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Tim Leberecht: 4 ways to build a human company in the age of machines
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In the face of artificial intelligence and machine learning, we need a new radical humanism, says Tim Leberecht. For the self-described "business romantic," this means designing organizations and workplaces that celebrate authenticity instead of efficiency and questions instead of answers. Leberecht proposes four (admittedly subjective) principles for building beautiful organizations.
Tim Leberecht - Business romantic
A humanist in Silicon Valley, Tim Leberecht argues that in a time of artificial intelligence, big data and the quantification of everything, we are losing sight of the importance of the emotional and social aspects of our work. Full bio
A humanist in Silicon Valley, Tim Leberecht argues that in a time of artificial intelligence, big data and the quantification of everything, we are losing sight of the importance of the emotional and social aspects of our work. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:12
Half of the human workforce
is expected to be replaced
is expected to be replaced
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by software and robots
in the next 20 years.
in the next 20 years.
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And many corporate leaders welcome
that as a chance to increase profits.
that as a chance to increase profits.
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Machines are more efficient;
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humans are complicated
and difficult to manage.
and difficult to manage.
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Well, I want our organizations
to remain human.
to remain human.
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In fact, I want them to become beautiful.
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Because as machines take our jobs
and do them more efficiently,
and do them more efficiently,
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soon the only work left for us humans
will be the kind of work
will be the kind of work
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that must be done beautifully
rather than efficiently.
rather than efficiently.
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To maintain our humanity
in the this second Machine Age,
in the this second Machine Age,
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we may have no other choice
than to create beauty.
than to create beauty.
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01:02
Beauty is an elusive concept.
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For the writer Stendhal
it was the promise of happiness.
it was the promise of happiness.
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01:08
For me it's a goal by Lionel Messi.
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01:10
(Laughter)
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01:12
So bear with me
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as I am proposing four admittedly
very subjective principles
very subjective principles
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that you can use to build
a beautiful organization.
a beautiful organization.
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First: do the unnecessary.
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01:24
[Do the Unnecessary]
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A few months ago, Hamdi Ulukaya,
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the CEO and founder
of the yogurt company Chobani,
of the yogurt company Chobani,
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made headlines when he decided to grant
stock to all of his 2,000 employees.
stock to all of his 2,000 employees.
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Some called it a PR stunt,
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others -- a genuine act of giving back.
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But there is something else
that was remarkable about it.
that was remarkable about it.
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It came completely out of the blue.
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There had been no market
or stakeholder pressure,
or stakeholder pressure,
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and employees were so surprised
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that they burst into tears
when they heard the news.
when they heard the news.
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Actions like Ulukaya's are beautiful
because they catch us off guard.
because they catch us off guard.
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They create something out of nothing
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because they're completely unnecessary.
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I once worked at a company
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that was the result of a merger
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of a large IT outsourcing firm
and a small design firm.
and a small design firm.
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We were merging 9,000 software engineers
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with 1,000 creative types.
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And to unify these
immensely different cultures,
immensely different cultures,
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we were going to launch
a third, new brand.
a third, new brand.
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And the new brand color
was going to be orange.
was going to be orange.
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And as we were going
through the budget for the rollouts,
through the budget for the rollouts,
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we decided last minute
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to cut the purchase
of 10,000 orange balloons,
of 10,000 orange balloons,
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which we had meant
to distribute to all staff worldwide.
to distribute to all staff worldwide.
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They just seemed
unnecessary and cute in the end.
unnecessary and cute in the end.
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I didn't know back then
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that our decision
marked the beginning of the end --
marked the beginning of the end --
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that these two organizations
would never become one.
would never become one.
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And sure enough,
the merger eventually failed.
the merger eventually failed.
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Now, was it because
there weren't any orange balloons?
there weren't any orange balloons?
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No, of course not.
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But the kill-the-orange-balloons
mentality permeated everything else.
mentality permeated everything else.
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You might not always realize it,
but when you cut the unnecessary,
but when you cut the unnecessary,
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you cut everything.
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Leading with beauty means
rising above what is merely necessary.
rising above what is merely necessary.
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So do not kill your orange balloons.
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The second principle:
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create intimacy.
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[Create Intimacy]
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Studies show that
how we feel about our workplace
how we feel about our workplace
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very much depends on the relationships
with our coworkers.
with our coworkers.
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And what are relationships
other than a string of microinteractions?
other than a string of microinteractions?
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There are hundreds of these
every day in our organizations
every day in our organizations
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that have the potential to distinguish
a good life from a beautiful one.
a good life from a beautiful one.
