information gathering phases of my MA research. It is a most effective way of keeping abreast by scanning and evaluating a high volume of potential material. I would recommend this to any researcher, particularly those whose topic concerns technology or Internet-related subjects.

My Thought for the Day 01/04/09

“Hmmm, perhaps my Twitter-referencing April Fools gag was just too clever-clever by half...”
10:52 PM Apr 1st from twitterrific

Quote of the Day 27/03/09

“We don’t make movies to make money, we make money to make more movies.”
—Walt Disney

My Thought for the Day 26/03/09

“3K+ words written, now I need to get the train into college library, but it is really lashing rain. Therefore: Motivation Level = Low.”
2:25 PM Mar 26th from Power Twitter

Cutting Through the Dissertation Fog

I am trying to tie down my Dissertation Research Question in detail and that is still proving to be somewhat of a challenge. I imagine that it is the absolute cliché of the MA student that one finds more and more interesting avenues of investigation the more more reading and researching one conducts. My  initial research this last week has shown me that.

I now have a very clear sense of why a defined and locked-down trinity of Question, Aims and Objectives can serve as a necessary merciless filter for keeping laser-focus on the end-goals of my Dissertation.

My Thought for the Day 22/03/09

“Doing some initial online research into corporate blogging. Oh yessiree that’s one fine can of worms you have opened up there Mr Kenny...”9:31 PM Mar 22nd from Power Twitter

My Thought for the Day 19/03/09

“Attempting to construct an irrefutable wall of logic: each component self-evident, elegantly reinforced & interdependant. (Not quite there.)”11:23 PM Mar 19th from twitterrific

My Thought for the Day 13/03/09

“Social Media defined: the most efficient method yet devised to allow companies to show the world that they hire people who cannot spell.”
08:22 AM March 13, 2009, from my Twitter feed.

Quote of the Day 05/03/09

“Besides the noble art of getting things done, there is the noble art of leaving the non-essential things undone.”
—Lin Yutang

Quote of the Day 01/03/09

“To get your ideas across, use small words, big ideas, and short sentences.”
—John H Patterson

My Thought for the Day 25/02/09

“Arguably you could be creative without being innovative, but you can’t be innovative without being creative.”
23:08 February 25, 2009, from my Twitter feed.

Quote of the Day 24/02/09

“It is not enough to have a good mind; the main thing is to use it properly.”
—Rene Descartes

Drafting My Thesis Proposal

I spent time today assembling my thesis proposal so that I have it in better shape for my meeting with John O’Connor tomorrow.

What is interesting is discovering that something I thought I had a clear idea about is really only a loosely-related cloudy collection of notions. Working through the proposal headings to break my topic down into its logical components and arguments is more interesting and rewarding than I had envisaged. The challenge is to really question all of my assumptions as I go.

Even at this very initial stage what I am finding is that as I think through the questions posed under each heading, I am splintering off sub-questions and sub-issues that all seem worthwhile pursuing. I have read so much about this topic over the last number of years that I have a menagerie of relevant ideas, opinions, commentary and analysis in my head. Different aspects of which keep surfacing as related points and issues are re-encountered in the drafting process.

I had a draft prepared for tomorrows meeting then I read Louise’s feedback on two topics posted by some of the others on WebCourses. That inspired me to go back in and immediately edit out some of the material I had been unsure about. So I think today’s draft is now about 50% focused. If I can get to the core of my proposal with John tomorrow and discard the rest of the extraneous material that will be most productive.

Quote of the Day18/02/09

“In times of rapid change (that would be now), embracing the algorithm of the evolution of ideas and systems is a significant competitive advantage.”
—Seth Godin on algorithms and business change

Quote of the Day 16/02/09

“So there is no such thing as information overload, there’s only filter failure.”
—Clay Shirkey, Interview with Columbia Journalism Review.

My Thought for the Day 13/02/09

“Moving the icons around on my iPod so that all dissertation-related apps are on same screen. That does count as productive work, yes?”
8:59 February 13, 2009, from my Twitter feed.

Quote of the Day 12/02/09

“When in doubt, overwhelm a small niche.”
—Seth Godin

My Thought for the Day 10/02/09

“Porter’s Five Forces would be way cooler if it was called something like ‘Porter Force Five!’ (I’m thinking cheesy 70’s tee-vee show here...)”10:18 PM February 10, 2009, from my Twitter feed.