--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: As Cochran recalls in a blog post he…" description: "\"“As Cochran recalls in a blog post he wrote about his experiment for the Harvard Business Review, these simple statistics got him thinking about the re..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/330/cal-newport-1302_business_as-cochran-recalls-in-a-blog-post-he-wro_2937572.jpg" --- # As Cochran recalls in a blog post he wrote about his… ![“As Cochran recalls in a blog post he wrote about his experiment for the Harvard Business Review, these simple statistics got him thinking about the rest of his company. Just how much time were employees of Atlantic Media spending moving around information instead of focusing on the specialized…” quote by Cal Newport](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/330/cal-newport-1302_business_as-cochran-recalls-in-a-blog-post-he-wro_2937572.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/330/cal-newport-1302_business_as-cochran-recalls-in-a-blog-post-he-wro_2937572.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/330/cal-newport-1302_business_as-cochran-recalls-in-a-blog-post-he-wro_2937572.jpg) > ““As Cochran recalls in a blog post he wrote about his experiment for the Harvard Business Review, these simple statistics got him thinking about the rest of his company. Just how much time were employees of Atlantic Media spending moving around information instead of focusing on the specialized tasks they were hired to perform? Determined to answer this question, Cochran gathered company-wide statistics on e-mails sent per day and the average number of words per e-mail. He then combined these numbers with the employees’ average typing speed, reading speed, and salary. The result: He discovered that Atlantic Media was spending well over a million dollars a year to pay people to process e-mails, with every message sent or received tapping the company for around ninety-five cents of labor costs. “A ‘free and frictionless’ method of communication,” Cochran summarized, “had soft costs equivalent to procuring a small company Learjet.” Tom Cochran’s experiment yielded an interesting result about the literal cost of a seemingly harmless behavior. But the real importance of this story is the experiment itself, and in particular, its complexity.”” [Cal Newport](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cal-newport/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote highlights how seemingly free communication tools can incur hidden labor costs, revealing that email usage can cost companies millions annually in employee time and salaries. **In simple terms:** Email looks free but costs a lot in time and money. Key Takeaway Measure and reduce time‑wasting communication. Themes productivity cost communication efficiency Mood analytical concerned Type business informative When to use this quote - company budgeting - employee time tracking - workflow optimization - policy design Key Concepts hidden costs labor economics information overload Questions to Reflect On - How much of your workday is spent on email? - What alternatives could reduce this cost? A Different Perspective Assumes all email is unnecessary; some communications are essential. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Atlantic Media](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atlantic-media-4362365/) [Business](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/business/) [Business Review](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/business-review-221772/) [Cochran Experiment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cochran-experiment-4362364/) [Cochran Summarized](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cochran-summarized-4362367/) [Communication Cochran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/communication-cochran-4362366/) [Data](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/data/) [Media Spending](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/media-spending-3658826/) ## Related quotes > [Team Obama continues to dominate new media, spending far more effort and money than Team Romney in targeted online youth outreach.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-granholm/team-obama-continues-to-dominate-new-media-spending-far-more-effort/) [Jennifer Granholm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-granholm/) > [The Harvard Business Review recently had an article called 'The Human Moment,' about how to make real contact with a person at work: ...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-goleman/the-harvard-business-review-recently-had-an-article-called-the-human/) [Daniel Goleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-goleman/) > [“Peter Bregman, a productivity guru and blogger for the Harvard Business Review, recommends a simple trick for dodging this fate. 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