More on this book.... Excerpt From The Servant Leader: A Practical Guide To Using The Principles Of Servant Leadership Coping with the High Tech Workplace      The age of electronic assistants has brought convenience and productivity to the new workplace. No question. It has also often brought a preoccupation with technology to the extent that personal relationships have been neglected or ignored. And why not? It's far easier to deal with machines than with people. When a computer crashes, you can curse it or yell at it with no fear that it'll respond with anger or hurt feelings. So given a choice, many people would prefer to deal with the machine.      How does the servant leader respond to this trend? How does the leader maintain the focus on respectful human relationships, not on machines, as the central resource of an organization?      I offer for your consideration four myths which the leader must address if he or she is to bring human perspective to the excessive enthusiasm now surrounding the marvelous new technological tools. Technology Myths    Myth One: We are more connected.    Myth Two: All our electronic tools have made communication faster, better, and more accurate.    Myth Three: Having people come to a central place to work in groups is being made obsolete by the new tools.    Myth Four: When people multi-task they get more done.      I realize that I'm committing heresy against the orthodoxy brought to us by the prophets of technology, but let's not forget that the prophets of technology are the ones most likely to profit from it. And like all prophets, their vision may be both accurate and distorted at the same time, accurate as to the facts of what is possible or likely, and distorted as to the truth of what is possible or likely. The first has to do with what the tools are technically capable of, and the latter to do with how people will choose to use those tools and the human impact of those choices.      Not that I am condemning technology and what the new tools have brought to all of us (yes, I use every one of the basic office electronics including a pdc, laptop, cellphone, email, the internet, and so on), but I believe that we've let our enthusiasm for these things make us forget that they are only that: tools. They are not the work and they do not substitute for the work.      Substandard work done efficiently or committed to a slick Powerpoint presentation, illustrated by colorful graphs, photographs, and even video patches, is still substandard work. It falls into the same category with yesteryear's poorly written presentation that the writer thought he could make great by having it neatly typed and put in a ring binder.      The servant leader must create an ethic that honors work well done, not just a lot of work done. © 2001 by James A. Autry  All rights reserved. | Author | Poet | Speaker | Businessman | Consultant | | Praise | Excerpts | Poems | Order Info. | Videos | Picks | Links | Hard Choices Real Power Love & Profit Life & Work Confessions Nights Under Spirit