Tim LEBERECHT
Machines, Romance, and the Future of Work
• Tim Leberecht• The Business Romantic Society• @timleberecht
Half of world’s wealth now in hands of 1% of population.Credit Suisse Report, 2015
Google is worth $370 billion but has only about 55,000 employees – less than a tenth the size of AT&T’s workforce in its heyday [in the 1960s].Brookings
Richer, college-educated people are working more than they did 30 years ago, particularly when you count time working and answering e-mail at home.The Atlantic
22% of workers from European Union countries suffer from stress at work.Fourth European Working Conditions Survey
New jobs will require creative intelligence, social and emotional intelligence.CBRE
Only 30% of employees worldwide are fully engaged at work.Gallup
There will be 13 million wearable devices in the workplaces by 2019. ABI Research
Robotics is expected to rise from a $15 billion sector now to $67 billion by 2025.Brookings
Artificial intelligence and automation are expected to replace up to 50% of all jobs by 2025. Oxford study
Process work, customer work, and vast swathes of middle management will simply disappear: 50% of occupations today will no longer exist in 2025.CBRE
15
17
“Whatever you think of them, they’re effective.”
“Yes, they are aggressive, but they are winning.”
“Disruptive.”
“I don’t agree with their policies, but they’re just the best solution.”
“Super-convenient.”
The post-human organization
21
22
23
25
Add Peeple
28
Subjectivity
Mystery
Emotion
Transcendence
Ephemerality
Inconsistency
SerendipityAmbiguity
Unpredictability
Suffering
Subjectivity
Suffering
Mystery
Emotion
Transcendence
Ephemerality
Inconsistency
SerendipityAmbiguity
Unpredictability
Focus Features
“The opposite of loneliness is not togetherness, it's intimacy.” Richard Bach
35
36
37
Ephemeral media
43
Ephemerality over permanenceUniqueness over scaleAmbiguity over clarity
Serendipity over predictabilityThickness over efficiency
Inconsistency over reliabilityEmotion over reason
Danger over dataFluid identities over single narrative
Individual over collectiveMeaning over explanation
Subjectivity over objective truthUn-Quantified Self over Quantified Self
Traditional Smart RomanticPlanning Acting WanderingConversion Connection Reconnection Process Dashboard PrinciplesControl Monitoring Letting goConsistency Variety SerendipityBig Idea Big Data Big IntuitionRapid response Real-time Pre-emptiveSegmenting Behavioral targeting Distributed presenceMessage Conversation (Occasional) silenceVisibility Transparency MysteryRisk Calculated risk VulnerabilityBenefit Value ValuesAttraction Liking PassionConvenience User-friendliness FrustrationEfficiency Excellence Significance
The ultimate asset of The Dispensables will be to have a life.
A new romantic era?
- Emotions over reason-Ambiguity-Volatility
Meaning-seeking and making- Artisanship
- “Sacred spaces”- Empathy
- Focus on individualism- Gaming/VR- Escapism
Virtual Reality
Virtual Reality
58
Business in the age of automation
Design for the self and for the soul
Design for “the other,” for “algorithmic losers,” for the “defeated”
Serve as and enable coaches and therapists, helping to ease transitions and build emotional resilience
Be smart and romantic at once
CharacterEthos and moral integrity
AcumenQuick judgment based on intuition
SpiritImagination, meaning, and hope
HeartPassion and compassion
What machines can’t buy
WANTED: The post-human human organization
Minimum Viable HumanismRomantic experiences (mystery, intimacy, losing control, meaning)
Sentimental Education instead of Machine LearningBeautiful Work
Beautiful Organizations
Efficiency
Love
Artist Beautiful
Ugly Robot
“To begin, begin.”
William Wordsworth