Category: Strategy

The Future of Presence

We are in the midst of the largest social experiment in the history of humankind. Or more accurately, it is being conducted upon us. We haven’t recognized it yet as such, but we will. The experiment is subjecting a billion plus people to re-think one of the most fundamental and oldest of human behaviours: how we interact and connect with one another.

On a scale and with a speed beyond comprehension, the pandemic has forced us to reinvent how we communicate, how we learn and how we cope with missing out on the basic human actions of the hug. We have not begun to understand the implications. We will not – to use a phrase from my first book, Tip of the Spear – put that genie back in the bottle.

Since the dawn of human-time, our species has learned the power of socialization. It learned how cooperation changed our circumstances, our biology, and our wiring. We thrived. Our species emerged.

Our senses evolved – like those of all animals – into a set of reptilian processes that are able to instantly, perhaps ‘unconsciously’, light up that other ancient survival reaction: fight or flight. When we meet another human – whether for the first time or in the embrace of a long-standing relationship – we ignite a host of complex biological, physical, and meta-cognitive reactions.  The pandemic has messed with that over an extended period of time, spanning every social-economic and physical boundary, and is rewiring us in real-time.    

But as we know, there is a parallel, longer-running species level event happening at the same time.

In an atomic second in geological time, we have gone from writing on papyrus to wiring up the planet with the tools of the gods. But while we have evolved technologically, we are – as one of my dear friends likes to crudely (and very humorously) say – “… still just shaved apes”. 

We have been slowly and somewhat chaotically learning the power of global connectivity. Pundits argue that it is all a mess.  But in the long arc of human evolution, we were getting there.

Then the COVID circuit breaker hit.

The ah-ha for me – and what I believe is a species-level black swan event – is that these inevitable technological advances are now being met by a planet experimenting and redefining one of the most deeply embedded aspects of our DNA and a species-defining attribute: How we socialize, how we love, learn, fear, and evolve.

I am calling it the Future of Presence.

Presence Presented

Presence has traditionally been broken down into a function of time and space. When we are present, we “present” ourselves to one or more other humans. One to one; one to many; many to many. There is also a richer, deeper meaning of presence that many of us have examined during this global pandemic: what it means to “be” present – the conscious act of not only presenting oneself at a given moment in time, but in clearing the space in our minds. In that sense, presence transcends multiple layers and rituals of human connectivity. The conversation over coffee. The embrace of a loved one. The speech at a wedding. The presentation we gave. Real time and very human.

The easiest way to understand presence is with the axis of “time” and “space”. When we interact at the same time regardless of where we are physically, we are in synchronous communication. Deeply powerful and connected to our evolution, technology and art have traditionally advanced synchronous connections first. It was technology that gave us ‘same time, different place.’ First the telegraph, followed by telephone, email, video conferencing.

The performing arts give us ideas, movement, and sound. The power of live theatre compels unique responses for each audience member. The play elicits archetypal, base-level feelings of love, loss, power, and fear. The visceral feeling of a live concert or dance touches emotions deep within our psyche. Our need for physical presence is as old as fire. As a species, we are all drawn to it, we need it to thrive.

Synchronous communication has deep human connection.

When we move away from real time, we enter the world of asynchronous communications. Its evolution is no less provocative. Starting with the first written language, exploding with the democratization of the printing press and now with the arrival in the past 40 years or so with wide-spread email usage. This is the poor cousin to human-centered, synchronous presence. Yet we built a plethora of new systems and models around it for it has gifted us with the ability to ‘extend’ our presence to many times and many spaces.

A Black {Viral} Swan

The pandemic lit a rocket on this.  It fueled an extrapolation of the plumbing that had been laid since the dawn of the Internet. Digital communications over time and space exploded. Zoom became a verb.

But if we really understand the power of exponential technological change, we will know that the current tools and capabilities we are now using everyday will feel to us like the dial-up modem of the nineties in five years. The investment capital is flowing. The engineering and entrepreneurial talent is paying very close attention. The biggest of our tech giants are turning their balance sheets to this emerging future – never ones to not take advantage of black swan events. Are we ready?

Because the changes won’t be just technological. These colliding forces are changing the dimensions of our most human of experiences. Imagine a new dimension or two added to this taxonomy. Instead of simply “time and space” or “Synchronous and Asynchronous” we add “Human or Artificial Intelligence”. Or a more sinister dimension:  real or fake.