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The marriage researcher John Gottman says
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that the secret of a healthy relationship
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is not the great gesture
or the lofty promise,
or the lofty promise,
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it's small moments of attachment.
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In other words, intimacy.
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In our networked organizations,
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we tout the strength of weak ties
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but we underestimate
the strength of strong ones.
the strength of strong ones.
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We forget the words of the writer
Richard Bach who once said,
Richard Bach who once said,
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"Intimacy --
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not connectedness --
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intimacy is the opposite of loneliness."
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So how do we design
for organizational intimacy?
for organizational intimacy?
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The humanitarian organization CARE
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wanted to launch
a campaign on gender equality
a campaign on gender equality
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in villages in northern India.
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But it realized quickly
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that it had to have this conversation
first with its own staff.
first with its own staff.
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So it invited all 36 team members
and their partners
and their partners
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to one of the Khajuraho Temples,
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known for their famous erotic sculptures.
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And there they openly discussed
their personal relationships --
their personal relationships --
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their own experiences of gender equality
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with the coworkers and the partners.
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It was eye-opening for the participants.
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Not only did it allow them
to relate to the communities they serve,
to relate to the communities they serve,
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it also broke down invisible barriers
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and created a lasting bond
amongst themselves.
amongst themselves.
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Not a single team member
quit in the next four years.
quit in the next four years.
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So this is how you create intimacy.
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No masks ...
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or lots of masks.
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(Laughter)
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When Danone, the food company,
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wanted to translate its new company
manifesto into product initiatives,
manifesto into product initiatives,
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it gathered the management team
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and 100 employees
from across different departments,
from across different departments,
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seniority levels and regions
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for a three-day strategy retreat.
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And it asked everybody
to wear costumes for the entire meeting:
to wear costumes for the entire meeting:
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wigs, crazy hats, feather boas,
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huge glasses and so on.
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And they left with concrete outcomes
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and full of enthusiasm.
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And when I asked the woman
who had designed this experience
who had designed this experience
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why it worked,
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she simply said, "Never underestimate
the power of a ridiculous wig."
the power of a ridiculous wig."
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(Laughter)
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(Applause)
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Because wigs erase hierarchy,
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and hierarchy kills intimacy --
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both ways,
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for the CEO and the intern.
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Wigs allow us to use
the disguise of the false
the disguise of the false
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to show something true about ourselves.
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And that's not easy
in our everyday work lives,
in our everyday work lives,
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because the relationship
with our organizations
with our organizations
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is often like that of a married couple
that has grown apart,
that has grown apart,
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suffered betrayals and disappointments,
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and is now desperate to be beautiful
for one another once again.
for one another once again.
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And for either of us the first step
towards beauty involves a huge risk.
towards beauty involves a huge risk.
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The risk to be ugly.
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[Be Ugly]
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So many organizations these days
are keen on designing beautiful workplaces
are keen on designing beautiful workplaces
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that look like anything but work:
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vacation resorts, coffee shops,
playgrounds or college campuses --
playgrounds or college campuses --
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(Laughter)
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Based on the promises
of positive psychology,
of positive psychology,
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we speak of play and gamification,
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and one start-up even says
that when someone gets fired,
that when someone gets fired,
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they have graduated.
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(Laughter)
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That kind of beautiful language
only goes "skin deep,
only goes "skin deep,
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but ugly cuts clean to the bone,"
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as the writer Dorothy Parker once put it.
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To be authentic is to be ugly.
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It doesn't mean that you can't have fun
or must give in to the vulgar or cynical,
or must give in to the vulgar or cynical,
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but it does mean that you speak
the actual ugly truth.
the actual ugly truth.
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Like this manufacturer
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that wanted to transform
one of its struggling business units.
one of its struggling business units.
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It identified, named and pinned
on large boards all the issues --
on large boards all the issues --
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and there were hundreds of them --
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that had become obstacles
to better performance.
to better performance.
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They put them on boards,
moved them all into one room,
moved them all into one room,
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which they called "the ugly room."
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The ugly became visible
for everyone to see --
for everyone to see --
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it was celebrated.
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And the ugly room served as a mix
of mirror exhibition and operating room --
of mirror exhibition and operating room --
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a biopsy on the living flesh
to cut out all the bureaucracy.
to cut out all the bureaucracy.
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The ugliest part of our body is our brain.
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Literally and neurologically.
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Our brain renders ugly
what is unfamiliar ...
what is unfamiliar ...
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modern art, atonal music,
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jazz, maybe --
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VR goggles for that matter --
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strange objects, sounds and people.
