Julie Albright: "Left to Their Own Devices..." | Talks at Google

Yeah. Thanks, for being here appreciate, that well, it's an exciting moment and I'm glad to be with you Googlers, to talk about this I wanted. To get us started with this image which. Reminded, me of the American, dream you, know if I had to ask you to, define the American dream I think you might say something like it's a you know the little house with, the white picket fence, getting. Married 2.5, kids the, station, wagon the dog you, know it's that sort of idea but when. We look now at what's happening, I have a sociology. Degree as, you just heard but, I also have two counseling, degrees so, in this study in this book and my work I'm, looking at the wide, sociological. Trends that are happening in society and, I'm kind of putting on my counseling, hat and thinking what are the impacts on the ground on people. On their, mental health on relationships. On the workplace and so that's what I'm doing I'm sort of going back and forth from the large social scale to, then taking. It down to the personal, level so, this. Idea of the American Dream will revisit, shortly. The. American, Dream is one, of the myths that we live by we tell ourselves stories, that. Make sense of our social, world that's one of them another, one that's really pertinent to the work that you do I think is the idea of progress right, the idea that as we. Develop more technology, we're always moving, forward, right, we have this notion in our minds I think about, that and we might sort of question in both of these ideas and. Whether those are actually, true or our stories, that we tell ourselves. Now. In this book I'm looking at the impacts. Of, technology. On behavior, and on our, social lives but. One of the chapters talks about the workforce and I opened, it with a quote from Kurt. Vonnegut's, book player, piano, now, this was written in. 1952. But, the funny thing about it is it seems prescient, looking, at it now but, as we go forward, and we're looking more into the future of technological. Development, around, things like AI and, machine and, where, we're going with robotics, and automation it, almost seems more present, toward that future and here's, what he, said. People. Are finding that because of the way the, machines, are changing, the world more. And more of their old values, don't apply anymore, people. Have no choice but, to become second-rate. Machines, themselves. Or. Ward's. Of the machines. 1952. Now think about how that applies, today, with, what's going on, so. In, this project I have a couple of ways of understanding this. Behavior, and technology, connection, the first of which is the double, helix, of DNA I'm, sure, you've seen images, of that before, but I'm using that as a metaphorical. Way to understand, the changes, afoot in society. The, idea that the, two strands, represent, technology. And behavior, the technology. And behavior are intertwined. Technology. Informs. Behavior. And. Put that back up and, behavior. In forms, or shapes technology. And in, my view these two things will never be sort of torn asunder again. This is our historical, moment, and this, is our socio, technical DNA, from, which these new social arrangements. New social, patterns, are, emerging. From, this double helix and that's, where we are now historically, and going, forward. The. Other sort of analytical, framework, that I'm using is I call the triad, of technological. Immersion, this, is kind of like a, symphony. You know how have, you been to the symphony, you know the woodwinds, come in the strings and, and the pianos, are coming in they and then they're all sort of playing at the same time and that's that's what's happening here and the, first of these movements. If you will is the idea of the untethered. Society, this, is the idea that we're sort of hyper attached, to devices. And at the same time we're unhooking. From. Many things that were traditional. For other generations and, I'll talk more about that in. Detail in a moment the. Second, of the triad is what I call the Internet, of this, is IOT, the, Internet of Things smart. Systems, where. We have things the smart grid smart, homes where, we have things that are sort of tailored, to you tailored. To your preferences, for example, the nest thermostats. If you're familiar with that control. Them on your phone what. Temperature do you want it to be and. Things of that nature, the. Third and final piece. Of this, triad of technological, immersion I call the Internet of them this, is where that intelligence, spins, out away. From human, human in the loop where, things are talking to other things you, have autonomous, intelligence, embedded, in things like robotics. And. The. Human is completely, out of the loop this is automation, this is the singularity these, ideas you've probably heard about where, some, of these capabilities are, going to actually exceed, human, intelligence, and, human physical, capabilities, you see one of the robots here from Boston, Dynamics which.