Digital, semi-autonomous, asynchronous representations of ourselves connecting, sharing and collaborating with other real or semi-real humans or groups – what is presence then?  Is my AI infused chatbot “me”?  Is my hologram adding to the dimensions of who I am to the world? If I feel a haptic response, am I touching something real?

As I noted in Tip of the Spear, what’s coming in the Future of Presence precisely follows the three laws of disruption:  Exponential change will come faster than we can imagine; the genie of these human or machine-created inventions never go back in the bottle; and our systems of governance and organization are not capable of keeping up.

What’s Next?

This leads to two central critical questions: first, how will we draw on these deepest of human foundations to take advantage of what’s coming so that we may build more than new communications layers and gadgets – but also create opportunity to empower the future disenfranchised to define and share in the promise of a connected planet?  Second, how will we prevent the use of these tools under the guise of “digital transformation” to digitize humans completely or meaningfully out of the “conversations” of the future?

It’s not all dark. I, for one, will relish “presence” embellishing and extending the best of me and more importantly the best of my network.

The key point is that the coming massive technology advancements are – for the first time in our species’ history – meeting a population that is having some of its core DNA being reprogrammed. The coming collision is one for which we need to be prepared.

This is the Future of Presence. It is the beginning of conversation that I will be sharing, exploring and living over the next few months. I will examine this from the perspective of the historian, the economist, the future disenfranchised, the futurist and the student.

Stay tuned.

A Referendum on Vision

I have been listening to the discussion on the Calgary 2026 Olympic bid for the past few months with some concern. As someone who has participated in the grassroots discussion on the future of our city along with hundreds of others, I am struck by the struggle we seem to be having as a city as we try to move the discussion forward.

Now, before we go off on a pro/con rant on the Olympics, this is not about this project specifically.

What the Olympic discussion is really reflective of is our capacity and ability to make generational, game-changing decisions as a community. Make no mistake: since the 21st-century “bus” missed the stop in Alberta as we were all enjoying $120 oil, the only way to get back in the game – let alone change the game – is to be making really big, bold decisions. And quickly.

This is a referendum on that change process. The projects we need to do are audacious, possibly frightening to some and will – like the Olympics – be divisive and not unanimous. But they are essential. We need to announce to the world that Calgary is able to confront its future with a new regenerative spirit that weaves in a new social contract of openness, pay it forward and diversity; that our community of all stripes is able to have difficult discussions and is able to frame the debates recognizing that in order to raise the tide, we have to lean in together. Not in unanimity and harmony but with respect and urgency.

So, think of the Olympic bid as a referendum on our ability as a city to debate with urgency, to be able to rationally recognize the trade-offs inherent in boldness, and to understand facts through a lens of critical thinking and informed discussion making.

Whatever we decide as a community for 2026, I believe if it is done through these lenses we will be able to say, “ok team, what’s next on the list?” and move on – regardless if the decision went your way or not. Because all of us need to get onboard a new bus and to stop wasting time and energy calling names and being beholden to the narrowing view of a social media timeline.

Because this is just the first of many, team Calgary! Wait until we get to the HyperLoop discussion!

Public / Private Sector: Let’s Talk!

I had the true pleasure of speaking this week at the “Policy Matters” conference in Edmonton. Held every two years for leaders in the Government of Alberta, it brings together all of the policymakers under a central theme to think, learn, collaborate and network. This year’s theme was on Disruption and Policy Innovation. As the closing Keynote speaker, I used the opportunity to share some themes from my book Tip of the Spear. I connected the things that are important and of concern to me about the future with the initiatives and vision of public policy leadership.

But about three-quarters of the way through my prepared talk, I went off script. I decided to take a risk; “Play some Jazz” as I like to say.

Now, this is always fun when you are Miles Davis or Malcolm Gladwell, and it always sounds cool in theory. It is, however, always a risky move in front of 1,200 people! But I think I got it out ok and I wanted to push out the idea further in writing to be sure I hadn’t lost my mind.

Here’s what I said – in real time.

I said that I think it’s time that my colleagues and partners in the private sector/ innovation world stop beating up the folks in the bureaucracy of government.

I did.

