Driver-Less Cars and Smart Cities Change the Way We Work

WEBVTT

1
00:00:06.519 --> 00:00:10.400
There are some people that make their
work just another thing they have to do,

2
00:00:11.039 --> 00:00:14.480
and there are those that make their
work something that they want to do.

3
00:00:15.039 --> 00:00:19.839
Welcome to Working on Purpose with your
host Elise Cortes. In our program,

4
00:00:19.920 --> 00:00:24.120
we provide guidance and inspiration from those
people who have found deeper meaning and

5
00:00:24.199 --> 00:00:29.559
personal connection to their work life.
It's beyond nine to five, it's working

6
00:00:29.640 --> 00:00:36.159
on Purpose. Now Here is your
host, Elise Cortes. Welcome back to

7
00:00:36.159 --> 00:00:38.799
the Working on Purpose Show. Thanks
for tuning in again this week. I'm

8
00:00:38.840 --> 00:00:42.439
your host, Elise Cortes. This
time I'm joining you here from Denver,

9
00:00:42.479 --> 00:00:45.520
Colorado, where I'm doing a little
vacation, a little bit of touring.

10
00:00:46.000 --> 00:00:49.600
This program is all about helping people
more meaningfully and productively connect with their work

11
00:00:49.759 --> 00:00:52.799
and equipping organization to do the same
for their employees. So I bring on

12
00:00:52.840 --> 00:00:56.880
guests who have a particular perspective or
an experience that I think expands the conversation,

13
00:00:57.200 --> 00:00:59.439
and I often draw on the meaning
of work research I've been doing over

14
00:00:59.439 --> 00:01:03.039
the last fie teen years, as
well as my own experienced consulting, including

15
00:01:03.039 --> 00:01:06.599
the work I do today at Insignium, which is a global management consulting firm.

16
00:01:07.000 --> 00:01:08.239
I will get to the program in
just a moment, but first a

17
00:01:08.319 --> 00:01:11.879
thank you to my media partner and
sponsor, jobbing dot com. Jobbing dot

18
00:01:11.920 --> 00:01:15.239
com is the leading locally focused job
board in the nation and they are dedicated

19
00:01:15.280 --> 00:01:19.120
to helping employers find quality talent in
their own backyard. While giving job secers

20
00:01:19.159 --> 00:01:23.640
control over their search, they can
find work close to home. Last week,

21
00:01:23.680 --> 00:01:26.200
if you missed the show live,
we can always catch it via recorded

22
00:01:26.200 --> 00:01:29.079
podcast. We were on the air
with doctor Andrew Zinz, who is the

23
00:01:29.079 --> 00:01:34.519
president of Strategic Leadership Resources and the
co author of the book Orchestrating Sustainable Innovation,

24
00:01:34.879 --> 00:01:38.920
A Symphony in sound bites, launching
in March twenty eighteen. We talked

25
00:01:38.920 --> 00:01:42.439
about what leaders can do to shape, stimulate, and support innovation in organizations,

26
00:01:42.640 --> 00:01:46.439
as well as how the principles of
jazz can lead to innovation. So

27
00:01:46.599 --> 00:01:49.599
with us this week is Ed Christmas, the founder of Sology Solutions. For

28
00:01:49.680 --> 00:01:53.560
the last two decades, he ran
sales and marketing organizations for some of the

29
00:01:53.640 --> 00:01:57.799
leading companies selling communications systems, network
services, and public safety technologies. In

30
00:01:57.840 --> 00:02:02.040
two thousand and eight, had the
vision to establish an IT system integration firm

31
00:02:02.319 --> 00:02:07.879
to capture the growth of IP technologies
and digitalization. It was this vision which

32
00:02:07.920 --> 00:02:12.560
positions Soldier Solutions to capitalize on the
emergence of the Internet of Things market and

33
00:02:12.599 --> 00:02:15.919
its unlimited potential. Ed joined us
today from Dallas, Texas. ED.

34
00:02:16.080 --> 00:02:21.960
Welcome to Working on Purpose. Good
afternoon. Thank you, appreciate you inviting

35
00:02:22.000 --> 00:02:25.000
me on your show. You are
so welcome. I've been so excited to

36
00:02:25.000 --> 00:02:28.319
have you in the show. In
fact, as I mentioned before we got

37
00:02:28.360 --> 00:02:30.360
on air, if your ears weren't
burning, they should have been because I

38
00:02:30.439 --> 00:02:34.520
was just talking about you and what
you're up to and what we were talking

39
00:02:34.520 --> 00:02:38.439
about today to various people, and
they're so excited. So to kick us

40
00:02:38.479 --> 00:02:40.719
off here, and I think it
would make a lot of sense just to

41
00:02:40.759 --> 00:02:44.120
help our listeners. I mean a
lot of listeners are like, gosh,

42
00:02:44.159 --> 00:02:46.800
I don't know what the heck is
this driver list technology? What's the Internet

43
00:02:46.840 --> 00:02:50.280
of things? Smart cities? What's
all that? So let's start first by

44
00:02:50.400 --> 00:02:57.159
just giving some understanding what you and
your team do at Soldier Solutions Sure where

45
00:02:57.199 --> 00:03:02.080
are system integration firm? In simple
terms, we help customers deploy technologies that

46
00:03:02.199 --> 00:03:08.520
improve safety and security, situational awareness, or operational efficiencies and this is really

47
00:03:08.560 --> 00:03:14.919
accomplished by bringing things onto the network
of the enterprise network. So that's the

48
00:03:14.960 --> 00:03:21.800
Internet of things title in our background. So give us some example just to

49
00:03:21.919 --> 00:03:24.840
make that a little bit more less
abstract and more concrete for our listeners.

50
00:03:24.840 --> 00:03:27.800
Can give us an example of,
like some the kind of work that you

51
00:03:27.800 --> 00:03:31.199
would actually do for an enterprise.
Sure, I'll just hear a little bit

52
00:03:31.240 --> 00:03:35.319
about you know, what is this
term Internet of things? And that's what

53
00:03:35.360 --> 00:03:38.680
it is. A term. It
means many different things to many different players.

54
00:03:38.719 --> 00:03:45.039
But I see it as a differentiator
from yesterday's Internet traffic to tomorrow's Internet

55
00:03:45.120 --> 00:03:51.439
traffic. If you looked two years
ago, there was roughly six billion devices

56
00:03:51.479 --> 00:03:55.360
on the network, and those were
traditional devices that everyone's used to your laptop,

57
00:03:57.840 --> 00:04:03.360
your servers and enterprise environment, even
your iPads, smart tablets, smartphones.

58
00:04:04.159 --> 00:04:09.599
They're predicting by twenty twenty they'll be
up to fifty billion devices, so

59
00:04:09.639 --> 00:04:14.400
significantly growth in that area. And
the growth is coming from the things,

60
00:04:14.439 --> 00:04:18.120
not your traditional computers. It's coming
from if you look at smart homes,

61
00:04:18.160 --> 00:04:24.040
it's coming from anywhere, from door
bells with ring technology, the nests,

62
00:04:24.120 --> 00:04:31.319
thermostat's surveillance cameras, environmental sensors,
street lighting. So we help companies bring

63
00:04:31.439 --> 00:04:38.319
these things onto the network, these
sensors and devices that traditionally haven't been on

64
00:04:38.360 --> 00:04:43.560
the network. So that's where we
help companies improve safety and security by bringing

65
00:04:44.319 --> 00:04:48.839
video surveillance cameras onto the network.
So not only can police departments watch,

66
00:04:49.120 --> 00:04:56.480
community watchguards could watch. It's available
via your smartphone. Does that make sense?

67
00:04:57.360 --> 00:05:00.360
It does beautifully. And I really
like to be able to to help

68
00:05:00.399 --> 00:05:03.600
our listeners just really grasp the topic
because one of the things that you probably

69
00:05:03.600 --> 00:05:08.759
should know at is that we enjoy
a listenership across the globe. So there

70
00:05:08.800 --> 00:05:14.759
are people literally in Malaysia and India
and Argentina and of course California and New

71
00:05:14.839 --> 00:05:18.439
Jersey listening to us. And of
course everybody has a different, different understanding

72
00:05:18.439 --> 00:05:21.279
of what is the Internet of things, So try to boil that down for

73
00:05:21.319 --> 00:05:25.279
anybody who's just like, what is
this new world word coming into what does

74
00:05:25.319 --> 00:05:28.959
it mean for me? And so
that helped tremendously. Thank you, Yes,

75
00:05:30.839 --> 00:05:32.160
I guess sorry, are you gonna
say something else? Go ahead?

76
00:05:32.680 --> 00:05:36.000
No, I said, I'm great
that you know. It's It's funny that

77
00:05:36.120 --> 00:05:40.360
term can mean a lot of different
things. But in the simplest terms,

78
00:05:40.720 --> 00:05:44.839
it's these new devices coming onto the
network. So that things are, you

79
00:05:44.879 --> 00:05:47.800
know, not your smartphone, not
your computer, it's a light bulb.

