Masters of the (Information) Universe

Rishad Tobaccowala joined Leo Burnett, Chicago's mammoth ad agency, in 1982. He rose quickly through the ranks, became an account executive, and left his peers behind.

While his coworkers struggled each week to make sense of a mass of market data, Tobaccowala cut through reports and memoranda in a few hours. Leo Burnett higher-ups who were drowning in information overload began to appear at Tobaccowala's door, seeking his thoughts on vexing questions: Which emerging trends will prevail? Which risks should the company take?

Tobaccowala had suddenly become the "go-to guy" at Leo Burnett -- he had transformed himself into an Information Master, one of a rare breed of men and women who seem to know things before anyone else; who spot the forces that are reshaping the business landscape; who understand what matters when others don't.

Tobaccowala doesn't have mystical powers of deduction. He has simply discovered a tactic for cutting through all the bits and bytes of data that flow his way each day. His method is to screen information, compare it against a few select yardsticks, and look for contradictions -- which often reveal the few vital insights that really matter.

In the new economy, knowledge is the ultimate source of competitive advantage. Grinding through the daily deluge of news, magazines, Web sites, reports, memos, voice mail, email, and junk mail is tough enough. But to succeed in your job, to get promoted, to become the "go-to guy" in your company you must also master all that information. To help get you started, we asked three know-it-alls who are widely regarded as Information Masters to share their secret techniques.

The Networker

John Perry Barlow, cofounder and vice chairman, the Electronic Frontier Foundation

With the explosion in Internet sites and Web pages, it's tempting to search for important information from your computer. Don't. There's no surer way to drown in information overload.

John Perry Barlow, an evangelist for the digital revolution, believes that a five-minute conversation with the right person can be more enlightening than five hours online. "The most powerful search engines out there," says Barlow, "are other people."

Barlow cowrote more than two dozen songs for the Grateful Dead and is cofounder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation in San Francisco, a watchdog group that works to protect personal privacy and freedom of speech on the Internet. He's also a member of the Index Vanguard Advisory Board, an elite group of world-class technologists that advises the computer and communications industries. Barlow says there's a single reason for his success: "Networking with other smart people."

"Networking" at Work When Barlow cruises the Internet, he doesn't look for information. "I look for a name, for someone I can go interactive with." His targets: high-energy people with insatiable curiosity. He discounts print and electronic news as at best a distillation of some other source and at worst a huge game of hearsay. "It's too far removed from the true origin of intelligence: people."

Sometimes Barlow searches out specific people on the Internet. But just as often he entertains chance electronic meetings. He decides someone is worth listening to if they ask smart questions and display an ability to rapidly analyze ideas.

That's how he found Mitch Kapor, cofounder of EFF. Barlow posted a note on The WELL, one of the original online communities, about an FBI agent who had recently questioned him about the activities of a controversial group on the Internet. Kapor, founder of Lotus Development Corp., replied that he'd had a similar visit. The two swapped a few emails; Kapor then arranged to meet Barlow on a trip to California. They agreed they could trust each other's judgment and work together, and they launched EFF.

"You can begin a fruitful exchange on the Net," says Barlow. "But if you want a more powerful relationship, you'll need to climb up to the greater bandwidth of a face-to-face meeting."

Take Away:

To connect with the best and brightest, you must come across that way yourself. Barlow says he captures other people's respect by being "ignorant, honest, and intelligent." Being "ignorant," he says, requires that he listen and ask questions. "Honest" means telling the truth, so people realize you're speaking from the heart. "Intelligent" requires that you learn quickly, mostly by having confidence that you can do so. Along the way, you must have the patience to sort out what you don't understand.

"I don't mind being confused," Barlow says. "I guess that's one of the benefits of being an old acid head."

Coordinates: John Perry Barlow, barlow @eff.org