Elon Musk: Tesla Autopilot Update Could Have Prevented Fatal Crash

SAN FRANCISCO/WASHINGTON - Tesla Motors Co Chief Executive Elon Musk said on Sunday the automaker was updating its semi-autonomous driving system Autopilot with new limits on hands-off driving and other improvements that likely would have prevented a fatality in May.

Musk said the update, which will be available within a week or two through an “over-the-air” software update, would rely foremost on radar to give Tesla’s electric luxury cars a better sense of what is around them and when to brake.

New restrictions of Autopilot 8.0 are a nod to widespread concerns that the system lulled users into a false sense of security through its “hands-off” driving capability. The updated system now will temporarily prevent drivers from using the system if they do not respond to audible warnings to take back control of the car.

“We’re making much more effective use of radar,” Musk told journalists on a phone call. “It will be a dramatic improvement in the safety of the system done entirely through software.”

Tesla’s Autopilot, introduced in October, has been the focus of intense scrutiny since it was revealed in July that a Tesla Model S driver, Joshua Brown, was killed while using the technology in a May 7 collision with a truck in Florida.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has been investigating Tesla’s Autopilot system since June because of the fatal accident. The agency had been briefed on the changes by Tesla and would review them, spokesman Bryan Thomas said. He declined to offer an update on the Tesla investigation.

Musk said it was “very likely” the improved Autopilot would have prevented the death of Brown, whose car sped into the trailer of a truck crossing a highway, but he cautioned that the update “doesn’t mean perfect safety.”

“PROBABILITY OF SAFETY”

“Perfect safety is really an impossible goal,” Musk said. “It’s about improving the probability of safety. There won’t ever be zero fatalities, there won’t ever be zero injuries.”

One of the main challenges of using cameras and radars for a braking system is how to prevent so-called false positives, in which a car might think an overhead highway sign, for example, was an obstacle to be avoided.

Using radar and fleet learning, rather than relying primarily on cameras, would solve that problem, Musk said.

“Anything metallic or dense, the radar system we’re confident will be able to detect that and initiate a braking event,” he said.

Silicon Valley-based Tesla is known for its innovation in luxury electric vehicles but some critics, including rival carmakers, have said it was hasty in rolling out Autopilot. Tesla stood by Autopilot after the fatality.

The revised system will sound warnings if drivers take their hands off the wheel for more than a minute at speeds above 45 miles per hour (72 kph) when there is no vehicle ahead, Musk said.

The warning will sound after the driver’s hands are off the wheel for more than three minutes when the Tesla is following another car at speeds above 45 mph. The dashboard also will flash a pulsing light.

If the driver ignores three audible warnings in an hour, the system will temporarily shut off until it is parked, Musk said.

Advanced Autopilot users, rather than new users, were most likely to ignore warnings to put their hands back on the wheel, Musk said.

Besides the fallout from the fatality, Musk has had to prepare for the Model 3 mass-market vehicle due late next year and completion of its Nevada battery factory, while trying to sell skeptical investors on the merits of a proposed acquisition of SolarCity <SCTY.O>.

On Sept. 1, SpaceX, where Musk serves as CEO, sustained what he later called “the most difficult and complex failure” in the commercial space company’s history when a Falcon 9 rocket exploded on its launch pad in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

“One of the worst weeks ever, really,” he told reporters.

Musk said he had wanted to improve Autopilot’s capabilities last year but was told it was impossible to do so without incurring more “false positives,” such as a car braking suddenly for a harmless tin can.

In July tweeted publicly that he was encouraged by talks with supplier Bosch [ROBG.UL] about improvements to radar.

“I wish we could have done it earlier,” he said on Sunday. “The perfect is the enemy of the good.”

