What our Guests Shared with us on the Next Visions Podcast Series
How do thought leaders imagine the future?
In our Next Visions Podcast, we welcomed ten inspiring leaders and entrepreneurs to share their visions with us. Before we head into season 2 in October, we want to reflect what we learned from our guests of season 1.
One of the basic ideas that animates the House of Beautiful Business is serendipity. The happy coincidence of finding something you didn’t know you were looking for. The chance to pick up a thought that opens new doors. All residents share one common quest: To shape a more beautiful vision for the future of business, technology, and humanity.
Together with our partner, the House of Beautiful Business, we invited thought leaders of today to discuss topics of tomorrow. In each episode, two visionaries from different disciplines, who didn’t know each other before, met in Lisbon’s old library to talk about their personal perspectives on the social, economic, and ethical challenges of our time and develop visions that inspire and encourage.
Now that we have had the pleasure of listening to five exciting conversations, it is time to take a step back and reflect on what our guests have taught us about their visions of the future and what insights they shared.
#1 About the value of radical career changes
Transformational times ask for transformational leadership. What defines leadership in the future? Former Galatasaray Managing Director Ebru Koksal and London Business School Professor Herminia Ibarra are both renowned experts in this field — because of their own careers and the research they have done.
Their key point: Authenticity is a double-edged issue. Everyone wants to be authentic, but a too-narrow understanding of it can obstruct personal growth. Or as Herminia Ibarra puts it: When you always try to remain true to yourself, you might never leave your comfort zone. In the first episode, they share their stories of radical career changes and how it helped them to succeed in the long run.
#2 About cities and how they influence us
Urbanization is an ongoing megatrend as more and more people move into cities. Architect and conscious-city pioneer Itai Palti and the founder of Secret City Trails Kristina Palovicova have explained to us why the design and concept of a city are an important factor for well-being. Public spaces have an impact on our mood and feeling and can strengthen society by enabling people to meet and interact.
One example where this concept came to life is the so-called superblocks in Barcelona. While noise decreases, air quality improves, people feel less stressed and it leads to more social proximity. It will be exciting to watch if more cities will follow that approach in the future.
#3 About positive psychology and ethics in AI
Creative Director and Co-Founder of the Nature 2.0 DAO Sovereign Nature Initiative Florian Schmitt and AI Ethicist John C. Havens are both experts in the field of with artificial intelligence. They know that rather sooner than later machines have to make decisions about life and death.
The moral complexities this information poses on us is exemplified by the Moral Machine of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Their conversation is a great starting point to help you understand the moral issues that come with the use of AI and why its important to implement guidelines.
#4 About the power of art and its influence on business
Some figures suggest that the state of the world is better than it has ever been, while the overwhelming impression is that things are out of control. Art Thinking pioneer and New York University Steinhardt Professor Amy Whitaker and Massimo Portincaso, managing director and partner at Boston Consulting Group share the feeling, that art and especially poetry can help us to accept complexities and think about different meanings and interpretations around us. Amy Whitaker even defined the term “Art Thinking”, which means to create room to think and create in your life in order to build something new.
#5 About emotional intelligence of machines
Contrary to the basic considerations on moral issues of AI, the Emotional Interface Ethicist and Head of Spaces UX at Google Sophie Kleber and Maria Kolitsida, Neuro-Data Matchmaker and CEO of WinningMinds.ai dive even deeper into the matter: They are experts in the intersection of emotions, machines and people and highlight the opportunities and pitfalls of machines learning to analyze human emotions.
They also discuss how machines are designed to look and behave like humans in order to influence human behaviour while interacting with them. That’s why clear rules and boundaries are so important.
The Next Visions Podcast will be back with Season 2 in October 2020. Make sure to subscribe to the podcast on your favourite platform: Spotify, Deezer, Google Podcast, Apple Podcasts.