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But we've all been ugly once.
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We were a weird-looking baby,
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a new kid on the block, a foreigner.
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And we will be ugly again
when we don't belong.
when we don't belong.
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The Center for Political Beauty,
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an activist collective in Berlin,
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recently staged an extreme
artistic intervention.
artistic intervention.
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With the permission of relatives,
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it exhumed the corpses of refugees
who had drowned at Europe's borders,
who had drowned at Europe's borders,
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transported them all the way to Berlin,
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and then reburied them
at the heart of the German capital.
at the heart of the German capital.
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The idea was to allow them
to reach their desired destination,
to reach their desired destination,
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if only after their death.
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Such acts of beautification
may not be pretty,
may not be pretty,
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but they are much needed.
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Because things tend to get ugly
when there's only one meaning, one truth,
when there's only one meaning, one truth,
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only answers and no questions.
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Beautiful organizations
keep asking questions.
keep asking questions.
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They remain incomplete,
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which is the fourth
and the last of the principles.
and the last of the principles.
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[Remain Incomplete]
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Recently I was in Paris,
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and a friend of mine
took me to Nuit Debout,
took me to Nuit Debout,
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which stands for "up all night,"
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the self-organized protest movement
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that had formed in response
to the proposed labor laws in France.
to the proposed labor laws in France.
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Every night, hundreds gathered
at the Place de la République.
at the Place de la République.
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Every night they set up
a small, temporary village
a small, temporary village
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to deliberate their own vision
of the French Republic.
of the French Republic.
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And at the core of this adhocracy
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was a general assembly
where anybody could speak
where anybody could speak
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using a specially designed sign language.
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Like Occupy Wall Street
and other protest movements,
and other protest movements,
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Nuit Debout was born
in the face of crisis.
in the face of crisis.
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It was messy --
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full of controversies and contradictions.
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But whether you agreed
with the movement's goals or not,
with the movement's goals or not,
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every gathering was
a beautiful lesson in raw humanity.
a beautiful lesson in raw humanity.
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And how fitting that Paris --
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the city of ideals, the city of beauty --
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was it's stage.
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It reminds us that like great cities,
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the most beautiful organizations
are ideas worth fighting for --
are ideas worth fighting for --
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even and especially
when their outcome is uncertain.
when their outcome is uncertain.
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They are movements;
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they are always imperfect,
never fully organized,
never fully organized,
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so they avoid ever becoming banal.
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They have something
but we don't know what it is.
but we don't know what it is.
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They remain mysterious;
we can't take our eyes off them.
we can't take our eyes off them.
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We find them beautiful.
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So to do the unnecessary,
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to create intimacy,
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to be ugly,
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to remain incomplete --
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these are not only the qualities
of beautiful organizations,
of beautiful organizations,
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these are inherently
human characteristics.
human characteristics.
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And these are also the qualities
of what we call home.
of what we call home.
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And as we disrupt, and are disrupted,
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the least we can do is to ensure
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that we still feel at home
in our organizations,
in our organizations,
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and that we use our organizations
to create that feeling for others.
to create that feeling for others.
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Beauty can save the world
when we embrace these principles
when we embrace these principles
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and design for them.
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In the face of artificial intelligence
and machine learning,
and machine learning,
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we need a new radical humanism.
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We must acquire and promote
a new aesthetic and sentimental education.
a new aesthetic and sentimental education.
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Because if we don't,
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we might end up feeling like aliens
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in organizations and societies
that are full of smart machines
that are full of smart machines
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that have no appreciation whatsoever
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for the unnecessary,
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the intimate,
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the incomplete
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and definitely not for the ugly.
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Thank you.
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(Applause)
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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Tim Leberecht - Business romanticA humanist in Silicon Valley, Tim Leberecht argues that in a time of artificial intelligence, big data and the quantification of everything, we are losing sight of the importance of the emotional and social aspects of our work.
Why you should listen
In his book The Business Romantic: Give Everything, Quantify Nothing, and Create Something Greater Than Yourself, Tim Leberecht invites us to rediscover romance, beauty and serendipity by designing products, experiences, and organizations that "make us fall back in love with our work and our life." The book inspired the creation of the Business Romantic Society, a global collective of artists, developers, designers and researchers who share the mission of bringing beauty to business. Now running strategy consulting firm Leberecht & Partners, he was previously the chief marketing officer at NBBJ, a global design and architecture firm, and at Frog Design. He also co-founded the "15 Toasts" dinner series that creates safe spaces for people to have conversations on difficult topics.
More profile about the speakerTim Leberecht | Speaker | TED.com