(Writing By Alexandria Sage; Editing by Bill Trott)

11 Great Reasons Why Even the Smallest Businesses Need an Employee Handbook

The limited size of a small business can eliminate the bureaucracy that is typical of bigger companies. Regardless, a small company can adopt some big company tools without forfeiting atmosphere, culture, or flexibility. A good employee handbook is one of those tools.

Human resources professionals typically draft and update a company's employee handbook. An unbridled HR department in a large company might run with this responsibility to produce a handbook with more rules and details than anyone else in the company cares to read. A small company that does not have an HR department will simply not bother with a handbook. In both cases, these companies are forfeiting the following benefits that a well-drafted employee handbook can provide.

#1. Memorializing a Company's Culture

A company can emphasize the human side of its business by articulating the founder's culture and values in a handbook. For example, Valve Software, a 20-year old gaming and entertainment company, has a widely-circulated handbook subtitled "A fearless Adventure in Knowing What to Do When No One's There Telling You What to Do." Valve has adopted a flat management style, and it tells employees that its handbook discusses "the choices you're going to be making and how to think about them [and] how not to freak out now that you're here".

#2. Establishing what is Expected of Employees

The fashion retailer, Nordstrom, has the world's shortest employee handbook. It consists of a card with the single sentence "Use good judgment in all situations." Nordstrom has a lengthier online Code of Business Conduct and Ethics, but the intent is to communicate the company's expectations to its employees in a clear and concise manner that lower level managers might gloss over or omit from employee orientations.

#3. Communicating Company Policies to Employees

The law firm of Moses & Moses says:

A well-crafted Employee Handbook should provide consistent and clear expectations between employers and employees, including the rules governing your business and employee benefits. By providing an Employee Handbook, time is saved by the employer by not having to field numerous employment related questions and the employee will already know what to expect in a given situation before it even arises.

The Motley Fool has an interactive, online employee handbook that articulates policies, definitions, and resources that employees can use to answer their own questions. This handbook doubles down on the company's culture that encourages "Foolishness," including a vacation policy that tells employees to take what they need. Employees who feel left in the dark about policies can turn to a handbook for a clear and concise statement of policies that are important to both them and the company.

#4. Encouraging Employees to Feel Good About a Company

Employees who feel good about their employers will be more engaged and committed to their jobs. Zappos uses its employee handbook to emphasize the importance of its employees' feelings, thoughts, and opinions. The handbook projects an image of company employees who are excited about their jobs and the mission and values they are serving.

#5. Maintaining a Desired Company Image

Companies that expand beyond their initial startup moorings can lose the casual feel that contributed to their early success. The 10-year old internet startup, Disqus, maintains its startup atmosphere with a "culture book" that is separate and apart from an official handbook that includes labor law guidelines and other legalities. The culture book reflects the company's respect for individual personalities and portrays an office atmosphere that runs counter to a staid company environment.

#6. Recruiting New Talent

In 2009, Netflix released its "Netflix Culture: Freedom & Responsibility" internal presentation to a great fanfare of praise. This presentation described the company's philosophy for managing and motivating hourly and salaried employees. As this document expanded into public consciousness, it has been credited with attracting and retaining a talented and creative staff.

#7. Reassuring Employees that They Are Part of a Team

Many small companies take pride in a quirky collection of individuals that run their operations. A new employee who steps into a freewheeling environment may be hesitant to dive in headfirst. The digital ad company, Big Spaceship, uses its handbook to calm these fears and to encourage employees to participate in the culture that the company strives to maintain.

#8. Complying with Applicable Labor Laws

Government rules and regulations require companies to inform employees of their rights under applicable labor and other laws. Even those companies that use their handbooks as statements of corporate culture will generally publish a separate reference document that recites these rules and regulations.

#9. Defending Against Employee Complaints

Employee complaints under equal employment opportunity laws or human rights regulations are a fact of corporate life. A company's first line of defense against these claims will be an argument that it maintains written policies and procedures that it applies consistently to all employees. Employee handbooks are the easiest mechanism to establish that defense and to remind managers of their obligations to apply policies uniformly and fairly.

