AI, Machine Learning, Robotics: Is There Room For Humanity In Technology Leadership? Posted on : Mar 09 - 2018

“How many hours do you spend daily on programming?”

That was the question a developer recently posted on Reddit.

Although the answers ranged from a few hours to full days (apparently, some people don’t eat or sleep), the informal average was nearly six hours a day. This means that the developers who responded spend about six hours a day staring at screens and interacting only with their computers. If you're a fellow techie like me and fall into this average, it likely means you go long stretches before you connect with a fellow human.

Sure, we still have meetings -- and we still hate them, which demonstrates just how altered our reality is; the one chance we may have for some human contact and we dread it, preferring to be grinding away in front of a screen.

So should industry leaders care? After all, this is tech: Only the code counts! We don’t need no stinking warm and fuzzy human interaction to succeed.

Or do we?

Artificial Intelligence Or Emotional Intelligence: Which One Is Essential?

In 1995, Daniel Goleman challenged conventional business wisdom with his book Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ. The book’s much-quoted and debated premise is that EQ (our ability to recognize, manage and use emotions) may be the more critical quality to our personal and professional success. That concept will be in vogue again thanks to Jeffrey Lurie, owner of the 2018 Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles. After firing Chip Kelly, whose three-year coaching reign ended in 2015 with a 6-9 season and a contentious locker room full of resentful players, Lurie went looking for a people person versus strict tactician.

“I thought what was really needed was a kind of leadership that leads with a genuineness, a real genuineness,” Lurie said just after the Eagles trounced the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC Championship on their way to big dance. “People laughed when I used the term ‘emotional intelligence,’ but that’s probably a really good way to describe it.”

EQ guru and Eagles coach Doug Pederson led his team past one adversity after another this season on his way to winning the Super Bowl.

So, who’s laughing now?

But does leading with heart play in an increasingly automated workplace? What can EQ do to accelerate productivity in a world where machine learning and robotics are the norm? View More