Where they are
[Music]
[Applause]
this is the view
from the island where i grew up it’s
also the island where my
father grew up
i want to tell you just a little bit
about growing up with him
he was always very patient it’s
something i remember more and more as i
get older myself how he would never cut
me off i was a little boy
maybe five six years old and thinking
this guy is kind of special
he’s always patient i have a thousand
questions
and he’s never runs out of time
um as it turns out it wasn’t that i was
special
i wouldn’t think i was but to him but he
does this to
anyone anyone he meets doesn’t just turn
it off and on
i left my father and that island
i went into the world i had great
ambition
i aspire to become nothing less than a
superstar
specifically i wanted to be like this
guy philippe stark
a design superstar he’s a genuine
superstar but
each man and woman his or her journey to
me
that felt in the end
a bit superficial selfish
small-minded even because
i figured actually i
don’t think this is what’s what is the
right path for me because i like
to provide for others through listening
and in fact good design starts with good
listening
you have to cast yourself aside in order
to understand what other people need
from you as somebody who is
a creator or a maker or a technologist
i also just i’m not built like this to
be a superstar
clearly let me use an illustration
these guys are the downstairs people in
a very famous and very popular english
tv series called
downton abbey what makes them special
a good english servant if we can call it
a classic english servant
is someone who is very good at listening
through listening you can learn that
your master has certain eating
preferences
a certain schedule certain entertainment
preferences
you learn not to be rude and interrupt
you learn
not to jump to conclusions you learn to
be patient
so if i can ask you do you
have somebody like that do you have
someone like that in your life
you who may or may not have an english
servant at home
who in your life anticipates your needs
knows your entertainment preferences
your schedule
your travel preferences never rudely
interrupts
doesn’t jump to conclusions is always
patient
is not opinionated
always listens always learns about you
think about that for a couple of seconds
it’s google
technology platforms i’m not a google
basher
but this is what technology platforms do
to us
all
times have changed
when you look around you look at people
humans made a flesh and blood but you
also look at something else
you actually look at we as a group we
are all data
collectors or generators rather
we’re little dots
on a complicated map or a puzzle
that only very advanced algorithms can
actually understand
data driven means knowledge driven it
means
people are trying to find out about us
gain knowledge about our behavior about
you about me
about all of us we are those thoughts
so we’re not just people anymore
when i was a little boy i felt seen by
my father
to be seen by somebody i realized
that’s what that was boundless patience
and time just for me he
taught me something pretty important
this concept of being seen actually just
means that he
met me where i was this
is it’s actually kind of a superpower i
guess
but i think everyone has the latent
potential to become a very good listener
this is what it looks like when
technology looks at us
clearly this is what it looks like to be
to be seen by my father
sorry to cry like a baby but i kind of
miss baby so
this is him with my mother and they’re
very happy
and married still to this day
so back to google for a second they
google and technology platforms they’ve
they’ve done something
they’ve assumed the position of that
english servant that i talked about
earlier
think about that that’s listening as a
technological
competitive advantage nothing less than
that
so then if we think about that for a
second too
how can you and how can we not
and super like it’s the basic question
how well do you know your customer can
you
not wonder more than google
what your customer really needs from you
and then let me challenge you a little
bit further than
in this day and age where technology
companies
see us on such a personal level
what is the customer anyway we’re not
google we’re not going to build google
anytime soon perhaps one of you
will or some of you will but we’re
people we
do business we are surrounded by other
people
to me my spouse can be my customer
certainly my children my colleagues
your teacher this attitude of servitude
doesn’t just
you just can’t just switch it on and off
anymore
google doesn’t switch on and off think
about it that way
this is the the the the
way i’m talking about the the
theme of the year that’s the wind of
change
before we were just people now with data
so i am not someone
who thinks that good listening is
essentially just about talking about
feelings
in other words i’m not a psychologist
there’s a really good one here and
another one in the lobby
to me listening is about
the possibility to thrive and be
successful
more importantly because of this change
where we’re seen all the time
our listening to each other and to our
customers whomever they are and however
we define them
is a way to remain independent
just think about that
when people see that you see them
when they feel seen by you you have
successfully
you’ve met them where they are
in return they will give you something
invaluable
they’ll give you their loyalty thank you
you