#10. Explaining Perks and Benefits

A company's perks and benefits are more than just descriptions of vacations and other policies. The legal marketplace consolidator, Upcounsel, Inc., has an online "careers" page that describes its coffee and meal benefits, shower and bathroom facilities, and office electronic game availability. Handbooks are perfect places to list company perks that add simple pleasures to a workday,

#11. Reducing Workplace Tension

Individuals are entitled to personal opinions on controversial topics, but those opinions should not be allowed to interfere with workplace team dynamics. ZGM, a Canadian marketing company, addresses this issue in its handbook with an employee handbook proscription against "politics, sects, packs, niches, hordes, groups, cliques, exclusion, and all things that build walls.

Conclusion

An employee handbook can be comprehensive or skeletal, but in every case, it is the equivalent of a business plan for employees. Companies succeed when their businesses follow a well-crafted plan. Likewise, employees will succeed when they follow the paths laid out in a good employee handbook. Even the smallest of companies can benefit from crafting and disbursing an employee handbook.

(Image Source)

How To Learn And Master Any Skill Twice As Fast, According To Science

Whether you're trying to be pro at Photoshop, or step up your tennis game, or master a dueling banjo song, you're probably dutifully following the age-old advice that practice makes perfect.

However, contrary to popular belief, doing the same thing over and over again might not be the most efficient way to learn foreign concepts.

Traditionally, we're taught using the "blocking" strategy. This instructs us to go over a single idea again and again (and again) until we've mastered it, before proceeding to the next concept. But several new neurological studies show that an up and coming learning method called "interleaving" improves our ability to retain and perform new skills over any traditional means by leaps and bounds.

What interleaving does is space out learning over a longer period of time, and it randomize the information we encounter when learning a new skill. So, for example, instead of learning one banjo chord at a time until you perfect it, you train in several at once and in shorter bursts.

Below are a some practical ways you can use interleaving to train your brain to pick up new skills quickly and effectively starting today:

Practice multiple parallel skills at once

Whether you're trying to improve your motor skills or cognitive learning abilities, the key to transforming how your brain processes new information is to break out of the habit of learning one facet of a skill at a time. The advantage of this method is that your brain doesn't get comfortable or store information in your short-term memory. Instead, interleaving causes your brain to intensely focus and problem solve every step of the way, resulting in information getting stored in your long-term memory instead.

For example, one study gave a collegiate baseball team extra batting practice and broke them up into three groups: a control group, a blocked group, and a random group. The blocked group faced a variety of pitches in a set order, and the other group encountered pitches randomly. After six weeks, researchers found that the random group improved 56.7%, while the blocked group only improved 24.8%. That's a massive difference! And similar results have been replicated in other sports and classroom learning studies.

Interleaving doesn't cut any corners, so your brain is always on guard. Think of the difference between blocking and interleaving like a boxer who practices one move over and over again versus a boxer who practices by sparring in the ring. In the ring, you have to be ready for anything. It makes you faster, sharper, and more versatile.

Plan your lessons in advance

Since randomization and spacing out lessons are crucial to the interleaving process, try planning when and what you want to cover in a lesson in advance. As block learning is such a linear technique, we might not normally think to do this, but a little pre-planning will make adopting a new skill set go by much faster.

Think of it like pre-planning a workout. If you go to the gym without having a plan in mind, you can lose time and momentum by trying to decide what to do next. But if you know you want to work on legs that day, you can create a plan that will help you achieve that goal without missing a beat. When it comes to interleaving, this will keep you from getting frazzled with the new learning process.

Go back to basics

When we progress with a new skill, it's easy to forget to practice older material. But going back over the basics is an integral part of the interlearning process. Doing so strengthens our brains and reinforces our long-term memory of a skill. It also has the added benefit of spacing out learning and giving our minds a break from taking on a new concept right away. This will result in higher and faster retention overall. Even pros like University of Georgia's football coach, Vince Dooley, subscribe to this methodology when it comes to training.

