Psychologist Dr David Lewis, who was involved in preparing the report, suggested that a new phenomenon, information fatigue syndrome, had emerged as a direct result of the information revolution. Symptoms might include the paralysis of the analytical capacity, constant searches for more information, increased anxiety and sleeplessness, as well as increasing self-doubt in decision-making.

However, this does not mean the book cannot be improved upon. Mr Edmund Tan, a consultant with compensation experts Hay Management Consultants, suggests one more talent should be added to this list — How to filter information effectively.

"Prof Drucker's guidelines still hold true and all these talents are still, if not more, necessary in today's fast-paced world. But with so much bombardment of information, we sometimes tend to suffer from information fatigue-syndrome.

"Maybe he should add a sixth talent on how to to be selective about the information we receive," he says.