This article may be one of the first to highlight why a ‘more is more’ strategy deters from objective-based, value laden action.

I’ve spoken before about how we can start to move away from ‘crap chatter’ in social media. This article adds science to that  mix:  “To the extent that people rely on information that’s easily available, they may rely on it to the exclusion of doing the hard work necessary to create value in a negotiation.” Furthermore, “‘nondiagnostic information’ — useless, irrelevant statements about a negotiation partner, as opposed to information related to the issues being negotiated” can deter from actually identifying the points that are of value for conversation.

Let’s talk about what this means for connecting with consumers. A recent blog post by Seth Godin helps me explain, “The magic of our new form of communication is that it’s no longer one-way. If you consume an app, you can write one. If you can read a blog, you can publish one. If you can grab an ebook, you can produce one.” While his point (IMO) is in our ability to ‘do’, my point is that our ability to ‘have’ may muddle our ‘do’.

Yes, we can ‘do’ more, but in that ability we also have access to more. And, when we have more we have a harder time determining “…the difference between diagnostic and nondiagnostic information” – which can lead to poor and false negoitations.

I do believe this is a HUGE nugget as the digital elements of our social culture expand. ‘Having’ muddles our ‘doing’ which means we have to be smarter (or, maybe less smart) when working through situations where negotiation is involved. And, I would stretch ‘negotiation’ to be inclusive of not only business based decisions but also those pertaining to the personal decisions we make as consumers.