-: Let me give a little bit of context.
So historically, we used to say
most organisations were about command and control.
The centre used to decide-the one individual,
or, you know, and then the organisation used to follow.
At least there was an attempt to do that. Right?
More recently, at least,
what we at BCG talk about, is
this concept of head, heart, and hands.
The head is about setting the big rocks
of the future vision,
the heart is about inspiring and empowering people,
and the hands is about innovation
and agility to make it happen.
So that's what we talk about.
But I think in the world you are outlining,
we probably need more skills than just that.
So if there is one call-out skill
you would have for the CEOs,
to reflect on what they should add to their own arsenal,
what could be one thing you would say
to master...to be better in the coming world?
-: So I say two things,
even though you said one, I'll say two things.
(both laugh)
One thing is that CEOs are so far human beings,
and they're flesh and blood,
the brain is an organic brain.
And we are reaching a point,
when because of the speed of change in the world,
and the complexity of the systems,
the human brain is incapable of understanding
what is actually happening.
That we are very close to the point,
you know, again, it links back
to the increase in the speed of information
in the world,
which means an increase in the speed of change,
that in more and more fields,
it's just becoming too complicated.
You know, how many people today understand
the global financial system?
To be very generous,
I would say 1% of the population.
That's very, very generous.
-: That's very generous.
-: I think in 20 years
the number will be exactly zero.
The global financial system will be so complicated,
and almost entirely run by algorithms and AI,
that humans just can't understand.
It doesn't matter how smart you are,
how educated, you can't understand it.
And you will have to rely more and more
either on collaboration with other people
or on collaboration with algorithms, with AI.
That we are reaching the first time in history,
that the human brain is creating systems
that it cannot understand,
but it also creates tools
that take away some of our decision-making power.
We could reach a point in 20 years
when many of the decisions,
whether in a corporation, whether in a government,
are taken not by a human being,
but rather by an algorithm.
And, you know, we can still have a human at the top,
because this will comfort us,
"Oh, we are still in charge."
But, you know, the algorithm approaches you,
and tells you, "We are facing a crisis,
but I can't explain why.
You're a human,
your brain can't process the data.
I went over trillions of data points,
I noticed something,
I can't explain to you why,
because your brain functions differently,
and you should do either this or that."
And, you know, it's frightening
to think about this scenario,
but we are very close to it.
The other side of the coin is
that as things accelerate,
as it becomes more complicated,
I hope, I know, I know it's a long shot,
but I hope that actually you take better care of your mind,
and especially find time to disconnect.
I know, again, with the increase
in the flow of information,
it's becoming almost impossible.
You must always be there available,
there is a crisis every moment,
a decision every moment,
but the mind is just incapable
of functioning like that over the long-term.
If you don't find the time and the space
to completely disconnect for a few hours,
maybe for a few days,
you won't be able to survive this.
And, you know, we are in a time of a pandemic.
Everybody's talking about
the need to break the chains of infection.
It's also true about the mind.
We need to break the chain of infectious thoughts.
That if you're all the time
on this kind of information treadmill,
your mind becomes infected with these things
and you can't think differently.
So I hope that you somehow find the time
to disconnect for a few hours or a few days.
It will do wonders afterwards to your peace of mind
and to your ability to function.