My Key Takeaway from Davos: Time to Rewire: Inject Humanity Back into our Society

It has been over a week since the last day of Davos and the words of Mohammed Hassan Mohamud, a Co-Chair of World Economic Forum and a refugee who has lived in Kenya’s Kakuma camp for the last 20 years, keeps echoing in my ears:  “As you attend the meetings and as people discuss great lofty ideas, think about those of us who are on the sidelines, watching and not asking for much, just looking for a place to call home.”  

Words from Greta Thunberg, a teenage climate activist, are equally ringing in my ear: “I don’t want your hope. I want you to panic… and act.”  Her words reverberated around the planet, a planet that Greta is relentlessly trying to save (thank you Greta).

I find that I am unable stop talking about the both of them.

I am simultaneously amazed at our future leaders and the knowledge that the future is so very bright, and sickened by the man-made disaster that they face. Disaster that was created by my generation and those that came before my generation.   The poignant words of these young leaders have had a profound effect on me. I have begun to share their words with others. I sent the following video (worth the 60 seconds of your life) of Thunberg to my eight-year daughter, to expose her to Greta’s courageous act of challenging the world, and more specifically, reminding the elite in Davos that were in the room with her that in their journey to success, they have sacrificed the planet in the process.   It is through the words of the likes of Thunberg and Mohamud, and sitting in the various Davos’ sessions, that I ask myself “Have we lost humanity?”  

One of the sessions “The Female Icon” led by Rena Effendi and Chiara Tilesi, Tilesi, an Italian film producer, reminded attendees that by liking a button of an image of a young girl described as pretty only perpetuates the sexist society that exists today. In another session, led by world-renowned MIT faculty, I noticed that some of the world's brightest minds struggled to answer the question "Will artificial intelligence have a conscious?"

As I was sitting down listening to a session, an attendee mirrored Thunberg’s iconic words, “Do you think any of these influential individuals will take action and hold themselves accountable?” into my ears.

Recognizing that simple contemplation of human rights and environmental issues does not equal change, I left Davos with a singular mission, which I ask you to join me in: To rewire oneself and inject humanity back into the fabric of our society.

The word Humanity comes from the Latin root “humanitas” that means human nature, civilization, and kindness.  I found the best definition of humanity on Vocabulary.com:

humanity

Humanity is the human race, which includes everyone on Earth. It’s also a word for the qualities that make us human, such as the ability to love and have compassion, be creative, and not be a robot or alien.

If humanity was embedded in the fabric of society, Mohammed would have a home. Because every person on earth deserves a safe haven. If humanity was part of our work ethic, Greta would not have to remind us that our house is on fire. If humanity was part of our everyday, 50% of senior executives would be females.  

Is being human too difficult? I argue that being kind, compassionate and inclusive is easy. We were born human. Society has shaped us to become less human. And our brain is so powerful that I believe we can rewire ourselves to be human again. If this is accomplished by enough people, we will see the changes reflected across society. A week after Davos, I have begun to discuss the importance of humanity and inject it into my way of life. Here is what I have started to do:

Daily Interactions

Timing has been serendipitous and I had the opportunity to sit with female leaders within my company and I discussed the importance of being unapologetically you, being kind, and prioritizing support over competition. If they take one thing away – I hope it is understanding that happiness is only achieved through being genuine. Imagine if we had 7.7B happy people - the world would be magical.

At a recent event hosted by How Women Lead, an organization that embodies humanity, I challenged the attendees to inject humanity back into their daily lives - our planet is hurting and it is crying for us to be simply human again.

An integral part of this, of course, is recognizing my own privilege as the citizen of the most powerful country on the planet, and focusing on changes I can made in my daily life to mitigate the crisis we find ourselves in. One simple change I am making is planning ahead in my day-to-day to avoid single-use plastics, like utensils, straws, and water bottles.  To be choiceful of the words that I use. In reading the book The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz, I was reminded of the power of words. Leaders have used words to drive positive change such as Martin Luther King Jr. and leaders have also used words to commit atrocities such as Hitler. The "Power of Words" video is a powerful illustration on how words matter - greatly.

In Service to the Technology Industry

At Davos, I heard loud and clear the negative impact that technology has had on society. I would like to argue that technology has also had a tremendous impact on society that has propelled growth and technology companies have taken into consideration climate change. My company, Intel, is committed to sustainability exemplified by being a recipient of the GE Ecomagination Award to celebrate a new water recycling project at Intel’s Ronler Acres campus in Hillsboro, Oregon. The facility will have the potential to recycle over a billion gallons of water annually while also improving the quality of water that leaves the facility. Another example of Intel embracing humanity through inclusiveness was when Intel began the diversity and inclusion efforts in 2015 before many companies were talking about the importance of diversity inclusion. To date, I am glad to inform you that I work for a company that has reached full representation.

Yet I recognize and acknowledge that technology has also had a negative impact on our society. It has created an unlevel playing field with the digital divide, it has removed human interaction with the advent of social media and video games, it has increased depression and anxiety because of the unrealistic comparisons that are propagated on the world wide web creating a world of haves and haves not. As a result, we should learn from our past as we look ahead and continuously remind ourselves of the impact, both positive and negative, of the next generation technologies.  Davos is holding the leaders accountable as topics such as Artificial Intelligence may create an even greater divide were covered.

As such, I am challenging myself, my organization, my company and the tech industry to think about the psychological and societal impact that technology will have.  To make humanity a credo when creating the next generation of technologies. Arguably Salesforce is one of the leaders in thinking about ethical engineering by creating a role Chief Ethical and Humane Use officer. As a member of the World Economic Forum Global Future Council on VR and AR, I have had the wonderful opportunity to meet Jodi Halpern, a MD and PD in Psychiatry, who is well-known for her mission to inject empathy into medicine and technology, a subject on which she has written multiple books over the past two decades. Her insights on how technology is affecting human relationships both positively and negatively are fascinating - I look forward to reading her work in its entirety.

As I start on my path to inject humanity back into my daily life, and encourage those around me to do the same, I look to leverage the great words that Greta Thunberg had to say – “We do not need hope, we need you to act.”

 Act with humanity in mind, always.

And thank you, Davos, for the greatest gift of all: a wake up call to rewire myself.