I'm Sure you've seen. So. Today I'm going to focus on the first of this triad, the idea of coming untethered. And that's, what the focus of my new book has been it's, this idea again the certain 1950s. American, Dream image. That. Many people aspire, to you know having that home and family and getting married and buying a home and all that but, what's happening now is young people particularly, digital. Natives we might think of them as Millennials but those that grew up in a world where there always was an Internet are unhooking. From these things, in great, numbers, in fact and at. The same time or hyper attaching. To digital, technologies, and that's creating, a seismic. Set of changes in society that. Impacts, every vector, that you could think of. And. You, know you go outside on any street rat now right you're going to see that head bent down kids. On phones walking, around and that's, really where, the emphasis is. The. Idea also, that, I wanted to make mention of when, we use our devices we all have our phones we all have our laptops, I'm sure and everything you, start to kind of take for granted that everyone's, doing it because everyone, you know is doing it but I want, to kind of give a nod to the fact that not, everyone is connecting, wirelessly to, the Internet like, you may be doing which you are doing but, that it's generationally. Uneven, and this, is a from, Pew Internet looking. At who's connecting, to the Internet and you can see the older, you get the less likely. You are to be connecting, or the less likely you are to be using these devices for that reason. I have a boat neighbor named Walt who, I talk about in the book he's early, 70s, and one day he held up his iPhone he's all see these apps I said, yeah he says I don't know what they do now I don't want to know I just want to get rid of them all I was, like wow you, know I could, show you what they do and he's like no he doesn't want I'm not an app Trier he tells me so. You know I thought that was the funniest thing but I'm not an app Trier but neither are a lot of other folks so just, you know we start to take for granted that what we're doing everyone's, doing but indeed, that's not exactly the case. So. When we talk about digital, natives, and this kind of makes a difference here the idea is the average 30 something, year olds life so far you can see the Internet becomes a thing sometime, in middle school and, mobile. Phones become, a thing in high school but, what's, happening, now is kids, are growing up with these mobile devices from, infancy, and that's really going to change their. Take on the world and their brains in fact in. 1979. There's a band from the area called the tubes not enough you've heard of them but they're kind of a punky band from San Francisco they, came up with this album. Cover which is sort of a wry social, commentary, on the idea that kids are watching too much TV it's going to impact their brains and. And this is meant to be sort of a joke they're they're a funny band but they make a lot of social commentary but. Come to 2018, and this is a real product, so. I don't know how we went so horribly wrong but what started, out as something. That was kind of a joke is now a real thing and there are a myriad, of these this is just one but, there's others, that are you, know with potty training and, you've got that iPad, or in the bassinet that, iPad, right, overhead. So we're feed, now. Basically, babies. Infants, a steady, diet of digital. Content. And whatnot, and, that's, going to change their brains they're, gonna think, differently, than you do because they grew up in this different environment, and in fact many, of these kids are learning, digital skills, now prior. To learning, language, if you, go on YouTube, by the way last, time I did it and do, and look up baby, with iPad I got, over 60,000. Hits last time so, this idea that these, kids think, about this now remember I told you about my friend Walt I'm not an app Trier he, doesn't know how to use any of these things this kid has, better, digital, skills than, my 72, year old neighbor I mean. That is wild, when you think about when you think this child can't speak, yet that's, that that's the part that's really the shift so.

Their. Brains that we know from neuroscience. That what. You input into children's, brains reshapes. Their neural pathways, their, brains are malleable and, they call it brain plasticity. Their, brains are plastic so. This, input from digital, is going to reshape the way they think and they'll think, differently, than you do in the long run and, we don't know what the impacts are going to be at that yet so one, of the impacts is happening in childhood, is that. Experiences. Of children are becoming more digital than analog. More simulated. Than real in many ways the, 1970s. A lot of kids would go out and play outside and. Before that ride bikes you know do all these outdoor activities, but, now kids experiences, are increasingly, virtualized. And moving, indoors, to, the point in fact I don't know if you know this only, 6%, of kids play, outside anymore. At all so. Some, people have said that kids, are getting less time outdoors than, the typical, prisoner during. The course of a day but. Of course that impacts their health right, so these are things all intertwine. Kids. Roaming has, diminished. 90%. Over for generations, I thought this was a really interesting sort. Of a map that we could take a look at and it traces for generations, the great grandfather, at age 8. Used to walk six miles to go fishing, he's down here and then we go to the grandfather, here, when, he was age eight in 1950. He walked about a mile to, the woods then, you go up to the mother at, the top at age eight was. Walking, to the swimming pool which, was about half a mile away but. Now you get to the kid who, at age, eight is able. To just walk to the end of his yard or down the street and that's it so, the, interesting thing when you think about what that means. Think, about wandering, off down, to the woods or even. Just adventuring, around on your bike or wherever you're going there's, a lot of things you have to overcome, and and, have to figure out right one of these is navigating, you wander off you get a wander back and find your way right maybe, a dog runs out at you what are you gonna do or a car suddenly. You have to swerve around or, get out of the way there's, a lot of obstacles, to be overcome, so one of the unintended. Consequence. Of driving, children indoors, and not wandering, outdoors and all is a. Lack, of overcoming. Which. Then results. In a lack of resilience, so. We're seeing that in the colleges, now. People. Kids don't know what to do in certain situations for, example there, was a story recently where, some, young folks had a mouse, or a rat coming, their dorm. Room and they. Were so, stunned, they called 911. Because, it was an emergency so they didn't know how to handle this kind of situation so, you, know there can be funny stories, like that but there can be more more serious or drastic, consequences as, well around. This lack of resilience, so, resilience. Is based on experiences. The, experiences, are becoming, virtualized, and resilience. Is dropping. Which is an. Important, thing for coping, with the, things that come, at you in the world. So. Because. Kids experiences. Are virtualized. It's changing, their thoughts about their own futures, I don't know what you thought you wanted to be when, you are a kid a lot of people used to say I'll be a doctor, I'll be a nurse I'll be a ballerina, you know a fireman. Whatever, that kind of thing, but now, most. Of the kids want to be youtubers, YouTube, stars because, that's what they see that's, what they see people, doing getting all these likes and shares and making, money in fact at it you, know there's a five-year-old kid making in the twenty five, million range now, online.

