Technology hinders relationships

One the key elements involved in working together in partnerships is the importance of building relationships. Generally speaking, Westerners are more focused on accomplishing tasks rather than on building relationships.

All of us partnership gurus found it very funny the other afternoon when it was the Asians that were glued to their laptops instead of sharing in fellowship and drinking tea. At the beginning of our IPA summit this week, one of our brothers from Brazil wisely requested that we fold up our laptops and spend more time getting to know one another than surfing the web. It was a good reminder to us “tasky” Americans.