80
00:05:50.279 --> 00:05:55.920
I like that. I like that. Well, let's get into one of

81
00:05:55.959 --> 00:05:58.720
the things I wanted to talk about
today, and I guess in general,

82
00:05:58.759 --> 00:06:01.480
what I'm really trying to get in
this conversation here, Ed is, you

83
00:06:01.560 --> 00:06:04.360
know, and anybody who's been listening
to the show at all knows that I'm

84
00:06:04.480 --> 00:06:09.879
fascinated and fixated on our experience of
work and how it will change, how

85
00:06:09.920 --> 00:06:13.480
it can be enriched, how it
can be more meaningful. And so certainly

86
00:06:13.759 --> 00:06:16.959
digitization and the world of technology will
continue to impact our experience and how we

87
00:06:17.000 --> 00:06:20.120
do our work. So one of
the things you and I talked about is

88
00:06:20.160 --> 00:06:26.480
what's coming fast around the corner is
driverless cars. So first, if you

89
00:06:26.519 --> 00:06:29.040
could speak a little bit on that
topic, Ed, you know, what

90
00:06:29.199 --> 00:06:32.759
is happening today in terms of their
development, How far are we away from

91
00:06:32.879 --> 00:06:38.000
seeing driverless cars, etc. And
then I'll drill down from there. No

92
00:06:38.360 --> 00:06:44.439
very good question, And the driverless
cars is something that happening as we speak.

93
00:06:44.560 --> 00:06:49.680
There's several manufacturers that are building cars
with the appropriate sensors to communicate what

94
00:06:49.720 --> 00:06:55.240
they call via I vehicle to infrastructure
as well as V to be vehicle to

95
00:06:55.399 --> 00:07:00.279
vehicles. So some of the high
end vehicles you're familiar with, Tesla Audi

96
00:07:01.240 --> 00:07:09.160
has these vehicles. Every day you're
hearing manufacturers introduce these cars that are ready.

97
00:07:10.079 --> 00:07:16.639
Rumor has it sometimes twenty twenty,
all new manufactured cars will be mandated

98
00:07:16.639 --> 00:07:24.560
to have these necessary sensors to enable
autonomous vehicles. However, when you say

99
00:07:24.720 --> 00:07:30.639
you know when is it coming,
let's face it, not everyone's going to

100
00:07:30.639 --> 00:07:34.199
be in a position to get rid
of their old cars. So as far

101
00:07:34.279 --> 00:07:42.079
as when it'll be fully adopted or
masked adoption take place, they're predicting anywhere

102
00:07:42.079 --> 00:07:46.560
from twenty thirty to twenty forty.
And the driver behind that will be costs.

103
00:07:46.600 --> 00:07:49.639
As I just indicated, some of
the manufacturers that are early in this

104
00:07:49.720 --> 00:07:55.240
stage aren't your low end cars.
So for it to be adopted by the

105
00:07:55.279 --> 00:08:00.519
masses, it will definitely be an
economic picture of when it can make these

106
00:08:00.560 --> 00:08:05.319
cars affordable for everyone. And then
you have one other component, the infrastructure.

107
00:08:05.600 --> 00:08:09.639
The infrastructure will have to be updated
so that the roads are ready to

108
00:08:09.199 --> 00:08:15.560
take on these cars and put the
appropriate sensors within the roads. So a

109
00:08:15.600 --> 00:08:18.120
lot has to happen that our government
will be involved here in the US,

110
00:08:18.240 --> 00:08:22.560
but it's not as far as you
think the technology is there today, So

111
00:08:24.279 --> 00:08:31.040
it's just going to come down to
economics and federal mandate. Fascinating and I

112
00:08:31.079 --> 00:08:35.360
appreciate how you situated time and some
of the other contingent factors around how we'll

113
00:08:35.399 --> 00:08:39.200
need to prepare the infrastructure, etc. So let's now kind of bring that

114
00:08:39.240 --> 00:08:43.120
in presence, that whole notion into
our day lives and our work. So

115
00:08:43.519 --> 00:08:48.240
I was speaking with one of my
clients I was coaching yesterday when I told

116
00:08:48.240 --> 00:08:48.960
her that I was going to have
you on the show what we're going to

117
00:08:48.919 --> 00:08:52.320
be talking about? And I said, gosh, let's think about that.

118
00:08:52.759 --> 00:08:54.399
If we're not the one that's driving
the car on the way to work,

119
00:08:54.440 --> 00:08:56.559
what are we doing with that?
And she said, well, there better

120
00:08:56.559 --> 00:08:58.799
be an outlet in there for my
curling iron because of what I'm going to

121
00:08:58.799 --> 00:09:03.639
be doing putting my makeup on and
cooling my hair, because if I'm not

122
00:09:03.720 --> 00:09:07.000
driving, I'm doing something. So
talk to us, tell us what you

123
00:09:07.080 --> 00:09:09.960
think, I mean, how will
how will being in a driverless car an

124
00:09:11.000 --> 00:09:16.960
automated car change how we live and
work. It's interesting. I think we're

125
00:09:18.000 --> 00:09:22.679
being introduced to it slowly. I
mean the whole ride share programs. I

126
00:09:22.679 --> 00:09:26.720
don't know if you're a big user
of I am. I love Suber and

127
00:09:26.879 --> 00:09:31.879
Left Yes vehicles, but I don't
think twice about it. Now. When

128
00:09:31.879 --> 00:09:33.720
I go into the city, the
first thing I do is pull out my

129
00:09:33.919 --> 00:09:39.039
application and see how where a vehicle
is for me. I could see that

130
00:09:39.600 --> 00:09:45.320
being similar, and Uber and all
of these companies are looking at it where

131
00:09:46.120 --> 00:09:48.799
it'll just be an autonomous vehicle.
And then you ask yourself, you know,

132
00:09:48.840 --> 00:09:54.639
what do you do at the time
during that ride? Matter of fact,

133
00:09:54.679 --> 00:09:58.279
if if that's the premise that you
could do, your hear and all

134
00:09:58.279 --> 00:10:01.840
of that, I would have to
say I see autonomous vehicles going around now,

135
00:10:01.879 --> 00:10:05.600
because every time I look next to
me, I see people doing exactly

136
00:10:05.639 --> 00:10:11.600
what you're talking about. But the
real driver behind autonomous vehicles is really around

137
00:10:11.679 --> 00:10:18.679
safety. If you looked at studies
ten years ago, the number one problem

138
00:10:18.720 --> 00:10:22.919
with drivers safety was DWI. Today
it's the distracted driver. Just what you

139
00:10:24.039 --> 00:10:28.399
mentioned, people doing their hair while
driving or talking on the cell phone.

140
00:10:28.480 --> 00:10:33.279
So it will you say, how
will it impact our lives. I say,

141
00:10:33.679 --> 00:10:37.720
don't make the raids are not safer. Some people think the opposite.

142
00:10:37.720 --> 00:10:41.720
Oh, if I'm not controlling the
car, I don't feel safe, And

143
00:10:41.799 --> 00:10:45.679
it's just the opposite. If you
look at the accident, it's due to

144
00:10:46.279 --> 00:10:54.039
human behavior, not paying attention or
being distracted. I wanted to make a

145
00:10:54.080 --> 00:10:56.480
little bit of a funny joke and
say that you won't be one of the

146
00:10:56.519 --> 00:11:00.840
people that will be crowing your hair
on the way to work driver less car.

147
00:11:00.919 --> 00:11:03.360
But we'll leave that to let our
listeners see what I mean by that.

148
00:11:07.039 --> 00:11:11.360
You know, I love you.
And so another thing that I want

149
00:11:11.360 --> 00:11:13.559
to talk about that I think is
really interesting when we think about change and

150
00:11:13.600 --> 00:11:18.480
think about, you know, just
how society is changing. And I'd like

151
00:11:18.519 --> 00:11:22.000
you to comment on this from your
perspective, but I'm getting this perspective from

152
00:11:22.399 --> 00:11:26.399
some of the real estate development clients
that I work with when they talk about

153
00:11:26.399 --> 00:11:30.960
how the millennials are really driving how
they change the way they construct real estate

154
00:11:31.039 --> 00:11:33.519
and homes. They they're looking for
a less space to maintain, less yard

155
00:11:33.519 --> 00:11:39.200
to maintain. And then there's a
conversation about about automated vehicles, the idea

156
00:11:39.279 --> 00:11:41.480
being that maybe millennials don't want to
even own a car. Why would you

157
00:11:41.480 --> 00:11:45.679
want to do that if you can
just do a share ride. You know,

158
00:11:45.720 --> 00:11:48.639
what's the point of owning a car? What's your perspective on that?

159
00:11:50.639 --> 00:11:54.000
Yeah, I think you're spot on. Our cities are faced with this now,

160
00:11:54.000 --> 00:11:58.399
they say the millennials are looking to
move back into the cities. You

161
00:11:58.440 --> 00:12:01.879
know, there's a big trend for
people to move out of the cities to

162
00:12:01.960 --> 00:12:05.919
the suburbs to raise your family.
The millennials want to move into the city.

163
00:12:07.720 --> 00:12:11.960
Conveniences everything instant, you know,
gratification. I want to you know,

164
00:12:11.080 --> 00:12:18.360
work, play, and do all
my activities right in the community.

165
00:12:18.559 --> 00:12:22.679
So cities are faced with this.
Some of the drivers around smart cities are

166
00:12:22.720 --> 00:12:28.799
because of this trend to urbanize move
back in. So cities are faced with

167
00:12:28.919 --> 00:12:33.279
Okay, we have limited resources.
How do we address sustainability, water,

168
00:12:33.320 --> 00:12:37.919
electricity, all of that. Also, how do we make our city attractive?