So, It's, just sort of crazy but that's what they see and that's what they're aspiring to now. So. I talked about this as people grow up in this sort of atmosphere where they're embarrassed, and digital technologies, as the as coming, untethered, at the untethered. Generation, and behaviors. Now tend, to orbit. Around, connectivity. Or being online and. Images. Like this one the underwater, selfie, getting the more extreme, selfies, we are talking about earlier that, that's optimized. For social media and to, get the most likes, and shares and and and interest. So. One of the other things that's happening, now is that social. Media and, online connectivity. Is ushering, in an unprecedented. You. Could say sea, of choices, one. Of them is online, dating of course the, idea that there's just hundreds, or thousands. Of people that you could hook up with my, first work. Out of, my. Dissertation was, with eHarmony, helping, hook up people better on, there and I helped develop some of their product but, this idea that you, know easy come easy go there's just thousands, of choices but, interestingly. Consumer. Psychology tells, us that, the more choices, we have the less likely we are to choose, and, there, was a famous study of jamm where they laid, out 24, varieties, of jam in a store have you ever seen where they're giving samples out here's, some cheese or a viola. Or something, and you're gonna taste this thing in the in the marker during Costco well, that's what they did with the jam so. They had 24 varieties and then they gave a coupon, to buy a bottle of jam three dollars off or something the, next day they, came and only had six varieties and, it's. Paradoxically. Harder. To choose when you have more choices and people, were, only 1/10. Likely to choose any jam on the, day when they had 24 choices, as opposed. To when they had 6 so, this is playing out in the dating arena it's, also playing out in the. Workplace, and what's. Happening, just like a bad tinder, date or, maybe, an OK tinder date people, are ghosting, their employers, now. So. With ghosting, you probably know what that means but in case you don't the idea that you're talking you go on dates you're texting and then suddenly you disappear, and people. Are trying to text and call and email and, no response and that's what they're doing with their workplace, my brother said a friend of his had three employees ghost, on them last month they, just stopped showing up and they. Don't call they don't text and my brother said now when my employee does a job, I worried did he get in a car accident or something but, they just stopped showing up and think that that's the way to do it because there's this idea on monster. And on indeed, and on LinkedIn there's so many jobs that I just, get another one just like tinder dating so, it's the same behaviors. From online dating and the sea of choices are now leeching. Over into, the, workplace and how people approach their, their jobs. This. Perceived. Plethora. Of choices of, lifestyles, you know there's a million people like a day you know is really reshaping. Adulthood, so, people aren't getting married like they used to they're not buying a home they're, not having, children they're, not going, to church they're, not joining political, parties like they used to in fact we've just fallen, below replacement rate, of children, in this country I don't know if you know what that means but when, someone dies off it's, the idea that another baby is born and it kind of keeps a balance that way and think about as people age other the workforce, new workers, come in if, you fall below replacement.

