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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. |
