When I got an invitation to speak at Singapore Semiconductor Industry Association (SSIA) Quarterly Member's Meeting last week, I was curious. How would a group of sharp engineers and executives react to my random thinking about humans and robots?
I mean, these guys (yes, 90% men) were probably way smarter about the future of tech than I can ever be. My fellow speaker was Dr. Kenneth Lee, Lead Scientist at Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART), and the panel was moderated by Yannick Leclercq, Managing Director at INTEL.
Intimidated by left brain thinkers, I went the other way. To my confort zone. To the emotion and feeling part of those future trends. It's an artistic contemplation about what will happen as robots enter our daily life, especially our work life. It's also a guide to current and future leaders about how to lead. Better.
Quite to my surprise, the tactic seemed to work amazingly well. There was a lively discussion afterwards, the room was buzzing with feedback and strangely many were not really into innovation. Some guy even commented that Singapore would be better off just doing what it does best - efficiency - and leave the big new ideas to other countries. A female leader in robotics talked about the idea of too much innovation too soon. And a third was wondering if we should just take a break from our busy lives and spend more time with our families.
So I did. A couple of hours well spent before returning to kiss my little ones goodnight...