Rate Meaning you're not having as many children to replace those that are dying off it, actually, can impact, the GDP, of a country their. Productivity. And so, the idea being that once, you've sort of fallen off that balancing. Point it's very hard for a country to be establish, it and, so, it can have very serious implications. Now, the remedy, to that and and if think about it common sensical e what would that be is immigration. Well. We, know how some of the thoughts, and feelings are about that these, days so, this, is a real issue and this isn't just happening here this, is happening in Japan this is happening in Western Europe and other places where the assertive digital tentacles, are are growing. This. Idea, that now we're reshaping, adulthood. And what it means one, of the aspects, is reshaping, our thoughts of what our career can be or what work can look like and the. Workforce now is becoming. A place where tasking. Is the new normal, or gigging. This sort of thing. This here is Liz Bryant, she, was a newscaster. Down in San Diego and, decided. Forget, it you know I'm going to buy. This Mercedes, Sprinter van, and I'm gonna go live, go to the beach or go to the mountains skiing or hiking wherever. I want to be and I'm gonna work out of my van and live out of my van and, it's. A Mercedes, Sprinter so, she said she was born, wild, and sprinting, free she named the van wild, and, so. And now she's on YouTube, making an. Influence, her name for herself and also on Instagram, trying, to monetize, her adventurous, life but. More, and more this kind of life where people are gigging, and whatnot is becoming, the norm half, of Millennials, are gigging now and only, 28%, of, baby boomers, at this, rate this, sort of gig. Work. Sharing, economy, may be the predominant, form of work in the next few years there's. A whole hashtag. A whole scene, around this I put this up hashtag, Vann life if you want to check it out but, it's the idea of the hey let me show you my van and how I fixed, it up and what I did, and where I'm going and and so you'll see a whole world, around, that hashtag van, life going on. So. You, know again why does this matter why does untethering, matter well it's think about this now if you were post world war ii which sociologists. Called the golden age of the family everybody rushed out after the war and got married and bought, their home in this verbs and had kids that's where the baby boom came from right but, if you don't have that marriage, if you don't have that thirty-year.

Mortgage In, the, suburbs, right you don't have the kids in a school and in except you're not part of the local church community, etc well. Guess what that when you unplug, from all those things are untether, that, suddenly, frees, you up to work anywhere, right so it changes, that relationship. To even the workplace, and what you perceive, you can do because, now you're floating free you can live anywhere be anywhere, be anything and so, there's a lot more of that churn, now, in terms of job hopping and what you see as your possibilities. Being, single, means there's less writing, on those, decisions. So. As we, talk about this untethered. Workforce, that's sort of dwelling up, there's, a whole infrastructure. Now that's rising up around. This to meet these, young. Single. Mobile. Individuals. This, is twenty, mission which, is down here in San Francisco. It's a hacker hotel, but. This idea that you can just sort of live or move in move out there's, another one called common, here this, one's in Brooklyn but they have a few different locations you, just bring your duffel bag drop on the floor and you're moved in I, lived. In, at USC, as a faculty, in residence for seven years with the students, in the dorms, and I have aa raised residential. Advisors, and they, helped plan a trip to the symphony or, a dinner, or a talk by someone that would come in we'd have dinner together and do these various events well, guess what these, also. Have something like an RA planning. A ski trip or a dinner or a party for, the residents, so, in a way it becomes, like this sort of extended, adolescence of. That. College, life dorm life for, young people. Into, the 20s and 30s and whatnot and the, interesting, thing is it's this no commitment. Life so with common, for example that you see here they say oh you, want a different room no problem, just let us know you can move rooms you want to move in a different building nope. So this this sort of no commitment. Lifestyle, is something, that's welling up that you want to be able to change and experience. Different things. So. Let's talk about that for a minute this idea that untethering. Brings about different, values, different, expectations. One of these is a desire, for a digital interface lot, of young folks would rather text. Than call, I heard. A stat recently that said when, the cell phones first came out 90%, of the time was spent on calls now, 90%, of the time is spent on apps, so. That's a huge shift right, so, this idea that, younger. Folks might not even know how to make a call I had some students that tried to call someone, up and, they. Were working with a big, car company, on a project, for SC, and, the, next week I said have the call go well. Not very well well. What happened, there was an awkward silence what. Awkward silence and I was trying to think back I'd talked to the guy he's very jovial, funny guy they didn't know what to say they.

