David Roberts, Singularity University’s speaker, was the star of another SingularityU Cascais Lisbon Chapter Exponential Generation dedicated to younger people, which took place at Nova SBE campus, on June 17. The expert in Technology, Disruption, and Exponential Leadership left a clear message about potential and change: we all have the power to make a difference.
Trips to Mars, real virtual reality, stopping aging, or flying cars? These possibilities seem far away but David Roberts assures us that they may be on the verge of becoming a reality. The founder of the Global Inspiration Goals spoke about the great potential of exponential technologies, which have already started to make their way and cannot be stopped.
The SU specialist underlined that those technological developments could make life easier for us but there is also the possibility of creating new problems.
«One thing is certain: we are about to become very powerful, very quickly. And here is the problem: we can become very powerful, but not very kind, caring, or compassionate. Technology is exponential but we are not».
How can we ensure a better world or use these technologies to solve the great problems of humanity? According to the American speaker, «everyone wants to change the world, but few have the courage to change themselves» often because they believe they will not be able to make any difference.
«How do we make a difference? First, you have to realize that you can make a difference. If you don’t think that you can make a difference, you will never try to make a difference» because the people that change the world do not have «some special superpower other than character traits, like courage, integrity, and humility. In other words, they change themselves and this is their superpower».
«Exponential leaders actually don’t try to change the world. They change themselves and then the world just starts to change around them», he added, underlying that we shouldn’t be looking to gain followers but to create other leaders to extend the network of influence. This is how you make a difference in the world. «This is exponential. It takes only one person in an organization to change an entire organization». The only indispensable and vital element to change reality, according to David Roberts, is moral courage, «a rare commodity, rarer than bravery in the battlefield or a brilliant mind».
«I have talked with you about exponential technology, but the truth is we’re the exponential thing. Technology is only exponential because we make it so».
David Roberts was present at Nova SBE, at the SingularityU Cascais Lisbon Chapter Exponential Generation, last Wednesday, and was a guest speaker at the SingularityU Lunch Municipality of Cascais & Enterprise Ecosystem and CEO Council the following day.
Did you already know our speaker? Learn more about David Roberts, an expert in Technology, Disruption, and Exponential Leadership here.