Attention Economy
Economics is defined as the study of production, distribution, and consumption of scarce resources. The key word is scarce. In the ever-increasing information age we are finding that scarcity is a fiction. Even when we look at physical items there is no practical limit and when we consider non-physical items broadly classified as intellectual property there is absolutely no limit. In fact intellectual property becomes more valuable as it is consumed and more people have it. It operates exactly the opposite of scarcity.
As the amount of information increases exponentially we are discovering another phenomenon. Instead of a shortage we have information overload, too much information. As copies of information are made it leads to discovery of new information and the cycle increases even faster.
The overload of information points to something that does have a natural scarcity, attention. Each of us has limited amount of ability to pay attention to any thing. Since we only live for a maximum of 120 years that sets a cap on the total amount of attention any one of us has to give
Hopefully you see that the total amount of attention is unlimited as long as there are more people. But at any given point in time and for each individual attention is a scarce commodity. And since scarcity leads to increased demand attention is becoming realized as the item of value.
In an Attention Economy the people that become rich are those that can efficiently attract and maintain attention. In the past that meant controlling the information distribution systems such as print, then radio and television. Now that the Internet exists no one controls the information distribution system. The playing field is equalized in that regard. There still are some physical barriers such as bandwidth and server capacity but even those have been conquered with technologies such as BitTorrent and other peer-to-peer systems.
To compete in an Attention Economy you must provide the desired information in the most efficient manner. Allowing and encouraging people to share and copy is an essential tool. Providing formats that are easily converted to other languages, media or methods of distribution increases the attention you receive.
All of that flies in the face of the scarcity model, and that is the point. If you want to do well in the Attention Economy you need to operate by different rules. But those rules have always existed. Give and you shall receive.
Action Items
- Note how many sources of information you look at before feeling its enough or even too much.
- Notice the types of media you prefer to get information through such as radio, television, Internet, newspapers, person to person.
- Ask other people which types of media they prefer and why.
$1000 Rechargeable Cordless Razor. How Much Are You Worth?
If I told you I bought a $1000 rechargeable cordless razor you would probably say I was nuts. There was a time when I would have said so as well. And no, I never paid $1000 for a razor. But I did discover just how valuable such small items can be.
When I was a consultant in Silicon Valley during the 1990’s I had 3 contracts at a time. In the morning I would drive into San Francisco from Sunnyvale where I lived. I would work for my financial clients until 5 pm, then I continued my clockwise trip around the bay to Oakland where I had a second contract designing and developing the virtual reality engine used in many video games including Top Gun and Falcon 4.0. I would work there until 10 pm or 11 pm then finish my circle of the bay by driving back home to Sunnyvale. On the weekends I wouldn’t have to drive because I worked out of my house on smaller projects.
As you can imagine I did a whole lot of driving. A little over and hour and half each day. The work plus driving schedule didn’t leave me much time for anything else. Why was I working so much? Because I was 26 years old and making over $250,000 a year. That wasn’t stock options that was cash in my hand.
One day while getting ready in the morning I thought about my hourly rate and what the 10 minutes a day I spent shaving was worth. At my average hourly rate I was spending $12 each morning to shave. WOW. I would never pay someone $12 to shave my face. A little multiplication and I discovered I was wasting $262 every month just on shaving. I immediately went out and bought a rechargeable cordless electric razor. The razor cost $79, an amount that I previously had thought was extravagant. So instead of wasting time in the bathroom I would shave while I was driving and that razor paid for itself in the first week. So now I consider that I paid $79 for a $1000 rechargeable cordless razor.
After that I looked at my whole life and found many ways to put my time to the best use. Now what ever I do I’m calculating “is this something that I would be better off paying to have done?” And the more times I find that is true the more pleased I am at my success. It means my value is increasing. How Much Are You Worth?
Action Items:
- Figure out what your time is worth
- Find repetitive tasks that could be shortened or eliminated
- Determine if its cheaper for someone else to do the task
- Remember time to do things you enjoy, life is just as valuable as work.
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