Called This guy up and sat, there in silence, and. I was like wow so. You, know that's the thing certain, skills that you might take for granted people that are always using, devices might not have the face-to-face skills. The, phonecall skills, these kinds, of skills that you might have just grown up knowing. Surprisingly. They, might not have so I had my brother call in and do a little premiere how do you break the ice on a cold call how do you warm up a new client sort, of thing things that I didn't. Even realize later, I said well how'd you like that talk with my brother same, gal pops her hand up we wish we did that before the phone call okay. So. There is also a certain cynicism toward. Institutions. For, example so on, this one you can see on the left is the are those that considers themselves politically, independent, and. On the right those that are religiously, unaffiliated and. So, it goes younger, older older, older on each side so, this idea that we run tethering, from things that again, people did routinely, for generations, younger people are just unhooking, churches, are saying, how do we get young people to show up I've had people at yacht clubs country, clubs the rotary, saying we, can't get these young people in here to join what are we doing there they're at loose ends trying to figure this out, same. Thing likewise, with marriage remember, we saw that unto that untethering. By generation it's, the exact pattern here the idea being that between, this marriage able age of 18 to 32. By. Each generation, and you can see from silent. 65%. Of people were, married within that frame that marriage, of all age and, it. Just gets smaller and smaller where. It's under around a quarter now for Millennials, so, this again. The. Reason I bring this up is not to be old-school, or conservative. Or something but rather to say that, all of our, foundational. Sociological. Studies, show, that being, involved in these kinds of things like Church or like a family, in a marriage these, are stabilizing. Social, structures, for people they keep people physically. And mentally healthy, and as, we're unplugging from these things what's taking, the place of these. Anchor points in society, here's, another change, it's time compression. This, idea, of living in the now they. Used to ask students, well, what's your five-year, plan and, my, mentor, is a CTO, Chevron, and he asked his students they looked like him like they looked at him like he was nuts you know what do you mean five years you, know so, this idea of life. Is spinning fast, and. One. Other aspect, to consider and to think about what this means if in fact young people are untethering.

Which The numbers are showing from, this, American, Dream from getting married from buying a home from, wanting, kids from you, know all these sorts of things that were traditional, goals. We could say for, other generations these. Things, served as a kind of North Star, guiding. People toward, their future, well, what happens when you cut all those things out what, is that new North Star what's bringing people into the future off, times we see a churn, rate of experiences, living in the now and it's, not bad to live in the now and have experiences, but you also sort of need a future to guide. Ward and that, keeps people moving and hopeful. On the, horizon, so we need to really think about that, what's the pull factor, now for, people that are untethering, from the traditional, goals. Don't. Care how I want it now I'm sure you remember this gal from Willy. Wonka days, she was just ahead of her time yeah, the idea that you, know you want everything at the push of a button right now I don't know if you guys use you probably use uber or lyft but sometimes, you might have said how long so you forget to take seven minutes let me check lyft three minutes okay I'm going with that yeah so, this idea that you you want it now you want it instantly, you want it at the press of a button. 7-eleven. And Domino's, are trying out, drone, delivery of. Burritos, you know because, you, know kids want it right now with their drone right to their dorm room I call. This a no. Latency, life, you know a lot of the data center guys I work with talk about you know the latency, of something how long it takes to load of video if, your video doesn't load, people in it just a couple of seconds so abandoned, ship right so, this idea of a no latency, life, you don't want to wait for things you want me to come to you now here's, a barber, you just touch, the button and they come to your house you know there's dog walking hair. Clamming. Up you've seen all these things I'm sure but, the idea that you want it now and you want it at the touch of a button. Another. Changing, value is the idea of an externality. Photo. Or it didn't happen I'm, sure Baker, didn't happen idea but this idea that there's this enhanced. Need for external, validation an. External. Like as external, approvals. Via. Social media for, example if, you go back to studies, of. Women. Girls really, journals. Going back into the 1800s, and what, they were thinking about and what we're thinking about now they, were thinking, about things like I'd like to be more hopeful, I'd like to be more patient I'd like to be more charitable, and now, it's like I want to be more beautiful and, and in. Fact a lot of the social media competition. If you will is driving. A lot of young women into plastic, surgeons offices, as they, want to look more like their filtered, image. From snapchat, or Instagram. The. Idea, another, changing, value is the idea of lack of ownership being. A trans actor versus, an owner a borrower. Versus, an owner and we talked a bit about that the sharing economy the. Airbnb zwei, on a vacation, home or some home at all when you can just go in these places. Uber. Or left where you can borrow someone's, car rent, the runway, you, can borrow bags and, clothes and whatever it is more, and more things are becoming this transactional. World as opposed, to ownership and that's really changing a lot, of things. The. Idea that it's a customizable. World I don't know do you remember mr. Potato Head maybe you're a kid you might have had a mr. Potato Head but I didn't realize the original mr. Potato Head you bring your own potato like, a real potato, and you stuff but this is there isn't a customizable. Toy in a way you, put this face on the potato, and. I thought that was kind of a funny thing but, what's, happening, now is when you think about social media feeds for example, you see what you want to see right you follow, who you want to follow you get the news you want to get right and you, can really customize that, world to what you want and that becomes the expectation, for other parts, of the world so, think about things like Starbucks. Right when, you order that half CAF double, lots. What are these things you know but, what's the last thing they say to you at the last minute what's your. Name. Right, why do they say that what's your name and they, call your name right that specific, order that you want with your name, how. Much more customizable, can you be Starbucks. Has been taking off likewise, Chipotle, in these kinds of places that, customized, for you and other, places like a McDonald's. That's, a stalwart. In food. That. One-size-fits-all. From, the industrial, era the industrialization. Of food McDonald's. Has been tanking, and yet, at the same time places. Like Starbucks are crushing, it same thing with the Chipotle's, and all in the world so, this idea of wanting, a customized, to you experience.

