The Hamster Revolution: How to Manage Your E-Mail Before It Manages You

Written in parable form, The Hamster Revolution tells the story of Harold, an HR Director who has fallen victim to the dreaded clutches of info-glut. Paralyzed by a deluge of electronic data and e-mail, his days fill with repetitive and fruitless action. In a Kafkaesque twist, he actually turns into a hamster running on a wheel, though he's too busy to even notice. Happily, Harold meets the info-coach who recognizes his ailment and teaches him a few effective lessons about managing e-mail--key to which is developing higher quality while getting rid of all that's unnecessary. The info-coach introduces Harold to the COTA system--Clients, Output, Teams, Administrative--which shows him an innovative way of storing e-mail and electronic media into these four main categories.

Based on feedback and input from 2,000 Capital One employees who attended the authors' seminar, The Hamster Revolution offers an appealing approach to an increasingly common and difficult problem.

Mike Song is the CEO of Cohesive Knowledge Solutions. He is also the co-developer of the highly-regarded COTA system. He consults at several major companies such as Clear Channel, Dish Network, Novartis, and HP.

Vicki Halsey is the VP of Applied Learning at the Ken Blanchard Companies. She is regarded as one of the pioneers of leadership research in information management industries and has consulted with the likes of Nike, Oracle, GAP, KPMG, and Wells Fargo.

Tim Burress is the president of Cohesive Knowledge Solutions. Before co-founding CKS in 2003 he was the Director of Learning and Development at Pfizer. Tim's clients include Capital One, Pfizer, Progressive, and Centex.