I just spent the last week in Long Beach, CA, at the TED conference. This was my third year there, and once again, my mind was blown to smithereens.
The TED conference, in case you’ve never heard of it, is this incredible gathering of leaders in technology, entertainment, and design—accomplished do-gooders trying to improve the environment, education, and even basic human relations. You’ve probably seen some of the TED videos, like this one, which are free to the public.
This year, Deb Roy distilled thousands of hours of audio into 40 seconds so we could hear how his son learned to say the word “water.” Anthony Atala showed us a kidney he “printed” that morning (see photo above). Jack Horner explained that he is learning to manipulate ancient genes in order to turn a modern day chicken into a velociraptor. The chef, Homaro Cantu, demonstrated how a piece of fruit from Africa called the ‘miracle berry’ can turn sour into sweet. (It has to be tasted to be believed. It made the slice of lemon I sucked on taste like lemonade.)
Aaron O’Connell, a quantum physicist, told us how he made a chip large enough to be seen with the naked eye appear in two places at once. (As a working mom, the implications of this were tantalizing. One day maybe I could be in my office AND push Jake on the swing at the same time?)
The kitchen inside Jaime Oliver's food truck is nicer than the kitchen in my house.
Between sessions, we toured the kitchen in Jamie Oliver’s food truck and took a spin in the Google self-driving car (video below), but most of the time, we talked.
Every time I told someone what I was writing about (the dysfunction between today’s workplace and today’s families; the impossibility of “having it all” as a working mom; my spectacular experience with burning out) they told me their own stories.
A woman told me she worked such long hours at a (highly respected) consultancy that she never managed to take her child to the dentist until her daughter was six and had a mouthful of cavities. The mom was so upset she quit her job.
A man who runs a professional consultant firm (a different one) said he tried very hard to accommodate one of his employees who had kids. This employee was great at her job, and he gave her a lot of flexibility, but eventually they both had to admit it wasn’t working. There were too many competing demands on her time. She had to resign. He felt bad about it.
I met a man who sleeps only 3-4 hours a night in order to make time in the evenings to be with his family. (He goes back to work after they go to bed.)
I met a woman who runs her own business and says she works every moment she’s not with her kids. She said her solution to avoiding a nervous breakdown was to get a divorce. After she and her husband split up and they agreed on shared custody, he became much more involved at home. Now she has a a couple days a week when she has no parenting responsibilities, she enjoys the time when she is on mom-duty, and life is manageable.
I met an ER doctor who said work-family conflict is terrible in his profession, even among the OB-GYNs who “should know better.” He said when an OB-GYN has to take time off to have a baby, the other doctors in her practice get annoyed, because it means they have to pick up the slack.
After each of these conversations, we’d go back into the main theater to hear about another modern day miracle. Carlo Ratti showed us photos of a building he designed with walls made of water. Rajesh Rao showed us how computer modeling is helping him to decipher the meaning of 4,000 year old Indus valley script. And Roger Ebert brought a thousand people to tears (including me) by recounting the story of how he lost his ability to talk, and then regained it through computerized speech.
There are incredible things happening in the world. The greatest minds are solving unfathomably complicated problems. And yet, very simple things still elude us.
If a man can create a velociraptor out of a chicken, why can’t we make the workplace humane for the millions of people who have to report in every day?
Maybe it’s that the solutions to our workplace problems aren’t sexy. Telecommuting, for example, is extremely practical, but it’s not sexy. Paid sick days aren’t sexy. Job-sharing and part time work is not only UNsexy, it sounds like an inconvenience for the people who work full time.
What do you think? What miracle would you like to see in the workplace?
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This is the inside view of my ride in the self-driving Google car.
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{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
I’ve read Jurassic park, I think the chicken-dino guy needs to stop.
I don’t know that American’s really need a self-driving car. Are we not lazy enough? But I agree overall that the TED thinkers are amazing!
As innovative and exciting as so much of this technology is, it makes me think about the issue of resources. If there is money out there to make a dino-chicken, then there is money available for families.
The issue is about power and our ability to direct the flow of capital. Moms have none. None!
As indicated by your post, evidence mounts that motherhood and capitalism are incompatible. Moms need to make a major power grab.
Hi Heather,
About the self-driving car…Theoretically–if they ever get it working on a road, not just the parking lot–it’s cool for two reasons:
1. Could save millions of people from dying in car accidents
2. Increase capacity of highways 2x, thus saving hours and hours in traffic jams, wasted fuel, etc.
Of course, we need good public transportion, too. We need a lot of things, don’t we?
Thanks for posting this. These stories are all true. To add one – we’ve put off having another child because I don’t think I could manage a full time job in advertising with children. There needs to be more options for parents, for society, for our children. Four day workweek, anyone? Except, of course, for teachers, who should be paid more anyway.
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