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

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“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

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Add Peeple

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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

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Ephemeral media

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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

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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

The Business Romantic Society

tim@thebusinessromantic.comwww.timleberecht.com

@timleberecht