Tag Archives: communication

Amazing Ayumu

Amazing Ayumu

The Problem With Speed-Reading

Do you tend to scan or speed-read through material to figure out what it’s all about? Go straight to the Executive Summary, then stop? You might be saving time, but you may be missing out on some of the most interesting content.

In the 2001 DNA-sequencing race between the the government and Craig Venter’s Celera Genomics, victory was declared when only one half of the genome was sequenced (a haploid). In other words, they only sequenced what was inherited in one half, not the other.

Now the J. Craig Venter Institute has decoded the other half of Venter’s DNA and discovered that 44% of known genes displayed variations (between the versions inheritied from each parent). Additionally, after the sequencing of the first genome (actually a composite from 5 individuals) scientists had estimated that about 99.9% of all human genomes are identical. Looking at the other half, however, yielded a 46% increase in these locations from 2.8 to 4.1 million, lowering the 99% identical estimate down to the 98% to 99% range.

Now Let’s Talk About Me…

Imagine this newsletter I received today.

  • Nine bullet-pointed links
  • Five points start with the company name
  • Three more continue the hard sell, but manage to refrain from mentioning the name
  • A final point mentioning a recently-released study may be of interest to their target audience, but by this point it’s obvious where this item will be headed as well

If they’re this self-centered when they’re trying to woo you, what will their priorities be after you sign? This is a relatively successful firm, and the attitude they typify is also one of the reasons management consultants have a less than stellar reputation.  This attitude is also what motivates many consultants to venture out to start their own firm. We believe our clients are our number one priority. Through service to them we hope to remove some of the tarnish on our profession, one client at a time.