169
00:12:37.039 --> 00:12:41.000
Right? Congestion, traffic environment right, you know, with all these

170
00:12:41.039 --> 00:12:46.679
cars coming in, so you'll see
a big push in the electronic electric vehicles.

171
00:12:46.240 --> 00:12:50.000
And the third component is how do
I make my city attractive? You

172
00:12:50.039 --> 00:12:54.679
know, are the streets safety?
We have proper lighting. So you take

173
00:12:54.720 --> 00:13:01.679
all those factors into play, and
that's the creation of small cities where there's

174
00:13:01.960 --> 00:13:07.519
a lot of intelligence of what's going
on, what's the traffic like, what's

175
00:13:07.559 --> 00:13:15.320
the environmental air quality and all of
these things. You know major events,

176
00:13:15.360 --> 00:13:18.960
you know what's the best way to
route people in and out of the city.

177
00:13:18.080 --> 00:13:24.919
So your spot on the change is
occurring driven by these millennials. They're

178
00:13:24.919 --> 00:13:30.120
building, even if it's not in
the city, in the suburbs. They're

179
00:13:30.120 --> 00:13:37.879
making these communities that are centered around
employment, entertainment, dining, and living

180
00:13:37.919 --> 00:13:41.639
all in one area where you don't
need a vehicle, and if you do

181
00:13:41.759 --> 00:13:48.200
need a vehicle, they're definitely not
owning a car that sits in the garage.

182
00:13:48.399 --> 00:13:52.399
Just think about that. People don't
realize it, But how much time

183
00:13:52.440 --> 00:13:58.200
do you actually drive your car?
They say it's less than ten percent of

184
00:13:58.240 --> 00:14:01.159
the hours of the day. So
you you get in your car, you

185
00:14:01.240 --> 00:14:03.240
drive it, you park it at
work, you may go out to lunch,

186
00:14:03.320 --> 00:14:07.240
you may bring in lunch, and
then you go home or make a

187
00:14:07.240 --> 00:14:11.200
few errands. But if you take
all the hours in the day on an

188
00:14:11.200 --> 00:14:16.279
average, it's less than ten percent. So why own that asset? Exactly

189
00:14:16.440 --> 00:14:20.159
ed and that's some of the conversations
that I've been having around this. And

190
00:14:20.200 --> 00:14:22.000
when I think too, just a
little bit more treatment this and we'll need

191
00:14:22.039 --> 00:14:26.039
to go on a break here in
just a second. But when I think

192
00:14:26.080 --> 00:14:31.039
about how will this change in technology
impact our lives and our work, I

193
00:14:31.080 --> 00:14:35.360
mean, obviously, if we're not
the ones that are sitting in traffic getting

194
00:14:35.399 --> 00:14:39.519
frustrated on the way to work,
spending that time, we can actually divert

195
00:14:39.519 --> 00:14:43.039
that time else for maybe maybe that's
when we do actually take a productive conference

196
00:14:43.080 --> 00:14:46.759
call, right, Maybe that's when
we are actually listening to a podcast and

197
00:14:46.039 --> 00:14:50.519
get really getting something out of it. I'm going to contrast that too.

198
00:14:50.679 --> 00:14:56.000
I was in Amsterdam a few years
ago in January delivering a leadership session to

199
00:14:56.080 --> 00:15:01.799
some folks over there, and on
the way they I literally saw people riding

200
00:15:01.840 --> 00:15:09.480
their bicycles through the snow on a
conference call. A little bit different concept

201
00:15:09.519 --> 00:15:16.960
we're talking about here, Yes,
yes, absolutely, anyway, it's it's

202
00:15:18.080 --> 00:15:22.799
just it's it's really really interesting to
think about how how just this whole way

203
00:15:22.840 --> 00:15:26.879
that we will be able to spend
our time, divert our attention. And

204
00:15:28.480 --> 00:15:31.200
also what I also want to get
to is frankly, then spend more time

205
00:15:31.240 --> 00:15:35.840
on doing things that are less you
know what do I want to say?

206
00:15:35.759 --> 00:15:41.159
Uh? Simple and more higher level
skill, more require higher level competency.

207
00:15:41.240 --> 00:15:43.519
So you know, yes, striving
is very important. You got to pay

208
00:15:43.519 --> 00:15:46.840
attention, You've got to be safe. Although if we can now take those

209
00:15:46.919 --> 00:15:52.279
energies and put them into something that's
creative or really fantastic telephone exchange or maybe

210
00:15:52.279 --> 00:15:56.159
we've written something on the way to
work, seems to me that that's a

211
00:15:56.240 --> 00:16:00.440
higher level, higher order level of
skill than than driving. That to me,

212
00:16:00.600 --> 00:16:03.679
that gets to more meaning, more
and more activation, more enrichment,

213
00:16:03.960 --> 00:16:10.399
and I'm interested in that. That's
certainly a desire for me. No,

214
00:16:10.519 --> 00:16:15.080
you're spot on, and you know
they say, what's the impact of artificial

215
00:16:15.120 --> 00:16:19.039
intelligence, you know AI in the
world as we work every day? In

216
00:16:19.200 --> 00:16:25.279
simple terms, is it's going to
take away the routine tasks that are sometimes

217
00:16:25.360 --> 00:16:30.120
mundane and boring. Right. We
moved to machines to do that and allow

218
00:16:30.240 --> 00:16:34.799
us to be more creative and work
on creative and strategic activities. Right.

219
00:16:34.919 --> 00:16:41.600
So definitely driving is one of those
I mean, who looks forward to jumping

220
00:16:41.600 --> 00:16:45.360
in the car to go drive?
So if you could automate that with intelligence,

221
00:16:45.720 --> 00:16:49.039
it allows us to, like you
said, be more productive on the

222
00:16:49.080 --> 00:16:55.200
way to work. So I think
you're spot on there at least. Thank

223
00:16:55.240 --> 00:16:57.159
you right at my alley and a
perfect time for us to take a break

224
00:16:57.159 --> 00:17:00.519
in. I'm your host, Alice
Cortez with their with ed Christmas. He

225
00:17:00.639 --> 00:17:04.480
is the founder of Sology Solutions,
which connects the unconnected. He joined it

226
00:17:04.519 --> 00:17:07.440
today from Dallas, Texas. We've
been talking a little bit about drivers,

227
00:17:07.559 --> 00:17:11.839
cars and how that will impact how
we live and we work. After the

228
00:17:11.839 --> 00:17:14.440
break, we're going to talk more
about those smart cities that you mentioned before.

229
00:17:14.720 --> 00:17:29.200
Stay with us, we'll be right
back. Well. Friend us on

230
00:17:29.200 --> 00:17:36.279
Facebook to keep up with what's empowering
the world. Voice America Empowerment Alis Cortez

231
00:17:36.359 --> 00:17:41.720
is a speaker and engagement and development
catalyst. She designs and delivers professional development,

232
00:17:41.880 --> 00:17:45.720
leadership and engagement workshops and can bring
her expertise to your organization. She

233
00:17:45.759 --> 00:17:52.319
will help ignite meaningful development within your
workforce that will increase employee engagement, performance

234
00:17:52.400 --> 00:17:56.640
and retention. To learn more or
to invite Elise to speak to your organization,

235
00:17:56.799 --> 00:18:00.920
please visit her at www dot Elise
Corte dot com. She would welcome

236
00:18:00.960 --> 00:18:07.200
the opportunity to help get your employees
working on purpose. Follow the Voice America

237
00:18:07.319 --> 00:18:12.200
Talk Radio Network on Twitter. We're
at Voice America TRN. You'll get the

238
00:18:12.279 --> 00:18:17.559
latest fix on what's happening with our
shows, this week's featured guests, and

239
00:18:17.680 --> 00:18:22.079
general happenings that you should know about
at the Voice America Talk Radio Network.

240
00:18:22.240 --> 00:18:26.119
Now you don't have to miss anything
when you're away from your home or office.

241
00:18:26.440 --> 00:18:30.640
Just go to Twitter dot com,
forward slash Voice America TRN or follow

242
00:18:30.680 --> 00:18:37.000
along with us at Voice America TRN. The Voice America Talk Radio Network.

243
00:18:37.200 --> 00:18:42.279
We're on the cutting edge of social
media. Can you keep up? Life

244
00:18:42.359 --> 00:18:47.920
can be confusing at times. There
can be uncertainty, disappointment, and an

245
00:18:47.920 --> 00:18:51.680
inability to clearly see where you're headed. But it doesn't have to be this

246
00:18:51.759 --> 00:18:53.759
way at all. If you understand
how to take the next step in your

247
00:18:53.759 --> 00:18:59.839
life, tune into Living the Miracle
with your hosts Michael and Raphael Tomora.

248
00:19:00.279 --> 00:19:03.119
We'll help you to find the deeper
meaning that awaits you in your life,

249
00:19:03.440 --> 00:19:07.119
have certainty in yourself, and learn
to be clairvoyant. Listen Wednesdays at eleven

250
00:19:07.160 --> 00:19:17.319
am Pacific time two pm Eastern on
Voice America Empowerment. It's your world.

