Virtual – Trust Factor in the Science of High Performing Organizations
Culture – the way in which people interact — is critically important to the success of an organization. But how do we create a culture of really high performance?
In a YPO Innovation Week virtual session, Paul Zak, Founding Director of the Center for Neuroeconomics, discussed the importance of trust in high performing organizations. In his years of studying culture, Zak discovered that interpersonal trust is a powerful lever to improve economic performance. His lab was the first to identify the neurologic substrate of interpersonal trust, oxytocin. When oxytocin is released, three important things happen in a person’s brain:
- Physiologic stress is reduced
- The ability to understand other people’s emotional states through empathy improves
- Motivation to help others increases
“Trust is a leading indicator for performance; if trust is higher, performance will be higher,” Zak says.
Hong Kong – Addressing the Future’s Challenges and Opportunities
YPO members traveled from Shenzhen to Hong Kong via a high-speed train Wednesday night to continue their Innovation Week 2019 journey at The Mills, a landmark revitalization project completed in late 2018. Vanessa Cheung, Founder of the Mills Group and Managing Director of Nan Fung Development Ltd., which developed The Mills, was the first of several speakers and set the tone for the day.
“We wanted The Mills to be more than what it is – a catalytic hub for tech-style startups, a museum and retail space,” she tells the group assembled. “Look around, this is a very industrial neighborhood. We wanted to create a community.”
To that goal, community activities are part of the complex’s offerings. One tactic Cheung uses to draw Hong Kong residents to The Mills is setting up sewing and craft stations, which are staffed on weekends by teachers, with the intention of teaching children these skills. She also invites a professional storyteller, who regularly regales families with fabled Hong Kong tales. After Cheung discussed the future of community, other presenters covered the future of clothing, waste and food. Following are some highlights. The future of food David Yeung, Founder and CEO of Green Monday, a social startup group addressing climate change and global food insecurity, warns that climate change needs to be addressed today. One way to do this is by reducing our meat consumption. “I’m not asking you to become a vegan tomorrow,” Yeung says. “But I will tell you that if cattle were a country, they’d be the third largest carbon emitter in the world.” The future of waste After sharing photos of a river in the Philippines littered from shore to shore with trash and another of a Hawaiian beach full of washed-up plastic, Nigel Mattravers, Director of ALBA Integrated Waste Solutions (Hong Kong) Ltd., warned that businesses must take a look at how they create and manage their waste. “It’s not just a pollution problem; it’s a waste of resources,” he says. The future of clothing Edwin Keh, CEO of Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel (HKRITA), discussed the “post-consumption global marketplace.” He explained that people buy clothes today not so much for their function, but to express themselves. “The future of clothing needs to be scalable, sellable and sustainable,” he says. “We don’t need more clothes; we need better clothes. It is becoming more about science and less about art.” The future of smart cities Almost two-thirds of the world’s population live in cities, and there are 1 billion cars on those roads today, according to Jason Chiu, Founder and CEO of Cherrypicks, a leader in Hong Kong in mobile technology, e-commerce and smart cities. “They are producing 50 percent of greenhouse gasses,” he adds. A smart city is one that uses data and technology to, among other things, reduce waste, costs, energy and natural resource consumption. Chiu explains that the model “smart city” is e-Estonia, which has moved to having 99 percent of its state services available online. “They can even vote online,” Chiu says. “Marriage, divorce and property transfers still require in-person involvement.” YPO Moscow focused on “Europe Emerging” during its day-long Innovation Week 2019 summit, exploring: Says Alexey Goryachev, Senior Partner at RB Partners, “Innovation is a human response to change.” One industry that is changing is mobility, or transportation. Self-driving automobiles continue to be a much anticipated innovation, even if adoption may be slow to start. In California, YPO teamed up with global strategic partner and Innovation Week supporter, Salesforce, to host “Silicon Valley Summit 4.0: 4th Industrial Revolution – Transforming Work and Life.” The Fourth Industrial Revolution is profoundly different from versions one through three. This industrial revolution impacts all disciplines, economies and industries by merging digital, physical and biological technology. The Fourth Industrial Revolution is fundamentally altering the way we live, work and relate to each other. The future-of-work technologies are causing jobs to adapt, evolve and innovate but it does not remove the human factor. Technology will never replace empathy and human requirements. With advancements in technology, the traditional workplace must evolve to meet the needs of its workforce. Millennials and Gen Z want freedom and flexibility and know technology supports it. Companies need to lean in to technology to adapt to their new workforce. And as technology continues to evolve, there will be ongoing ethical debates about data ownership. Currently consumers don’t have ownership of their data, so there will be ongoing ethical conversations about companies profiting from data with no benefit to the consumer. Danish Dhamani, CEO of Orai, a communication app that provides real-time AI feedback to help you become an effective and confident speaker, says, “We believe that strong communication skills are essential for business – whether you’re presenting at TED, delivering a pitch, or interacting with colleagues or clients.” YPO Innovation Week 2019 runs through Friday, 17 May. A complete listing of events and registration information is available at www.ypoinnovationweek.com/schedule. You can access more of YPO’s executive learning events from our 2019 Innovation Week here:
Moscow — Innovation: Human’s Response to Change
San Francisco – Silicon Valley Summit 4.0
