Ted Talk — Blurred Lines

Hi everyone, I’m Ishan. And today’s topic for us all to talk about is blurred lines.

A lucky thing for me was that when began drafting this talk was that, the whole country was in lockdown.

It was March end and Covid’s peak was upon us. With so much time at hand, it was really easy to find focus and the energy and the long hours to write about it.

But no. With so much time on hand, that was caused due to a sudden change, a new work only from home lifestyle, the topic ‘blurred lines’ started meaning so many things to me suddenly, that I could not make my mind up about what to write and what to talk about.

So finally, I decided to do it in action instead of talk about it. So let me start by breaking one of TED’s own blurred lines and fill a Ted talk with poems. So here goes,

Citizens of Change

(The first blurred line we must cross — of everything that divides us to everything that unites us)

The whole world is in a unique position today. We have never witnessed a global health crisis coupled with a potential economic slowdown.

And I feel that a community of citizens of change is a thing of vital need now. As a species, we must all together cross the blurred barriers and the social constructs of caste, creed, country, colour, race and religion and instead start talking about similarities — about the similar cultural values across the globe that bind us together, about how almost everything in everyone’s bodies is the same, and how all our minds go through similar chaotic situations, feel the same anxieties, and go through similar turmoils.

Right now, the world is getting sicker day by day. At such a time, I feel it becomes even more important to cross all the blurred as well as the distinct ones for the common good.

Following this phase, all of us will have a choice, whether to continue to stay in dejection and depression, or jump back up and seize the new opportunities of a new world. And be ready to build what’s coming next.

So what is coming next?

It’s definitely going to a new world with a new lifestyle where companies with a new mindset will adapt and evolve to survive. But what is this new world, what will be its defining factors, and what do we have to evolve for?

For that, we need to go back some 66 Mn years, when life on Earth was completely different. Much of the world’s current land mass was under massive oceans. Flowering plants were Earth’s latest innovation. And Earth was a monopoly of dinosaur domination.

But their reign was not to last. It ended with a huge bang.

A 10 km Asteroid, the size of Navi Mumbai — crashed into the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. The collision literally rocked the world — releasing 2 Mn times the energy of the largest nuclear bomb ever invented. Its Impact — a Planetary killer.

A series of followup ripples like mega tsunamis, massive earthquakes, global firestorms and hundreds of volcanoes swallowed the Earth. The sun disappeared behind a huge cloud dust for a decade.

These changes were so rapid and so extreme that dinosaurs were unable to adapt. Soon, they were extinct.

For our species, this was great news! While dinosaurs were large, slow and inflexible, the small furry mammals — our early ancestors were far more nimble, resilient and flexible. They took the opportunity adapted to the new earth and never looked back.

So what do we see as today’s asteroid on the world? Some would say it’s Covid-19, some would say it is economic slowdown. But it’s actually none of those.

(The second blurred line we must cross — linear to exponential)

The real asteroid hitting on all companies of the 21st century is Exponential Technology.

And especially in today’s time, the big companies with their mega-size and slow decision making who do not adapt to exponential technologies to come would become the dinosaurs. Soon to go extinct.

And the tiny, nimble, agile, flexible mammals who will adapt and use these exponential technologies will define the upcoming decade. They are the Exponential Entrepreneurs.

So what is exponential technology? Exponential technology is any technology that is halving in complexity and cost and doubling in its power, scale and reach in regular periods of time. The shorter the period, the faster it grows.

In the 1980s it was pharma-tech, semiconductors and graphic user interface which brought health-tablets and a computer to every home. In the 1990s it was the Internet which digitally connected the world over those computers. In the 2000s it was the multitouch display, chips and sensors which brought about the smartphone revolution. And in the 2010s, it was nano-tech as well as instant-messaging and moment-sharing, the latter two being built over smartphones and the internet.

So if we observe carefully, the next decade of exponential technologies either ride on or disrupt the previous ones.

According to me, there are six exponential technologies that will define the 2020s. They are

1. 3D Printing — to replace in-plants subtractive manufacturing with local additive manufacturing

2. Networks & Sensors — which will truly connect us all in an internet-of-things world

3. Infinite computing — which replaces all human logical calculations with machines, that will only speed up our progress.

4. Robotics. — the machines who will create the machines who will create goods and commodities for our daily use.

5. Artificial intelligence — adding the mind to the machine (with a few humane rules to govern) they will be much smarter and capable to take us to new heights

6. Synthetic biology. — a synthetic lung today would’ve truly made a difference

The true power does not lie in these technologies themselves, but in their applications in the real world.

So here’s my second attempt at crossing the blurred line again with a poem as we decide to dream exponential from linear.

Magic - Let’s fly !

Now I know flying cars might be a stretch, but we can definitely dream of using the 6 new exponential technologies to build a better world for sure.

But just dreaming about it will not get the job done. It will also need a radical mind shift, not just for one of us, or some of us, but for all of us.

And for me, that change happened when I first felt the inner voice inside me call out to me. It called out to me, and forever changed something within me.

The Voice

A few months later, I realised that voice in me was a call to myself to cross a third blurred line that according to me is the most important one for any and every individual to cross. It is that personal line that divides a leader from a follower. And once you consciously cross that line, you stop living a sheep’s life for most of the time, and start living a hero’s journey instead.

(Third blurred line we must cross — followers to leaders)

A colleague of mine on a lazy Sunday conversation recently praised me for being a servant leader in our startup and went ahead to teach me the different types of leaders there are.

But before doing that, she defined leadership as a skill.

First a choice and then an ability to lead people into new avenues, into unchartered territories, into an unknown forest. Not by asking them to jump in with you or before you, but instead by taking the first step there yourself, feeling the pain of the first few thorn pricks yourself, and clearing the way for all your people to join in.

So according to her, there are two types of leaders

Type 1 — Those who love to stay at the top of the triangle. These leaders are motivated by power and control. They form a pyramid structure of hierarchy under them.

Type 2 — Those who love to stay in the centre of the circle. These according to her, are motivated by purpose and care.

And for me, servant leadership means being in the centre of the circle in times of peace, and in the front on the battlefield at times of war.

So those were the 3 blurred lines I hope each one of us crosses sooner than later.

1. Moving away from what divides us towards what unites us
2. Moving away from a linear to exponential mind set &
3. Moving away from a follower to a leader.

This journey of change that you might be about to embark is not of a day, a month, or even a year. For most of us, it’s going to be decade long or more. And what can keep you keep going through it all is taking one day at a time. Moving from a yesterday, to now, for a tomorrow.

So here’s me crossing TED’s blurred line for one last time before I bid adieu.

From yesterday, to now, for tomorrow.

<Bow & Salute>