251
00:19:17.599 --> 00:19:33.160
Motivate, change, succeed, Voice
America Empowerment dot com. This is Working

252
00:19:33.240 --> 00:19:37.759
on Purpose with Elise Cortes. To
reach our program today, please call in

253
00:19:37.799 --> 00:19:41.359
to one triple eight three four six
nine one four one. Again that's one

254
00:19:41.480 --> 00:19:45.680
triple eight three four six nine one
four one. You may also send an

255
00:19:45.680 --> 00:19:52.759
email to elease A L I S
E at Elisecortes dot com. Now back

256
00:19:52.799 --> 00:19:57.839
to Working on Purpose. Thanks for
sting with us, and welcome back to

257
00:19:57.880 --> 00:20:00.880
Working on Purpose if you're just joining
us. My guest is Ed Christmas,

258
00:20:00.880 --> 00:20:04.119
who is the founder of Sology Solutions. For the last two decades, he

259
00:20:04.200 --> 00:20:08.559
ran sales and marketing organizations for some
of the leading companies selling communications systems,

260
00:20:08.720 --> 00:20:12.480
network services, and public safety technologies. In two thousand and eight, AT

261
00:20:12.519 --> 00:20:17.119
had the vision to establish an IT
system integration firm to capture the growth of

262
00:20:17.160 --> 00:20:22.400
IP technologies and digitization. It was
this vision which positioned Sology Solutions to capitalize

263
00:20:22.400 --> 00:20:26.279
on the emergence of the Internet of
Things market and its unlimited potential. I'm

264
00:20:26.319 --> 00:20:30.480
your host at last, Cortes,
so add for this segment, I really

265
00:20:30.519 --> 00:20:34.359
want to help our listeners understand the
potential and what's happening around what you termed

266
00:20:34.400 --> 00:20:38.400
smart cities. So first you mentioned
them already, but what do you mean

267
00:20:38.440 --> 00:20:47.640
exactly by smart cities that are we
use the term in the technology field that

268
00:20:47.680 --> 00:20:53.000
are connected, being able to see
things that were normally disparate technologies, or

269
00:20:53.920 --> 00:21:00.960
having visibility to what's going on in
the city. I'll relate relate it to

270
00:21:00.880 --> 00:21:06.519
smart homes. So today I could
open my garage door without being there,

271
00:21:06.960 --> 00:21:11.759
I could turn lights on, I
could see what my thermostats said at cities

272
00:21:11.799 --> 00:21:18.319
have similar environments where they need to
know quickly if they have water leaks,

273
00:21:18.440 --> 00:21:22.880
they need to know what their utility
usage is on their street lights, they

274
00:21:22.920 --> 00:21:29.839
need to know where crowds are detected
to increase the tensity of their lighting.

275
00:21:30.039 --> 00:21:36.480
So it's bringing all of these technologies
onto the network so that there's visibility at

276
00:21:36.519 --> 00:21:40.359
all levels for the shareholders as well
as citizens. Let me give you this

277
00:21:40.440 --> 00:21:45.599
example. How cool would it be
to say to know or speak to Alexa.

278
00:21:45.880 --> 00:21:51.440
Right, Alexa, it's time for
me to go to the game tonight

279
00:21:51.559 --> 00:21:55.960
downtown. Alexa pulls it up on
your calendar, knows the address. Alexa

280
00:21:56.039 --> 00:22:00.559
is able to tap into the traffic
on the way down UH to direct you

281
00:22:00.920 --> 00:22:07.759
for the quickest route, no different
than ways ALEXA knows from the city application,

282
00:22:07.400 --> 00:22:14.359
where available parking is, ALEXA knows
with the shared information on the city

283
00:22:15.160 --> 00:22:19.480
portal, you know, restaurant availability. So just putting all of this UH

284
00:22:19.720 --> 00:22:25.319
making it available to the user,
no different than what we did in the

285
00:22:25.519 --> 00:22:33.000
taxi industry making smart taxis with Uber
and Lyft. So does that give you

286
00:22:33.039 --> 00:22:37.799
a background of what a smart city
is, having the information to make informative

287
00:22:37.839 --> 00:22:42.519
decisions and then proactive stata as opposed
to reacting. Yes, it does.

288
00:22:42.559 --> 00:22:45.599
And if you could say, you
alluded in the last segment about what it

289
00:22:45.640 --> 00:22:51.359
would take that in order to work, for example, to support driverless cars,

290
00:22:51.480 --> 00:22:55.039
you know that the infrastructure will need
to be severely or maybe not to

291
00:22:55.079 --> 00:22:57.039
really but upgrade it. So maybe
it would be good for us to understand

292
00:22:57.079 --> 00:23:02.000
a bit more of just what does
it take then in order to support and

293
00:23:02.039 --> 00:23:07.000
sustain a smart city set up.
Yes, I mean, it's a great

294
00:23:07.079 --> 00:23:12.319
question and it's a big question that
I'll try to simplify, but there's definitely

295
00:23:12.519 --> 00:23:18.680
more coordinated effort. Cities traditionally have
worked in silos. The water department,

296
00:23:18.799 --> 00:23:22.920
you know, address order, public
works addressed. You know street improvements,

297
00:23:22.960 --> 00:23:27.599
and you know lighting department, transportation
or school districts. That they're all disparate

298
00:23:27.720 --> 00:23:37.480
organizations. It really takes collaboration among
all entities in the cities. For example,

299
00:23:37.640 --> 00:23:41.519
just take your transit operator, which
is usually not operated by the city,

300
00:23:41.839 --> 00:23:48.279
would have to be coordinated with that
to give you the best means of

301
00:23:48.440 --> 00:23:52.200
transportation into the city. Should it
be an uber shared right, should it

302
00:23:52.279 --> 00:24:00.000
be mass transportation infrastructure? Road infrastructure. A simple example is the cars of

303
00:24:00.039 --> 00:24:06.359
the future have these sensors that detect
potholes, so being able to hit a

304
00:24:06.400 --> 00:24:12.240
pothole, report that information into the
nearest intersection so that the city manager knows

305
00:24:12.359 --> 00:24:18.759
that I have an issue on this
road. Thirteen cars reported rough roads at

306
00:24:18.759 --> 00:24:25.559
this area, and you automatically dispatch
someone to repair that pothole. Those types

307
00:24:25.599 --> 00:24:30.000
of efficiencies will be available. And
you say what does it take. It

308
00:24:30.079 --> 00:24:37.599
takes connecting traffic intersections, putting sensors
in the roads, connecting your lighting.

309
00:24:38.599 --> 00:24:45.039
All of these what we call things
in the earlier session that today are not

310
00:24:45.240 --> 00:24:49.319
on the network, the enterprise network
or the city network will have to be

311
00:24:49.319 --> 00:24:56.480
brought onto the network to have a
holistic view of what's going on. I

312
00:24:56.559 --> 00:25:00.680
just had a flash as you were
saying that Ed the city manager you were

313
00:25:00.680 --> 00:25:04.160
mentioning receiving that information, and I
thought to myself, okay, again,

314
00:25:04.240 --> 00:25:08.400
since the show is really focused on
helping people more meaningfully and productively connect with

315
00:25:08.440 --> 00:25:12.359
their work, I wonder you know
the efficiency of that. I mean,

316
00:25:12.440 --> 00:25:15.000
gosh, what a difference that would
be if you had that information quickly.

317
00:25:15.400 --> 00:25:18.400
Of course, they then need a
system on their side to be able to

318
00:25:18.440 --> 00:25:22.599
capture it, so it's meaningful and
it's actionable for them to work from as

319
00:25:22.599 --> 00:25:26.559
well, of course, but it
seems to me I don't know how they

320
00:25:26.559 --> 00:25:30.319
would otherwise get a report about a
pothole Do you have any idea on that

321
00:25:32.319 --> 00:25:37.400
today? It's three one one if
most cities have information services, which is

322
00:25:37.480 --> 00:25:41.200
three one one, not your emergency
nine to one one, where you would

323
00:25:41.240 --> 00:25:45.400
call in and say, trash wasn't
picked up today, and you know someone

324
00:25:45.440 --> 00:25:48.279
would take that call and note it
and move on, and then you would

325
00:25:48.279 --> 00:25:52.079
realize, wow, you know this, this one mile radius trash hasn't been

326
00:25:52.079 --> 00:25:56.400
picked up, but you know,
automating that making it available to report through

327
00:25:56.480 --> 00:26:02.480
city apps, which is something that's
happening today. City are realizing to engage

328
00:26:02.519 --> 00:26:08.680
their citizens. They want to have
applications. An easy one to relate to

329
00:26:08.880 --> 00:26:14.240
is see something, say something.
So a lot of your major cities are

330
00:26:14.680 --> 00:26:18.839
rolling out apps on their page where
you know, you could pull up and

331
00:26:18.880 --> 00:26:22.400
say, you know, debris in
the street and immediately that comes in.