Now wait! Before you jump on me and ‘troll’ the well-worn arguments of the big, bad, slow and inefficient government, I did this by coming up with the first two lines of what I think might be a new “shared” public/private sector Social Contract:

Public/Private Social Contract

  • The private sector needs to explicitly recognize that in the world of “Tip of the Spear” issues, our public sector is on the absolute front line of supporting, regulating and understanding issues.  Disruption is coming at them hard, wrapped in the virtually impossible calculus of technology speed, complexity and unknowns. These coming changes – as I argue in the book – are multiple existential crises that will blow us up or just as likely make the world a much, much better place. Public policy makers CANNOT do this alone. They need our help and they need for us to stop yelling at them.
  • In return, the public sector leadership at all levels HAS to commit to fixing the machine. They need to create “Innovation of Ways” that match the intensity, velocity, collaboration and ruthlessness of the private sector entrepreneurial/innovation ecosystem. They need to match our “Innovation of Things” machine that cranks out new technologies that help us do stuff faster, better and cheaper. This “Innovation of Ways” approach needs to learn how to incubates and accelerate policy in a world of “Lean”, MVP, risk and execution.

Now I get that nuclear reactor safety is not an “MVP/Lean” kinda’ thing. But so much of what is coming at us needs a policy response that is rapid, flexible, iterative and based on principles of design thinking – and most doesn’t look anything like nuclear safety. And I also understand that the public sector does reach out to experts in the private sector all the time. But too often it is in the form of “Thanks for the input, we’ll take it from here…”. That simply doesn’t work anymore. In the software engineering terms, that is a bad version of the waterfall method of development in a very Agile world. We need to be better.

Because of this, I called out to the assembled at the conference that we collectively need work smarter and better together. And quickly. The Rainforest Movement is teaching us that collective Trust is the precursor to innovation acceleration and velocity. Let’s start with a new social contract. Let’s start by stopping the yelling and starting to commit to fixing the policy machine.

What are your thoughts, my private and public sector friends? Can we build a new commitment – regardless of our political stripes – work together to “10x” the way we teach, regulate, inform and keep safe our businesses, families and communities?

Let’s create the PolicyX Challenge that encourages and rewards game-changing policy.

In the end, if we don’t, we will continue the blame game that has plagued public/private sector interaction for a generation. The Tip of the Spear calls out that exponential changes caused by new technology are “shots across the bow of our indifference”. Instead, let’s fix this.

Who’s in?

Better Purpose

Purpose. It is a simple, bold and powerful word. It directs us, anchors us and provides a North Star when the world turns unfamiliar. For our clients, it says everything their customers and employees need to know what they stand for.

Purpose is driven by human characteristics such as empathy, values, logic, and emotions. It is long-term and far-reaching. We live, however, in a very disruptive and turbulent world, don’t we? Our centres of gravity are being hit by the reach, speed and diversity, and velocity of technological change.

As I note in my forthcoming book, Tip of the Spear:

“The use of the technologies we have invented are now poised on a blade’s edge. Either we learn to level the global playing field in areas such as Governance, Finance, and Education, or we use these extraordinary technologies to create further concentrations of wealth and increased inequality. Either we use our newly connected planet to have real conversations or we let it devolve into a rabble at the gate”.

This is why purpose is so important. The keel of ‘purpose’ is now being driven by sails fed by winds of disruption.

Our discussions with clients and partners around the world have helped us recognise that there is growing tension between the need for authenticity and purpose-centred brand direction, and the complex needs of an always-on digital clientele and customer channels. There was a growing understanding in the firm that we had the opportunity to shape a much more complete message that was the sum of these two very different worlds.

As we stepped back from these conversations, our collective team developed a digital manifesto that looked at the epicenter of this amazing intersection of heart and head; art and engineering; human and machines. It clearly articulates what we know to be certain and what we know will help shape our clients’ purpose in the face of digital disruption.

As we expand this vision into our everyday work with our clients, we provide three important messages to think about;

Firstly, fully understand the scope and speed of change that is coming; but remember to deepen the keel through a fuller understanding and articulation of your purpose;

Secondly, don’t be complacent and think that the technology ‘genies’ are going back in the bottle; they never have in history and the scope and speed will surely not allow it to happen now; don’t fall into the trap of thinking, “things have always changed, haven’t they?”

Finally, especially for our corporate clients, see the coming changes as incredible new opportunities – likely an imperative – to think exponentially, act differently and become leaders of new social movements that are demanded in this complex time.

Digital disruption “on purpose” means combing the best of what makes us human with the power and reach of a new era of technology and global connections.

And that is exciting

#BetterPurpose