Whatever That may be is becoming, more important. So. Let's think now about a, more traditional workplace, we're talking about being out there and working and gigging, and all that but, these kinds, of shifting, values are impacting. People in the traditional, workplace as well as people. Want to be mobile and untethered. And their, values, are orbiting, around that kind of connectivity, and I. Think, this is a really telling example this is a study that Cisco, did but, the idea that three. Out of five, students. And these are college, and then young professionals. In their 20s think. Not only they have the ability to, work from boat Li but they have the right, which. Is a very different thing right the right to work remotely and this is your incoming, work force seven. Out of ten say hey why, do I need to be in an office at all you, know I can work in the Starbucks, or I can work at home in my pajamas maybe, I want to work in Bali by. The pool why, can't I do that and so, this idea of being, untethered. From the workplace, is really, vexing, for a lot of managers, you. Know what do you do about that how do you handle, that kind of idea. The. Idea that we want connectivity. Young folks say a third, say the Internet is as important, as food water or, air, and, half, say it's close to that important, the, Facebook, went down at. One point in LA a couple years ago so, many people called 9-1-1. That. The sheriff, took, to Twitter and said hey stop. Calling, us about Facebook, we don't know when Facebook it's coming back up this is not a law enforcement, issue make. If you imagine, people actually called, 911. They did and you can see that guys tweet on there from the sheriff's office stop, calling us this isn't an emergency. But. They thought it was. So. Think, about now when you're in your workplace you know what are some of the issues that might arise when. You're thinking about an untethered, work force well how, do you create team, cohesion, I know my brother said he had one gal working, somewhere. Remotely, and then the rest of his team was in the office and it's, hard to keep that team, exactly. Together in the same way same. Thing with productivity are people being productive, they think they are are they that's another thing.

Communications. We know this from the early studies when people aren't face to face things, can be misinterpreted or, people you know, this I'll make more sir sharp comments, you see this online all the time I'm sure then they would to your face kind of thing so sometimes, things can escalate into cert not a total, flame war but they can escalate, quickly on places like slack in a way that face-to-face it wouldn't be the same dynamic. So. What do you do about this companies, are struggling they really, don't know what to do IBM. Said hey get. Back in here and you're, gonna work shoulder-to-shoulder. With. Your colleagues, or be fired, and what's, interesting about that is IBM, was a leader, in promote work and yet they're calling, their people back into the office, other. Companies, are taking the opposite, approach this, is automatic, they have WordPress right, there, so they have this beautiful office in town here that. They remodeled, and, it's gorgeous, and. There. Were like three guys showing up it's like 1500. Square feet per guy so they said well there's a ridiculous, so they said we're. Going all-in on remote we're gonna sell this beautiful, office and give. You Starbucks, cards, keep you caffeinated up, for productivity, and that's it so they're all in on remote so, you can see we're in the sort of liminal, period, where where, do we go with this are we all in shoulder. To shoulder are we, all in remote or some hybrid in between and so it's, a it's a really interesting time. So. We, have this other thing called the platform economy, which you guys know about but this is what's changing. The relationship. Of the worker to the workplace, as we, have more of these platforms. Come up we, have more the freelancer. Where, they're working from home or working in a co-working, space or. The. Tasker, who could be a task rabbit building. Shelves for you for example or you can think of a Tasker, as an uber driver for example picking, you up driving, you somewhere you may never see them again right that, that. Relationship can, be minutes long or something, like that so we go from decades, this decade, long careers, to. The, shortening, of work in the relationship. Of worker, to the workplace. And. That, gives, a certain amount of freedom right you work anywhere this, is John you and cooky is traveling. The world creating, startups, you, can work anywhere work in your pajamas, work, in Instagram, abou locations, so he's, out there instagramming. Away and all these beautiful places from Bali here is in Morocco, in it's kind of blue moment, there and. It seems amazing but, there's some unintended, consequences or. There's a cost, to. All this freedom one, of the costs, is loneliness. We. See that on the rise this is Caitlyn, a gal that I interviewed, she's a writer and, she's. Been traveling the world she, was here in the Bay Area sold, all her stuff and went on the road full-time and I, sat down with her I said well how is that being this digital. Nomad and she, says well you, know it's great obviously you're seeing wonderful things but. She said you know I don't. Ever stay, in a place long enough to really develop those friendships. Like, I had and then, when I come back to the Bay Area I haven't, been spending time with people so, my friendships, are kind of distancing. So, she's sort of neither here nor there so, she had this Adrienne, Rich poem if, I'm lonely, tattooed. On her back because, loneliness is. Such an integral part to her life now so think about what that might mean. Some. Of the co-working, spaces, are starting, to acknowledge this you can see this is one I caught, when I was up in Toronto. Chieko, system, is obviously, targeting, women but look at that this, idea, of co-working, plus, wellness. So. The idea that we need to think about what this means as people are untethering, from these things we're, seeing for example in the university, system and. Across the country amongst, young people the highest rates of anxiety and. Depression in 30 years in. The university, we have a quarter, of the students are on some kind of psychotropic, medication. For, some kind of mental disorder so, the idea that you, know what do we do how do we re more, re-anchor, people. As they're, pulling up anchor all these things that stabilize, them and it's something that you can think about in the workplace, so. The idea of, untethering. It's going to amplify in the future obviously, you might have seen some of these, iPads. In, the airport's have you seen that yeah and say you push what you want and then they come and throw a pizza at you and run off wait and they're gone, you know but, a lot of young people say they prefer to order.