332
00:26:22.519 --> 00:26:29.920
So that's a simplistic term or way
to get there. So there's a lot

333
00:26:30.000 --> 00:26:37.279
more of community engagement. The importance
of making citizens proud of their cities is

334
00:26:37.319 --> 00:26:42.519
all about engaging them and letting them
realize the benefits of being a connected city,

335
00:26:42.559 --> 00:26:48.880
in a smart city. All of
that sounds wonderfully delicious to me ed

336
00:26:48.720 --> 00:26:52.200
and at the same time it does. It just absolutely does. And at

337
00:26:52.200 --> 00:26:57.079
the same time, I want to
talk about something that I know is that,

338
00:26:57.200 --> 00:27:00.319
at least in the background of people
who are listening, it's not quite

339
00:27:00.400 --> 00:27:03.759
smacking the foreground. So Matt is, oh, my gosh, all of

340
00:27:03.799 --> 00:27:10.640
this talk about smart cities and new
technology and automation. That means that at

341
00:27:10.640 --> 00:27:14.240
some point, you know, maybe
my job goes away. Talk to us

342
00:27:14.279 --> 00:27:18.759
a little bit about your perspective on
how automation does change our workworld. It

343
00:27:18.799 --> 00:27:22.720
does take away some jobs it does
automate certain things that a person used to

344
00:27:22.720 --> 00:27:29.759
do. No, it's a very
valid point. Matter of fact, if

345
00:27:29.759 --> 00:27:33.240
anyone says that it won't take away
certain jobs, then they're lying to you.

346
00:27:33.480 --> 00:27:38.000
So definitely will take away. I
have engineers on my team saying,

347
00:27:38.599 --> 00:27:42.920
you know they won't be needed.
I think skill sets will have to be

348
00:27:42.960 --> 00:27:48.440
adjusted. As I stated earlier,
AI or artificial intelligence will take away the

349
00:27:48.720 --> 00:27:55.880
routine task. I think personally,
coming from a sales and marketing perspective,

350
00:27:56.240 --> 00:28:00.440
it allows us to focus on the
service, the soft skill that really are

351
00:28:00.480 --> 00:28:07.480
hard to replicate in AI technology.
Customer service for example, Yes, you

352
00:28:07.519 --> 00:28:11.359
could take a routine call, but
if you want to have excellent and premiere

353
00:28:11.440 --> 00:28:15.279
customer service, you need those emotions. You need that to understand, look

354
00:28:15.359 --> 00:28:18.680
someone in the eye, things like
that. So definitely there will be tasks

355
00:28:18.680 --> 00:28:22.640
that are taken away. I think
it will allow people to focus on,

356
00:28:23.440 --> 00:28:29.720
as I said earlier, that creative
and strategic activities. So skills set sets

357
00:28:29.799 --> 00:28:36.119
will have to be shifted, and
that's where our whole education system comes into

358
00:28:36.160 --> 00:28:41.599
play. Realizing you don't want to
focus on a career that has the potential

359
00:28:41.720 --> 00:28:47.200
to be taken away. A great
example is code booth attendance. You know,

360
00:28:47.279 --> 00:28:49.640
when's the last time you went through
a toll booth and dropped in change

361
00:28:49.759 --> 00:28:52.960
or a dollar? You know that
that career is gone, and it's through

362
00:28:53.039 --> 00:28:59.160
all automation and the vehicle with a
toll tag going through correct or you know,

363
00:28:59.240 --> 00:29:03.119
capturing your life and plate and sending
you a invoids in the mail.

364
00:29:03.880 --> 00:29:10.680
So that task or that skill is
no longer needed. But there's other areas

365
00:29:10.799 --> 00:29:18.759
that those resources can focus on.
Completely agree. So anybody who's heard me

366
00:29:18.799 --> 00:29:22.599
talk just a couple of times knows
that I really am interested in helping more

367
00:29:22.640 --> 00:29:25.720
people live with passion and work on
purpose. And what I know from the

368
00:29:25.759 --> 00:29:30.319
research that I've done ed. I
researched and interviewed one hundred and fifteen people

369
00:29:30.319 --> 00:29:34.000
across twenty different professions between the ages
of eighteen and seventy four to learn just

370
00:29:34.079 --> 00:29:37.200
really what do they find meaningful about
the work that they do and how does

371
00:29:37.240 --> 00:29:41.160
it relate to their sense of self
or their identity. And I found fifteen

372
00:29:41.200 --> 00:29:45.720
modes of engagement. And what I
learned in that process aid was that generally

373
00:29:45.759 --> 00:29:48.640
speaking, not completely, but generally
speaking, if you looked at how the

374
00:29:48.720 --> 00:29:55.440
meaning elements that they depicted fell in
line with Maslow's higherarchy of meaning, so

375
00:29:55.480 --> 00:29:57.359
that you could see that if it
was more of just you know, a

376
00:29:57.400 --> 00:30:00.519
physical oriented skill, and then we
move into sort of something emotional, or

377
00:30:00.559 --> 00:30:03.759
then we got into relationship, and
then we got into the cognitive, into

378
00:30:03.759 --> 00:30:08.400
the values. The higher up you
went, the more meaning the person experienced

379
00:30:08.440 --> 00:30:11.839
in the work that they did,
and therefore the more fulfilling it was,

380
00:30:11.160 --> 00:30:15.240
and oftentimes the more important it was
to their sense of person. Not that

381
00:30:15.279 --> 00:30:18.720
we want work to be everything,
but if it becomes so meaningful that it

382
00:30:18.839 --> 00:30:22.200
just becomes a way of life for
you and everything else is enjoyable, then

383
00:30:22.240 --> 00:30:26.000
fantastic, and so all the more
reason that yes, I completely understand that

384
00:30:26.079 --> 00:30:30.200
we will need to retool people in
order to live in this new world that's

385
00:30:30.559 --> 00:30:34.480
unfolding as we as we speak and
breathe in this call. And it's scary

386
00:30:34.519 --> 00:30:37.200
as heck for a lot of people
out there that recognize, well, I

387
00:30:37.200 --> 00:30:41.880
don't know maybe what to do next, and I want to make sure that

388
00:30:41.960 --> 00:30:47.240
we position this conversation as it's an
opportunity for you to become more of the

389
00:30:47.240 --> 00:30:51.759
person you can actually be. You're
coming. Absolutely it goes back to the

390
00:30:51.799 --> 00:30:53.480
saying, you know, some people
are afraid of change, right, but

391
00:30:55.119 --> 00:31:00.119
we all know change could be very
good. I think the biggest problem I

392
00:31:00.160 --> 00:31:04.759
always talk with my team is being
afraid to fail right the unknown. Oh

393
00:31:04.799 --> 00:31:08.480
it's scary out there. I know
this. I've been doing this for twenty

394
00:31:08.559 --> 00:31:12.519
years. So they're comfortable. They
become complacent. But as you know,

395
00:31:12.599 --> 00:31:18.240
that doesn't help an individual grow.
So I think to your point, I

396
00:31:18.240 --> 00:31:22.400
think it's an opportunity. Let's not
look at it as oh, it's a

397
00:31:22.440 --> 00:31:26.799
negative, and you know it's sad. It's an opportunity for people to grow

398
00:31:27.240 --> 00:31:30.680
and really find their passion. I
like your point about the higher up you

399
00:31:30.799 --> 00:31:37.119
go in that here hierarchy, you
know, the more rewarding the career is.

400
00:31:37.240 --> 00:31:41.640
Right. I can't imagine, and
hopefully I'm not talking bad about toll

401
00:31:41.720 --> 00:31:45.440
attendance, but I can't imagine that
was something exciting to do every day,

402
00:31:45.640 --> 00:31:52.160
right, But I'm sure now wherever
they've gone, or the retooling they've taken,

403
00:31:52.599 --> 00:31:57.160
hopefully it's more rewarding than that.
Yeah, and let me give a

404
00:31:57.200 --> 00:32:00.799
really concrete example of that as well. That I think the toll attendant is

405
00:32:00.839 --> 00:32:04.559
a very good example and certainly like
you, I would never want to do

406
00:32:04.559 --> 00:32:07.319
diminish anyone's experience of doing that kind
of work, because what I do know

407
00:32:07.359 --> 00:32:12.640
about human beings is that human beings
have the remarkable ability to make meaning in

408
00:32:12.720 --> 00:32:15.119
anything that they do, and so
they have the ability to create that meaning

409
00:32:15.119 --> 00:32:20.400
for themselves. And so even if
it's something on the outset that doesn't look

410
00:32:20.440 --> 00:32:22.559
like it might be a lot of
fun, they know how to make meaning

411
00:32:22.559 --> 00:32:23.839
in that. So I never want
to diminish that needed, like you're saying.

412
00:32:24.440 --> 00:32:30.079
But one thing I want to really
just bring home to the listeners is

413
00:32:30.119 --> 00:32:34.279
it's just this last trip that I've
been on ED I went to the airport

414
00:32:34.279 --> 00:32:37.599
to check in my bags through security, and the tubs that you put all

415
00:32:37.599 --> 00:32:40.119
your stuff in it go to security
were completely different. They were larger and

416
00:32:40.160 --> 00:32:44.559
bigger, and there was a person
there kind of frankly barking for me to

417
00:32:44.599 --> 00:32:46.559
put all of myself into this tub
and move it over, you do this

418
00:32:46.640 --> 00:32:51.240
whatever. And I looked up and
I realized, oh my gosh, now

419
00:32:51.400 --> 00:32:54.119
the tub system in this particular security
line is now on a chain system.

