Over the last few months, I’ve enjoyed working with the organisers of DTX Manchester, “the north’s biggest enterprise IT event”, which took place in the UK’s third-largest city on 22 and 23 May. They were initially a little worried that the opening keynote speaker, Derren Brown, might not appeal to the audience.
After all, Britain’s leading “psychological illusionist” wanted to discuss happiness, not digital transformation. Thankfully, their concerns were misplaced.
Indeed, it was standing room only to watch Brown on the main stage at Manchester Central, the old train station venue, as he offered incredible wisdom that resonated deeply with anyone working in tech and business.
During a 45-minute session alongside Sherelle Fairweather, Manchester City Council’s Digital Strategy Lead, titled “Rethinking the pursuit of happiness: How to knock down the blockers to wellbeing, growth and reinvention,” Brown’s insights were not just thought-provoking but directly applicable to the tech industry.
Chief among Brown’s insights was a stark warning about the “hedonic treadmill” – the false belief that acquiring the next shiny object will make us happier.
He cautioned that this fallacy ensnares consumers and enterprises alike, leading us to chase the next big thing without considering its true value.
Snazzy new tech is pointless without a meaningful use case, Brown said. It won’t deliver the success, happiness and fulfilment we desperately crave.
He acknowledged, though, that organisations cannot stand still; change is critical to business. Given that, good, honest communication is paramount when navigating digital transformation.
Further, preconceptions of how things ought to be done or how things should be communicated are, ultimately, damaging in today’s fast-moving business world.
Brown referenced psychologist Carl Jung, who said: “The greatest burden a child must bear is the unlived life of its parents.” His point was that those in charge must take ownership of their issues, and be bold enough to do things differently.
Related to this, complete storytelling – not smoke and mirrors – should be a top priority for leaders. Too often, the narratives businesses share are overly tidy, “cosy”, and simplistic. We must “accommodate messiness” to cultivate genuine resilience, argued Brown.
Fixating on neat, definitive endings is another trap. “You don’t skip a track to the end. Or shift to the last page of a book. The story – and happiness – is all about the journey,” he continued.
Perhaps most urgent was Brown’s plea for technologists to put their talents toward altruistic ends. “Over 50% of artificial intelligence (AI) engineers believe there is at least a 10% likelihood that mishandling AI will lead to the destruction of humanity,” he revealed, citing a startling statistic from Tristan Harris, co-founder of the Center for Humane Technology. “We’re all being ushered onto this plane very quickly.”
It was a perfectly timed message for the hundreds, if not thousands, of tech-focused people in the room. Brown wasn’t being gloomy. Rather, he called for a mindset shift so that innovation lifts humanity and doesn’t accelerate its demise.
Moreover, as AI rapidly advances, there is an enormous business opportunity – and an ethical imperative – to create technology that genuinely serves human needs rather than superficial wants.
After all, we’ve seen what happens when innovation runs amok and is disconnected from human welfare. The rollout of social media platforms like Facebook in the 2000s began with lofty design principles about bringing people together.
But serious unintended consequences didn’t take long to emerge: eroded attention spans, polarisation, loss of privacy, and disrupted democracies.
Now, the stakes are exponentially higher as AI systems gain the ability to improve themselves at blinding speeds recursively. Automated cyber weapons, blackmail, and disinformation campaigns are just a few of the existential risks on the horizon if we rush ahead unthinkingly.
Those who seize this opportunity won’t just build thriving businesses. They’ll help write a new, more enlightened chapter in the human story.
And that’s worth far more than any fleeting dopamine rush from a dazzling new toy.
The post Derren Brown’s advice for tech leaders? Put human needs before shiny toys appeared first on UKTN.
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