Short up-top today, I’m taking a day or so to process what I learned at Brainstorm TECH to fold into a longer piece. But I will say this: I came away from the event more optimistic about the world than I was going in.
Part of the reason is the serious brain power that I watched being applied to the big issues of our time, from cybersecurity to the need to address the current and potential negative impact of technology in the world.
But really, the big theme was leadership, and the need for leaders at every level to think more deeply about the impact of their work on the lives of others. It gave me both life and hope.
Here’s just one example. My panel on digital transformation featured Marc Leibowitz, Johnson & Johnson; Jeremy King, CTO, Walmart Labs; Christine Landry, Group Chief Executive, Consumer and Industrials Conduent; Cathy Polinsky, CTO, Stitch Fix and Lt. General Nadja Y. West, Surgeon General, U.S. Army. An audience member asked this question. What does it take for an organization to survive a radical digital transformation?
Their answers, which came without hesitation, were transparency, openness, communication and adaptability.
But Lt. General West, an extraordinary person who is tasked with the transformation of the way the military dispenses medical care, led with empathy. She talked about the need to understand how the systems and technologies now and in future, not only impact your customers, but the broader communities in which you operate.
“If we can train empathy, we can make almost any change happen.”
More on that soon.