420
00:32:54.200 --> 00:32:58.920
There is not a person involved again, and I realize, Okay, there's

421
00:32:58.920 --> 00:33:02.480
another example of some and it's been
automated now. I think personally that a

422
00:33:02.519 --> 00:33:07.079
person can do a lot more than
move those binds from one area of the

423
00:33:07.119 --> 00:33:09.160
airport to the other, and there's
more that we could pull from from that

424
00:33:09.200 --> 00:33:14.680
person. But it was a job
that's now gone to a machine. So

425
00:33:15.000 --> 00:33:19.200
just an interesting, just real life, everyday example of how that changes and

426
00:33:19.400 --> 00:33:22.839
what the opportunities are for that.
Right. No, it's funny you say

427
00:33:22.880 --> 00:33:27.680
that. I just experienced that myself
and I was thrown off. There was

428
00:33:27.720 --> 00:33:30.640
a person there telling me how to
do it, so there was a job

429
00:33:30.759 --> 00:33:36.640
created around that, but that little
change threw me off. But you're right,

430
00:33:36.680 --> 00:33:40.920
it's all automated now, so a
lot more efficiency in that whole process.

431
00:33:43.119 --> 00:33:44.920
Well, and you know what,
I'll also say, let me just

432
00:33:44.960 --> 00:33:47.400
tell on myself here, ed.
I've just recently tried to get my head

433
00:33:47.400 --> 00:33:52.960
around this because I'm a type a
person. I tend to talk fast,

434
00:33:52.960 --> 00:33:54.039
I walk fast. I'm on a
mission. I've got a big, two

435
00:33:54.359 --> 00:33:58.559
long list of to do items like
everybody else on the planet. And what

436
00:33:58.680 --> 00:34:00.599
happened for me is when I encounter
or an obstacle and I don't quite know

437
00:34:00.680 --> 00:34:04.680
yet how to do it, I
get frustrated. So the old me,

438
00:34:05.960 --> 00:34:08.239
prior to this epiphany thing that I
had recently, would have just gotten frustrated

439
00:34:08.280 --> 00:34:13.079
and maybe not try something and just
try to work around something. Now I'm

440
00:34:13.159 --> 00:34:15.639
like, all right, at least
come on, you can figure this out.

441
00:34:15.800 --> 00:34:17.599
So, no, this is not
what you're used to, but maybe

442
00:34:17.599 --> 00:34:21.639
if you just take a second and
try to see how does this you know,

443
00:34:21.679 --> 00:34:23.960
this remote control actually work? What
is this new application that you just

444
00:34:24.000 --> 00:34:27.800
installed on your phone? How come
on, you can you can try to

445
00:34:27.800 --> 00:34:30.920
work with this. And so what
I also recognize, back to what you

446
00:34:30.920 --> 00:34:34.960
said about change, is there is
a required element of adaptation to all this

447
00:34:35.119 --> 00:34:39.679
change that does take something from its
requires something from us. Yes, And

448
00:34:39.760 --> 00:34:45.719
I think, let's just say,
adults of a certain age have in the

449
00:34:45.840 --> 00:34:49.480
back of the head of that fear
I won't know how to do it,

450
00:34:49.880 --> 00:34:53.679
and they die away from it.
I think the new younger generation, they

451
00:34:53.719 --> 00:35:00.400
grew up with the constant change and
a very comfortable jumping into something, and

452
00:35:00.400 --> 00:35:04.880
you could see it. You could
give a child a smartphone and they won't

453
00:35:04.920 --> 00:35:08.199
hesitate at all, you know,
getting into the application and trying things,

454
00:35:08.239 --> 00:35:15.000
where a more mature adult will hesitate
and be very cautious about pressing button.

455
00:35:15.159 --> 00:35:23.719
So I absolutely agree with you.
The change is something that our society has

456
00:35:23.800 --> 00:35:29.199
to get comfortable with, and I
do think the younger generation will be okay

457
00:35:29.239 --> 00:35:32.719
with that. Well, you just
present something for me really quick that I

458
00:35:32.719 --> 00:35:37.159
want to throw on ed. And
so when we think about how we'll liveing

459
00:35:37.159 --> 00:35:39.199
in a smart city, change the
way we live and we work, and

460
00:35:39.280 --> 00:35:43.480
you just maybe think about something.
I did a show about a year and

461
00:35:43.519 --> 00:35:47.280
a half ago on reverse mentoring.
The idea being that organizations are employing this

462
00:35:47.360 --> 00:35:54.119
concept where they bring in the younger
generations to be in a mutual coaching relationship

463
00:35:54.119 --> 00:35:58.960
with their elders. The idea being
that each contributes to the other. So

464
00:35:59.000 --> 00:36:01.360
the younger generation each is the older
one about how to use technology and social

465
00:36:01.400 --> 00:36:06.840
media and you know, bring up
their presentation abilities, and the older generation

466
00:36:06.920 --> 00:36:12.280
teaches the younger ones about how to
handle strategy and politics and all that kind

467
00:36:12.320 --> 00:36:15.920
of thing. It's brilliant. So
if we employ that same idea and how

468
00:36:15.960 --> 00:36:19.800
we work within a smart city to
help, you know, the older folks

469
00:36:19.920 --> 00:36:23.199
like me handle the change of all
this new technology, hold their hand if

470
00:36:23.239 --> 00:36:28.079
you will. I can really see
that as being an essential part of a

471
00:36:29.119 --> 00:36:37.000
partnership of how organizations utilize their employees
to ease this transition between the generations.

472
00:36:37.079 --> 00:36:42.599
Absolutely, I totally agree with that, and that seems pretty fascinating and to

473
00:36:42.679 --> 00:36:46.239
your point, one of the challenges
I have as a company, some of

474
00:36:46.280 --> 00:36:52.719
the younger generation do not have some
of the skills that the older generation has

475
00:36:52.760 --> 00:36:55.440
as far as strategic thinking. You
know, if you give them a task,

476
00:36:55.519 --> 00:37:00.920
so go tackle it. But the
strategic thinking, stepping out of the

477
00:37:00.960 --> 00:37:07.519
box, things of that sort are
interesting and I attributed as talking with my

478
00:37:07.599 --> 00:37:13.480
management team. I attribute it to
the upbringing of kids, so they're definitely

479
00:37:13.679 --> 00:37:16.480
open to change. But just think
about when I was a child, we

480
00:37:16.559 --> 00:37:22.880
went out and there was so much
independent figuring things out. I coach sports,

481
00:37:22.000 --> 00:37:25.840
sporting teams, and if I let
the kids just try to figure out

482
00:37:25.880 --> 00:37:30.000
teams on their own, they're they're
looking for me to you know, divide

483
00:37:30.079 --> 00:37:32.400
up the teams of you know who, she do what. So the whole

484
00:37:32.440 --> 00:37:37.800
creativity, my hear is going away. So I like the idea of aligning

485
00:37:37.840 --> 00:37:45.639
those two generations to learn from each
other. I think that's a brilliant idea.

486
00:37:45.960 --> 00:37:50.320
Yeah, I do too, and
doing it with intentionality and purpose and

487
00:37:50.880 --> 00:37:54.519
a plan I think is really essential
to moves forward. So you elicited that

488
00:37:54.559 --> 00:37:58.280
to me when we were talking about
the smart cities and adaptation, So thank

489
00:37:58.320 --> 00:38:00.559
you for that, and I hope
some of our listeners got value out of

490
00:38:00.559 --> 00:38:04.480
that part of it too. So
here we are for our next break already,

491
00:38:04.519 --> 00:38:07.519
I'm Elise Cortez, your host.
I bound the air with Ed Christmas,

492
00:38:07.519 --> 00:38:10.039
who is the founder of Sology Solutions, which connects the unconnected. He

493
00:38:10.159 --> 00:38:14.320
joins us today from Dallas, Texas. We'll be right back after the break.

494
00:38:14.360 --> 00:38:23.760
To stay with us. Friend us
on Facebook to keep up with what's

495
00:38:23.800 --> 00:38:31.039
empowering the world. Voice America Empowerment. Alis Cortes is a speaker and engagement

496
00:38:31.079 --> 00:38:37.119
and development catalyst. She designs and
delivers professional development, leadership and engagement workshops

497
00:38:37.159 --> 00:38:42.880
and can bring her expertise to your
organization. She will help ignite meaningful development

498
00:38:42.920 --> 00:38:47.039
within your workforce that will increase employee
engagement, performance and retention. To learn

499
00:38:47.079 --> 00:38:51.880
more or to invite Elise to speak
to your organization, please visit her at

500
00:38:52.039 --> 00:38:57.679
www dot Elisecortes dot com. She
would welcome the opportunity to help get your

501
00:38:57.719 --> 00:39:02.480
employees working on purpose. We're making
it easier to listen to the Voice America

502
00:39:02.519 --> 00:39:07.480
Talk Radio Network wherever you go.
In addition to listening live, you can

503
00:39:07.559 --> 00:39:10.639
check out information about your favorite talk
show hosts, discover new talk show personalities

504
00:39:10.719 --> 00:39:15.960
at shows to your list of favorites, and listen to all our show archives

505
00:39:15.039 --> 00:39:20.800
on demand, all from your iPhone, BlackBerry or Android downloaded from the Apple

506
00:39:20.840 --> 00:39:24.079
App Store, BlackBerry App World,
or Android Market. And get ready to

507
00:39:24.159 --> 00:39:39.719
tune in the Voice America mould waft
powered by air Cast, look Stoppagacy,

508
00:39:40.360 --> 00:39:45.679
Get inspired, encouraged and connected on
our Lively Award winning Healthy Living Power Hour

509
00:39:45.960 --> 00:39:52.840
Star Style Be the star you are
with host and empowerment architect Cindya Brian live

510
00:39:52.960 --> 00:39:57.519
every Wednesday at four pm Pacific on
the Voice America Empowerment Channel. Tune into

511
00:39:57.559 --> 00:40:01.360
the Power Party for positive, uplifting, changing talk radio. Visit star Style

512
00:40:01.480 --> 00:40:20.000
radio dot com. Follow us on
Twitter for more great ideas at Voice America

513
00:40:20.079 --> 00:40:32.320
Empowerment. This is working on Purpose
with Elise Cortes. To reach our program

514
00:40:32.360 --> 00:40:37.559
today, please call in to one
triple eight three four six nine one four

515
00:40:37.599 --> 00:40:42.000
one. Again that's one triple eight
three four six nine one four one.