From A kiosk. Or from some, kind of a drive-through because they don't want to deal, with people, so, even. A McDonald's, they're bringing, in more of these kiosks, and sometimes. They say there's a line for the kiosk when there's no one in line with, a person, standing, there to take your order. So. You, know I'm talking about untethering, and, taking off you know from the workforce, but right, now it's kind of a choice you want a gig you want to work in Valley like John Young who sort of thing but, as AI and, robotics and, automation gets, more sophisticated, in my view workers. Are going to be forcibly, untethered, from the workforce and I, think, society is very ill-prepared, to deal with that you know we talk about a universal, basic income, and. That idea but. The. Problem with it here's, what people say to me they say well Jill we've. Always had, change right we had horse, this is a classic, horses, and buggies and, then, we had a car right, well. Here's, what they don't take into consideration. The pace, of change that's. Changing, the, horse and buggy to car issue that. Car don't know if you realize this it took 30, years for. The car to reach penetration. Where, most, people had a car 30, years generations, to. Get used to this change now take a look at this chart you, can. See these cars, are you know going along here but take. A look at these this is the tablet, for example device. Social. Media for example these are almost straight up and down lines, as opposed. To the years, that it takes for some of these other technologies, so. If we extrapolate, the. Pace of change from, what's going on in the digital, era which is on the right side of this diagram and, think, about what that means for AI and machine learning and automation you're. Where. It's going to come up on our horizon faster. Than we can even deal with it so that's, where we need to be thinking about some of the social and psychological impacts. And implications, of the, change to the workforce as we. Spin. Up those technologies. Now. The other thing people say well new jobs will be created well, yes that's very true but. We're changing, we're, not going, from agrarian. Times into, the Industrial, Revolution which. Was analog. To analog, by the way right now we're going analog, to digital which. Is qualitatively. Different so. The idea is the, jobs that are going to come up I just, saw a guy present, at accenture on this and all, the jobs were a robotics, engineer, algorithm. Engineer, on and on and on these, take, a higher, level, of training and education than. Going from the farm to working on the manufacturing. Line right so, we need to think through that how do we up skill workers how do we train them and. Here's an example from Siemens Siemens. This is a CEO he said people on the plant floor need, to be much more skilled, than they were in the past there, are no, jobs, for high, school graduates, at Siemens. Today and Siemens. Is a manufacturing. Plant so, think about what that means we, have to really think through that. So. Again this is going to be terribly, disruptive and, we really have to think about what, that means the current plans for this Universal basic income don't, take into account other, aspects. Of jobs like, purpose. Right, it organizes, your day it, gives you a sense of who you are identity. And who other people think. You are money. May be a small part of what a job does overall, so, we have to think about all those other things right now the talk is only about. The paycheck. So. As again we need to think, about the skills that we're going to need we need to think about training for soft skills face-to-face, skills telephone, skills skills that might be lacking amongst, people that are used to texting and whatnot I work, with a group infrastructure, Masons we're trying to create scholarships and, training for, IT jobs, especially, getting more women in. There for example thinking, about training for jobs of the future, so obviously. Untethering, brings up a lot of challenges for us personally, but also in the workplace then. We need to sort of think through a little bit more so. I, want, to thank you guys for being. Here and I want to thank Google for having, me this is my new book left to their own devices and there's some today, which I can sign for you but thank you so much I appreciate you. Thank. You very, much dr. alibi for coming here. And this is a phenomenal. Talk as, a as a, parent, of some young children I of, course this is something I'm daily. Grappling, with and, yeah and worried, about. You. Know I was a little bit emboldened to see that I'm part, of the 94%, of bad parents who don't you know don't let our kids go outside long enough and in the day you know he he, it's sort of like World War 3. Every time we try and get him to go outside yeah. But. I, guess. The, question is you. Know I it, definitely resonates, to say that, you know loneliness, lack.

