I recently participated in a meeting. There were about 10 of us in a confrence room. The table was full of open laptops, presumably for note taking. Blackberrys and phones were on the table. As we began the discussion, people would tune in and out. When addressed some would ask that the question be repeated. There was a point during one of the discussions that a silence came over the group. All that could be heard was the clickety-clack of keyboards... peoples' faces were locked into their computer screens or their cell phones. It dawned on me...
At this moment, no one was actually AT this meeting. They were all somewhere else... thinking about or doing something else.
This is the "other side" of technology -- the apparent inability of people in the business world to be present and contribute fully to the task at hand.
The question is: what to do about it? I'm still thinking about how I will handle it. Perhaps you have some ideas.