516
00:40:42.400 --> 00:40:47.400
You may also send an email to
aleise A l I s E at Elisecortes

517
00:40:47.440 --> 00:40:54.079
dot com. Now back to working
on purpose. Thanks for seeing with us,

518
00:40:54.079 --> 00:40:57.800
and welcome back to working on purpose
if you're just tuning in. My

519
00:40:57.840 --> 00:41:00.559
guest is Ed Christmas, who is
the founder of Soldiers. For the last

520
00:41:00.599 --> 00:41:05.079
two decades, he ran sales and
marketing organizations for some of the leading companies

521
00:41:05.280 --> 00:41:09.000
selling communications systems, network services,
and public safety technologies. In two thousand

522
00:41:09.000 --> 00:41:13.519
and eight, it had the vision
to establish an IT system integration firm to

523
00:41:13.599 --> 00:41:17.079
capture the growth of IP technologies and
digitization. It was this vision which positions

524
00:41:17.119 --> 00:41:21.679
Soldier Solutions to capitalize on the emergence
of the Internet of Things market and it's

525
00:41:21.760 --> 00:41:25.639
unlimited potential. I'm your host at
least Cortes, So for this last segment

526
00:41:25.679 --> 00:41:29.280
here, Ed, I wanted to
spend a little bit of time talking about

527
00:41:29.320 --> 00:41:34.320
your own experience of creating Soldier solutions. You were in various corporate roles,

528
00:41:34.360 --> 00:41:36.480
and if you want to say a
few things about that, that's great.

529
00:41:36.519 --> 00:41:38.920
But what I wanted to share with
the listeners is when you and I first

530
00:41:38.960 --> 00:41:42.320
spoke on the phone about being on
the show, and you told me a

531
00:41:42.320 --> 00:41:45.840
bit about just what it was that
you were trying to do, the experience,

532
00:41:45.960 --> 00:41:49.480
the work, the life that you
were trying to create by founding the

533
00:41:49.519 --> 00:41:52.280
business, and what it means to
you. When I think about working on

534
00:41:52.360 --> 00:41:57.119
purpose, that's certainly working on purpose. So tell us little bit about how

535
00:41:57.159 --> 00:42:00.760
it, maybe a bit about your
background and then what were you trying to

536
00:42:00.840 --> 00:42:05.039
do when you founded the company?
Sure, I think when we spoke last

537
00:42:05.039 --> 00:42:09.760
Alease I mentioned I think a lot
of employees struggle with that balance and in

538
00:42:09.800 --> 00:42:16.000
their corporation say we have a work
life balance, and that's something I personally

539
00:42:16.000 --> 00:42:22.199
struggled with quite a bit. As
you're moving up the ranks, corporate environment

540
00:42:22.760 --> 00:42:27.880
can get very political. You're fighting
for a limited number of seats at the

541
00:42:27.920 --> 00:42:32.719
top, and the game changes,
right you have to show your commitment to

542
00:42:32.800 --> 00:42:39.400
the corporation and your I guess,
your contribution to the corporation, and it

543
00:42:39.400 --> 00:42:45.920
it becomes very challenging to balance that
with your personal life. And I had

544
00:42:45.119 --> 00:42:51.239
young kids, young family. I
personally struggled with, you know, how

545
00:42:51.280 --> 00:42:54.599
do I do a better job at
this? And that's what gave me the

546
00:42:54.719 --> 00:43:00.760
drive to break away. And as
I mentioned to you once before, challenges

547
00:43:00.280 --> 00:43:05.880
once you're on that wheel. It's
hard to jump off in a corporate environment

548
00:43:06.079 --> 00:43:14.440
because you become used to certain things
and it's easy to keep putting it off.

549
00:43:15.239 --> 00:43:20.320
But it's not until I jumped off
that I realized the balance is much

550
00:43:20.360 --> 00:43:24.599
easier when you do have your own
business. Just take your community, being

551
00:43:24.599 --> 00:43:28.960
able to give back to the community
and be involved in your community, to

552
00:43:29.000 --> 00:43:32.320
be able to go to sporting event
with your kids and spend time with your

553
00:43:32.320 --> 00:43:37.400
neighbors and you know, right after
school activities and things like that. I

554
00:43:37.519 --> 00:43:44.440
just didn't have a chance of doing
that in corporate environment between the travel and

555
00:43:44.480 --> 00:43:51.159
the commitment of my previous jobs.
If that makes sense to you, it

556
00:43:51.239 --> 00:43:53.920
does, And let me take that
down another layer or so for our listeners

557
00:43:53.960 --> 00:43:58.159
out there at who I know,
there are lots of people out there who

558
00:43:58.199 --> 00:44:01.679
are dying to start their own own
business, and just for various reasons.

559
00:44:01.719 --> 00:44:05.400
Having made the leap, it's more, you know, if there's less risk

560
00:44:05.480 --> 00:44:08.519
to say where they are, et
cetera. So talk about having to change

561
00:44:08.519 --> 00:44:14.119
and having to lean into risk.
Tell us what it was that finally made

562
00:44:14.159 --> 00:44:16.239
you decide to jump out on your
own. Was there a particular impetus or

563
00:44:16.280 --> 00:44:22.480
something that occurred that you can share
with us. On my particular case,

564
00:44:23.440 --> 00:44:28.719
the stars and moon started aligning.
As I mentioned, I had two young

565
00:44:28.800 --> 00:44:34.920
kids and received a little bit of
guilt of not being a part of the

566
00:44:35.000 --> 00:44:40.559
upbringing of those kids. But more
importantly, my career afforded me to come

567
00:44:40.599 --> 00:44:49.119
into some capital that allowed me almost
the safety net to try something without too

568
00:44:49.199 --> 00:44:55.519
much risk to my family. So
that helped significantly, because as anyone who

569
00:44:55.639 --> 00:45:00.840
started a business or thinking about it, you have to to go into it

570
00:45:01.320 --> 00:45:05.199
assuming that you're not going to make
a ton of money in the beginning.

571
00:45:05.800 --> 00:45:08.760
A lot of hours and not a
lot of money in the beginning unless you're

572
00:45:08.800 --> 00:45:15.320
lucky. So that afforded me to
grow the business as necessary over time,

573
00:45:15.559 --> 00:45:22.639
So that helped me. I've seen
others that were able to negotiate with their

574
00:45:22.679 --> 00:45:28.159
previous employers situation where they would give
them business to do some of the same

575
00:45:28.239 --> 00:45:31.400
services as when they were employed there. So there's a lot of different roads,

576
00:45:31.440 --> 00:45:37.599
but I think the biggest thing is
believing in yourself and having the confidence

577
00:45:37.719 --> 00:45:44.320
that you can make this work is
key, And during that journey, there's

578
00:45:44.360 --> 00:45:46.280
always going to be times when you
question did you do the right thing?

579
00:45:47.400 --> 00:45:52.920
But again it goes back to passion. Right, if you love it,

580
00:45:52.920 --> 00:45:57.840
it could be rewarding, even if
you know you're not achieving what you thought

581
00:45:57.920 --> 00:46:05.360
you would. The whole passion and
doing something you like to do outweighs a

582
00:46:05.360 --> 00:46:12.280
lot of it in a negativity.
I think that at this point I want

583
00:46:12.320 --> 00:46:16.000
to say that I am present to
my coach, Sean what he tells me

584
00:46:16.039 --> 00:46:19.480
all the time. Sean Anderson,
He's just an amazing human being. He

585
00:46:19.480 --> 00:46:22.199
has helped me so much. One
of the things that he tells me a

586
00:46:22.239 --> 00:46:24.760
lot is locally, is how are
you going to feel if you don't do

587
00:46:25.119 --> 00:46:29.119
whatever it is I'm setting out to
write my book? You know exactly?

588
00:46:29.719 --> 00:46:32.920
Do you know? Do my my
my work on passion annual conference? He

589
00:46:32.960 --> 00:46:37.480
said, how are you going to
feel if you don't do that? And

590
00:46:37.519 --> 00:46:39.559
if you look back on your life
and you review the course of events and

591
00:46:39.599 --> 00:46:44.159
you don't have a check mark next
to I did this or I tried this,

592
00:46:44.199 --> 00:46:45.920
how you feel? And I think
that's such a great way to look

593
00:46:45.960 --> 00:46:54.639
at it, right if your life
is Oh, that's something that really had

594
00:46:54.679 --> 00:46:59.679
an impact on me deciding to do
it. Even when I was in corporate

595
00:46:59.719 --> 00:47:06.360
and I always was attracted to particular
roles that allowed me to do something different,

596
00:47:06.519 --> 00:47:10.960
new, entrepreneurial, spirited, but
still a part of a larger corporation.