Keep track of your progress

If you find interleaving to not be as immediately gratifying as the blocking technique is, don't get discouraged, you're not alone. In one study, "80% of students claimed that the block style helped them learn better, despite testing better when using the an interleaved method."

In some ways, interleaving feels counterintuitive because the wide majority of us were taught to get comfortable with learning one concept at a time through school. But sticking with it and monitoring your results in a measurable way is the best way to stay motivated and see that the proof is in the proverbial pudding.

Break out of your comfort zone

Often, we're gravitated towards repeated tasks that we already have a basic grasp of and exist in our comfort zones. The whole process of interleaving feels pretty uncomfortable at first, especially when you're trying skills from new angles and failing a lot.

When you realize that practice does not mean perfection, and that every step new towards finding a skill is a step forward (even if it seems like a step backwards), you'll have the winning attitude to use interleaving to your advantage.

By following these steps, you'll be able to use interleaving to your advantage and learn any skill at lightning speed like a champ.

ITT Tech Closes: What It Means For Current And Past Students With Loans To Pay

John Baughman was pursuing a career in information technology in the Systems and Cybersecurity program at ITT Technical Institute in Boise, ID. With just six months left to go, Baughman was looking forward to graduating and getting a job.

But on September 6, 2016, after spending more than three years in the program, he was notified that ITT Educational Services was closing all of its ITT Technical Institutes. He and thousands of others across the country will be impacted.

See the full list of for-profit schools that have been shut down.

“It’s definitely a precarious situation to be in,” said Baughman. “I was enlisted in the U.S. Navy prior to attending ITT Tech so I was using the GI Bill. So financially I am not as impacted as other students without that opportunity. But I can never get back what I’ve used from the GI Bill so that is a loss.”

Moving forward, Baughman plans to enroll in a program at another school that accepts ITT Tech credits. However, the program is more intensive and may take more time than Baughman originally planned. The added length may also mean that the rest of his educational costs will not be covered.

“I think students need to act quickly,” said Baughman. “They need to find a new school if they want to mitigate the impact of this fiasco.”

ITT Tech shuts its doors for good

After more than 50 years of operation, ITT Tech will permanently shut down. The closure is the result of increased regulation and sanctions from the U.S. Department of Education.

ITT Tech offered students an alternative to the traditional college track. As a for-profit institution, the school provided specializing training in targeted fields. Last year alone, it had over 45,000 students and $850 million in revenue.

However, in recent years, questions arose about the institution’s credibility, recruitment and accounting methods.

In August, the U.S. Department of Education took action, instituting a ban on ITT Tech. It prevented them from enrolling new students who relied on federal aid to pay for their education with them.

ITT Educational Services, Inc. issued a press release on their website that blamed the government for the closure and the impact on students.

“We believe the government’s action was inappropriate and unconstitutional,” the statement said. “However, with the ITT Technical Institutes ceasing operations, it will now likely rest on other parties to understand these reprehensible actions and to take action to prevent this from happening again.”

Overall impact on ITT Tech students

The closure leaves 35,000 students without an educational path forward.

And with many students and graduates paying student loans from a now non-existent school, many are confused and concerned about how their debt will be handled.

Education Secretary John B. King wrote an open letter to ITT Tech students explaining the concerns the Department of Education had about ITT Tech. It also details its plans to help students and recent graduates moving forward.

“Ultimately, we made a difficult choice to pursue additional oversight in order to protect you, other students, and taxpayers from potentially worse educational and financial damage in the future if ITT was allowed to continue operating without increased oversight and assurances to better serve students,” wrote King.

