In the early 1980s, IBM decided to deploy an internal email system. In typical careful IBM fashion, they began by measuring employee communication, so they could estimate how many messages would be sent on the new system. Based on this research, IBM provisioned a $10 million mainframe to run their email server — an amount of processing power that should have easily handled the typical volume of intra-office interaction.
A Modest Proposal: Eliminate Email
Reasonable attempts to tame it are doomed to fail.
February 18, 2016
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Accelerate your career with Harvard ManageMentor®. HBR Learning’s online leadership training helps you hone your skills with courses like Time Management. Earn badges to share on LinkedIn and your resume. Access more than 40 courses trusted by Fortune 500 companies.
Make smarter, more purposeful choices about how you spend your day.