General counsel should be alert to the cost of information requested by them

“Decision-makers can digest only so much information, and only so fast; still, executives tend to request much more information than they actually use.” This observation from MIT Sloan Mgt. Rev., Spring 2011 at 57, resonated with me. It is so easy to send minions to mine data. As they say, “Nothing is impossible for the person who doesn’t have to do it.” But the cost in morale and loss of efficiency can be very high.

General counsel should be careful about what information they ask for, because the request – possibly an idle or lightly considered wonder – can set off a storm of activity behind the curtain