In the preceding section, I said that you need information to succeed and you’re certain to fail if you don’t have information. That raises the question, "How much information does one need?"

The answer to that question often depends on the audience and the purpose of the information. In a problem-solving situation, more information is typically better than less information, because you never know which tiny fact will impact the solution.

In a research situation, the researcher wants as much information as possible to ensure that he or she has looked at all the angles before making a decision. If the researcher isn’t the decision-maker, it becomes the researcher’s job to synthesize the information into manageable amounts to present to the decision-maker, making sure that the decision-maker has enough information on all aspects of the situation to make an informed decision.

Project management situations are much like research situations. Team members are typically the researchers who gather information and then present it to managers, who make decisions using whatever is presented to them. Team members need to be thorough and should present information on all aspects of a situation, but also they should learn how to sift through the information to present salient points. Yes, there is such a thing as "too much information."

Managers who receive information either act on it or pass it on to additional managers. The same concepts apply to managers who pass on information; they must balance the presentation, providing enough information on all aspects of a situation to ensure an informed decision, but not subjecting the decision-maker to information overload.

When presenting information, you must know your audience and the way in which the information will be used. If you’re talking to the CFO and his or her staff, those reports containing lots of numbers will be of great interest. The marketing staff will be far more responsive to graphs and charts, which help synthesize large quantities of information into pictures; because sociologists often cite that approximately 70 percent of the world learns visually, pictures are effective, oh, about 70 percent of the time.