Where pen and paper knock digital for six

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In discussion with two non-blogging colleagues today (yes, Virginia, there are people who don’t blog!), it became a point of agreement that whilst the advent of computers has certainly been invaluable in many aspects of business and life, there are a few things where they have over-promised and under-delivered:

1. Delivering the 3-day working week, wherein computers would save us so much time that our weeks would be comprised mostly of leisure time (this view was popular in the mid 1970s);
2. Being all-powerful and all-conquering knowledge-management tools, wherein knowledge, ideas, insight and introspection could be digitally stored and transmitted, saving the planet’s tree resources from the (now redundant) paper requirements (the ‘paper-less office’ was a key component of this).

Of course, none of this has happened.

Walk into any manager’s office today and their desk, unless they are exceptionally tidy* is an organised chaos. The paper-less office is no closer to them than the news that they’ve won this week’s lottery and they can now quit work and retire on their own tropical island.

So too with organisation. Yes, digital organisation has a place — I love my OneNote and MindManager (and Catriona showed me some fabbo MindManager tricks today that just blew me away, which reminds me that I need to thank her again for suggesting I purchase it; “thanks, Catriona!”). I love how Outlook can sync with my mobile phone, turning it into a pda.

I love blogging and podcasting, the joining into conversation with folks on the other side of the earth. I’m a sucker for the latest software upgrades on Office, Dreamweaver, Fireworks, inter alia. No digital slouch, I.

But there must be a reason, apart from very clever niche marketing, for the Lazarus-like re-emergence of Moleskines as the litidigerati toy of choice. There must be a reason, apart from Doug’s a jolly good fellow, for why D*I*Y Planner is so popular.

I believe that it’s because not only is there something sensual and visceral about the relationship between pen/pencil, paper and hand, but also that ‘writing things down’ (as distinct from ‘typing things up’) [huh??] is sometimes quicker, easier and more permanent.

I keep a lot of my project information written down in purpose-built comb-bound documents that I compile using D*I*Y Planner sheets; a discussion with a colleague today led me to design another sheet, for tracking the ins-outs-and-whereabouts of documents as they make their way around an endless round of stakeholder signoffs and design studio mock-ups; another colleague swears by the power of the paper memo with attached signature sheet, so that it can be instantly seen who has read/signed and who hasn’t.

All three examples offer several benefits:

• instant visibility (no need to go hunting on the network for the right digital file in the right folder in the right drive)
• instant updating (ditto above, and one file that can be seen and updated by all - instant version control)
• anyone can instantly see where anything has gone, when it is due back and who has signed off on it
• portability — I don’t need to take my pc or noisy notebook, I can update a file anywhere I can carry it.

Perhaps in this age of ‘chips with everything’ there is the place, along with the printed employee newsletter, for the humble printed memo, the humble printed sign-off sheet, and the humble printed tracker.

*If the disorganised desk is the sign of a disorganised mind, then what’s an empty desk the sign of?

Technorati: moleskine, memo, culture, paper-based planning

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Tagged as: internal communications, tools