597
00:47:12.039 --> 00:47:15.360
And I've always asked myself in those
roles, why couldn't I do this

598
00:47:15.440 --> 00:47:19.400
on myself, because, as you
know, in a large corporation, you're

599
00:47:19.400 --> 00:47:22.960
restricted no matter you know how flexible
they are or what they say they are.

600
00:47:23.000 --> 00:47:28.440
And I always questioned, so to
your point of what your coach mentioned,

601
00:47:29.039 --> 00:47:31.599
I never wanted to be in a
position where I said I should have

602
00:47:31.599 --> 00:47:37.719
would have I wish I did this. So that's what really drove it.

603
00:47:37.760 --> 00:47:40.920
At the end of the day,
you know everything align, here's your opportunity.

604
00:47:42.519 --> 00:47:45.360
You know, if you're really serious
about this, go try it.

605
00:47:46.280 --> 00:47:51.280
Well. Anybody who knows me individually
personally, or has heard the show a

606
00:47:51.280 --> 00:47:53.239
couple of times, know that what
I stand for is empowering others. I

607
00:47:53.280 --> 00:47:58.079
stand for others to go after their
dreams, to to become the person they

608
00:47:58.280 --> 00:48:00.480
most ardently want to become. And
so part of the reason I host the

609
00:48:00.519 --> 00:48:05.440
show is just to give them some
inspiration, to give them examples of people

610
00:48:05.440 --> 00:48:07.639
who have come before them, who've
gone their way. So thanks for being

611
00:48:07.639 --> 00:48:10.800
that example for us. That's just
wonderful. We'll take that, thank you,

612
00:48:14.440 --> 00:48:15.559
And no, I don't think we
wanted to talk about it. If

613
00:48:15.599 --> 00:48:21.519
we can, is you mentioned something
very specific when you talked about your business

614
00:48:21.519 --> 00:48:25.400
and you you said that you've been
enjoying the family aspect of creating this business.

615
00:48:25.840 --> 00:48:30.960
What do you mean? Absolutely?
And we call it internally here a

616
00:48:31.000 --> 00:48:36.760
community and people say, what do
you mean community? And I think it's

617
00:48:37.679 --> 00:48:43.400
kind of a three legged school school
where you know, there's a workplace,

618
00:48:43.800 --> 00:48:51.360
there's relationships in the work, and
then there's the community being able to tie

619
00:48:51.360 --> 00:48:57.199
those together where it's blended. Because
traditionally, you go to work, you

620
00:48:57.320 --> 00:49:01.199
leave work, you go meet your
friends for drink, or then you may

621
00:49:01.239 --> 00:49:06.559
have to volunteer at your church or
something like that. Having my own business

622
00:49:06.599 --> 00:49:10.440
allowed me to blend all of those
where at any point I never feel like

623
00:49:10.760 --> 00:49:17.360
I'm being pulled from one or the
other. I inculporate them into my environment

624
00:49:17.440 --> 00:49:21.280
and my day to day activity.
For example, here at the company,

625
00:49:21.320 --> 00:49:25.039
we have where you could schedule volunteer
hours and you're paid for that, so

626
00:49:25.079 --> 00:49:28.320
no one has to feel like,
oh, I got to go take a

627
00:49:28.400 --> 00:49:31.119
day off of work to volunteer at
my church, or to give back to

628
00:49:31.159 --> 00:49:35.679
my community and you know, do
North Texas Food Bank or something like that.

629
00:49:35.840 --> 00:49:38.760
So same with friends. When we
have functions, we say invite your

630
00:49:38.800 --> 00:49:43.000
friends. I don't want anyone to
say, oh, I would love to

631
00:49:43.000 --> 00:49:45.719
go out with you guys after work
today, but I promised my friend I

632
00:49:45.800 --> 00:49:50.559
was going to do something invite them
along. So being able to create that

633
00:49:50.760 --> 00:49:57.559
environment and culture where people embrace that
has been wonderful for me, and it

634
00:49:57.639 --> 00:50:02.239
took away the constant battle of you
know, family versus work, and it's

635
00:50:02.320 --> 00:50:07.000
all together. I work with a
lot of my friends, or I establish

636
00:50:07.119 --> 00:50:13.199
relationships where you know, I befriended
a lot of my customers and things like

637
00:50:13.239 --> 00:50:17.559
that, so that at all times
I feel like I'm completed by checking all

638
00:50:17.599 --> 00:50:22.719
three of those boxes. If that
makes sense. It makes beautiful sense.

639
00:50:22.760 --> 00:50:27.800
And I really want to applaud that, and I hope our listeners really understand

640
00:50:27.840 --> 00:50:30.760
just how beautiful that really is and
that I would also say, though,

641
00:50:30.800 --> 00:50:32.960
and it's a reflection of just who
you are and how you walk through the

642
00:50:32.960 --> 00:50:37.400
world. And I really appreciate that. I admire that, I respect that,

643
00:50:37.519 --> 00:50:40.400
and when I grow up, I
want to be you. How's that

644
00:50:44.280 --> 00:50:50.239
We'll have to talk about that one
day. Okay. Well, one thing

645
00:50:50.239 --> 00:50:52.639
that I like to do when I
when I work with my guests is I

646
00:50:52.000 --> 00:50:54.679
like to be able to give them
the last word, if you will on

647
00:50:54.719 --> 00:50:57.519
the show. So if you can
a couple of things, I'd like you

648
00:50:57.519 --> 00:51:00.800
if you can, and maybe about
a minute or two, what are you

649
00:51:00.880 --> 00:51:04.280
most excited about how technology will change
the way that we work? And then

650
00:51:04.320 --> 00:51:07.840
any parting thoughts that you want to
give to our listeners. Sure, and

651
00:51:08.639 --> 00:51:14.360
I appreciate the opportunity again to be
on your show. I find it very

652
00:51:14.800 --> 00:51:20.039
exciting to share so much with your
listeners. But if you talk about technology

653
00:51:20.039 --> 00:51:23.559
and how it impacts our work in
the future down the road, we talked

654
00:51:23.599 --> 00:51:27.719
a little bit about it, but
I think one thing that's pretty evident is

655
00:51:27.760 --> 00:51:31.159
through technology we have a lot more
flexibility. I think you mentioned someone riding

656
00:51:31.199 --> 00:51:37.000
a bike and taking a common s
call in the snow, but being remote

657
00:51:37.360 --> 00:51:43.440
is very common now, never having
to go into an office, being able

658
00:51:43.519 --> 00:51:46.519
to have video conferences where you don't
have to jump on plane. So it

659
00:51:46.679 --> 00:51:52.920
just brings a lot of flexibility which
can have significant impact on employees and that

660
00:51:53.159 --> 00:52:00.239
balance between work and family. The
other thing, as we mentioned the whole

661
00:52:00.840 --> 00:52:09.400
AI artificial intelligence, removing some of
the mundane things, you know, just

662
00:52:09.400 --> 00:52:15.519
think about calendars and things like that, you know, being able to wake

663
00:52:15.599 --> 00:52:19.559
up in the morning and call out
Alexa and just ask for my schedule or

664
00:52:19.599 --> 00:52:22.320
what the weather is today, and
just making things a lot simpler. I

665
00:52:22.360 --> 00:52:30.360
think it will give us time to
really focus on the key strategic things that

666
00:52:30.400 --> 00:52:35.559
we really have to get done.
So that's what I'm looking forward to.

667
00:52:36.400 --> 00:52:40.440
And I would just leave your audience
with saying just what we talked about.

668
00:52:40.480 --> 00:52:44.599
Whatever you're passionate about, you got
to try it. Don't be afraid to

669
00:52:44.639 --> 00:52:49.000
fail. Someone once told me,
if you haven't failed in at least ten

670
00:52:49.079 --> 00:52:52.840
things, you're not living or growing
as an individual. So you have to

671
00:52:52.880 --> 00:53:00.480
be comfortable with failing. But adding
to that is, you know, get

672
00:53:00.519 --> 00:53:04.000
one ride, so you know,
make the best of that ride. Is

673
00:53:04.039 --> 00:53:07.239
what my mom used to tell me. You know, everything's not going to

674
00:53:07.320 --> 00:53:09.239
be perfect, but you know,
go around and make the best of it.

675
00:53:09.360 --> 00:53:13.000
So, you know, we get
one ride in this world, so

676
00:53:13.440 --> 00:53:16.400
I want to make sure that I
make the best of it. And finding

677
00:53:16.480 --> 00:53:22.599
your passion and what I call at
peace is awesome for me. And I'm

678
00:53:22.599 --> 00:53:25.199
sure it would be for everyone that
gets to that point. Thank you,

679
00:53:25.360 --> 00:53:28.360
Ed. We need to close.
Thank you so much for being on the

680
00:53:28.360 --> 00:53:32.679
show. It was just incredible to
have you next week. All right,

681
00:53:34.239 --> 00:53:44.199
by all, take care. We
hope you've enjoyed this week's program. Be

682
00:53:44.280 --> 00:53:47.840
sure to tune into Working on Purpose, featuring your host Alis Cortes, every

683
00:53:47.840 --> 00:53:52.880
Wednesday at six pm Eastern Time three
pm Pacific time on the Voice America Empowerment

684
00:53:52.960 --> 00:54:04.239
Channel. This week, find your
life's purpose at work as you do