Of Resilience those are the things that could be lost, I also. Though wonder about the flip side of the equation, is you. Know if if we're leading towards a life that's going to be untethered any way, would. We by by. Enforcing. Our way, of living are we not preparing, our children for a. World, that is going to be more untethered, that, requires, more, digital, skills, interaction. In that regard right and I would think that too and. Again I'm not trying to be Amish you know, that's. Not you, know I I'm, on my device just, as much as you guys probably maybe, not as much at you guys but you. Know we, you, know tanks socially I do all that study it's fun to do that stuff there's a lot of fun aspects, and interesting. Aspects, and aspects, for connecting that we never had before so. I don't want to throw that out the baby with the bathwater what, I think we need to do is establish some, balance, and believe, me I wouldn't any, of this had, I not seen, some. Of the unintended, consequences. Welling, up around, the mental health issues, physical, health issues you know and I explored, some more depth but disconnecting. From nature disconnecting. From the relationships. With each other without a device, mediating, we, are stepping, away from some of the things that means to be human so, all I'm saying is, of course. We need to prepare I'm, not anti, device in any way but, we need to sort of swing the pendulum back and if, you look at by the way what some of the tech executives, are doing with their children, I think it's very telling when they're, going to these private schools guess, what they don't have devices, in the schools they, have art they, have movement, they have dance they have you, know handmade, crafts they have music making all, these sorts of things that, are analog. And physical. And embodied, skills, that's, what they're teaching their kids so, I think, that is very telling and. So this idea that again, not no devices, but that we balance out kids, want parental, attention it's not just kids parents, are on a device and the kids are trying to get their attention and they feel left out so it's both sides of the equation, so that just. Some sacred spaces let's have a family dinner without a device for example you, know that kind of thing maybe let's not have the devices, charging. In the kids room at night kids are sending, 30 messages on average after going to bed because, the phones in their room there's a global sleep deprivation crisis. At hand why is that well see we're on our devices on that long let's put them somewhere where the kids are that's all it's just simple things to rebalance, ourselves, but thanks for the great question. Question. Just to follow up to you were talking about the students, at university yeah who, had the dead. Space on the call how. Do you see this Gabby, when, kids, are in engineering school, and, then they're trying, to go out and interview for jobs are. You seeing that a big gap there or are the companies, such, as ours, letting. It go and saying you're really good at this technical, thing well I don't care if you can speak, to people right. Right. Well. Overall, you, know the research shows that those, who are most, successful, I mean, your let's. Say you, know an executive, and manager you've made, your way up the ring because you have those skills I mean, and, that's what the research shows it's not grades, it's, not GPA, it's, not IQ, it's, the fact that you can relate, to people talk to people communicate. That's what differentiates. People. From, being just on, one level or being very successful, so those are still going to be the differentiating. Skill so we're gonna need some of that and again we're, trying to teach some of that at USC we did a class on how to manage your engineering, career with, the CTO of Northrop Grumman and CTO Chevron and myself and that's part of what we did how do you give, that handshake, look them in the eye do an, interview, how, do you find a mentor you know all these sort of soft skill things that make a difference if you want to be at your level if you want to be an executive for example you're gonna need those skills and that's the difference what do you want to do in life and that's gonna cream, rising to the top is people that have those skills so my.

Point Of it is just that as people come in to develop, that management style, and skill we, might need to bring some extra training in these areas that maybe a couple generations ago we didn't that's my main thought on that well. I think we're pretty much out of time you guys thank you so much if you'd like me to sign that book I'm happy to do it and thanks for being here I really appreciate you. You.

2019-05-26 03:39

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