Today’s Dilbert cartoon is neither fictional, nor exaggerated. When I worked at Microsoft, I noticed an amazing phenomenon, driven mainly by the fact that everyone had wifi-equipped laptops. People would tap away merrily on their keyboards, and you naturally assumed they were taking notes of the meeting. More often, though, they were on MSN instant messaging – sometimes with people in the same room.
I remember one particular instance where we were negotiating commercial terms with a potential supplier… and in addition to the conversation ‘above the table’, there was a silent conversation happening amongst our guys via MSN, agreeing tactics on how to get the best deal. New technology just gives us so many new ways to be rude.