How ITT Tech students can move forward

Current ITT students, recent graduates, and students who withdrew in the past 120 days will be offered two options by the U.S. Department of Education:

1. Credits transfer: For those who wish to continue their education, the U.S. Department of Education is connecting them with community colleges who will transfer over ITT Tech credits. However, if students opt for this option, they may not be eligible for a closed school discharge on their student loans.
2. Student loan forgiveness: Current or recent students may be eligible to have their federal—not private—student loans discharged as a result of the closure. All federal debt will be forgiven so students have the opportunity to pursue their education or career goals elsewhere. Information on qualifications and how to apply for loan forgiveness will be posted on the Federal Student Aid website when available.

For an ITT Tech alumnus who graduated several years ago, there may be ways to have loans forgiven, too. Many alumni have alleged that ITT Tech recruited them aggressively and misled them about costs and job opportunities.

ITT Tech alumni may be eligible for borrower defense to repayment claims. That’s when federal loans are discharged if the school committed fraud, misrepresented its services or violated applicable laws.

The U.S. Department of Education has also set up a telephone line to answer questions from ITT Tech students. A team is available at 800-4FEDAID, and a series of webinars is planned for the future to help students transition to next steps. 

ITT Tech Closes: What It Means for Current and Past Students With Loans to Pay originally appeared on Student Loan Hero

10 Ways Ridiculously Successful People Think Differently

Successful people come from all walks of life, yet they all have one thing in common: where others see impenetrable barriers, they see challenges to embrace and obstacles to overcome.

Their confidence in the face of hardship is driven by their ability to let go of the negativity that holds so many otherwise sensible people back.

Obstacles do not block the path; they are the path.

This perspective helps successful people to think differently to everyone else, which is important, because if you think like everyone else, no matter how smart or experienced you are, you'll hit the same ceiling. By thinking outside the box and going against the grain, successful people rise above their limitations.

We all know how important it is to approach problems with radical optimism and creativity, but this is easier said than done. In a study conducted at Adobe, 96% of employees identified creativity as essential to their success, both in terms of their income and the value they bring to the world. What's more, 78% wished they were capable of thinking differently, believing that they would progress through their careers more quickly if they did.

Too often we attribute creative and "different" thinking to natural, innate characteristics that belong only to the lucky. The truth is that you can study how ridiculously successful people think and incorporate their approach into your repertoire.

1. They're confident. If only we knew of all the great ideas that never came to fruition because people lacked the confidence to put them into action. Successful people confidently act on their ideas, because they know that a failed idea is not a reflection of their ability; instead, they see it as a wonderful learning opportunity.

2. They're composed. Ultra-successful people are composed, because they constantly monitor their emotions and understand them and they use this knowledge in the moment to react with self-control to challenging situations. When things go downhill, they are persistently calm and frustratingly content (frustrating to those who aren't, at least). They know that no matter how good or bad things get, everything changes with time. All they can do is to adapt and adjust to stay happy and in control. If you'd like an objective measure of how you do at this, consider taking an emotional intelligence test.

3. They're honest. Super-successful people trust that honesty and integrity, though painful at times, always work out for the best in the long run. They know that honesty allows for genuine connections with people and that lying always comes back to bite you in the end.

4. They seek out small victories. Successful people like to challenge themselves and to compete, even when their efforts yield only small victories. Small victories build new androgen receptors in the areas of the brain responsible for reward and motivation. This increase in androgen receptors enhances the influence of testosterone, which further increases their confidence and eagerness to tackle challenges. When you achieve a series of small victories, the boost in your confidence can last for months.

5. They're always learning. Super-successful people often know more than others do, because they're constantly trying to learn. They vow to constantly grow, and they fill every spare moment with self-education. They don't do this because it's "the right thing to do"; they do it because it's their passion. They're always looking for opportunities to improve and new things to learn about themselves and the world around them. Instead of succumbing to their fear of looking stupid, truly exceptional people just ask the questions on their mind, because they would rather learn something new than appear smart.

6. They expose themselves to a variety of people.There's no easier way to learn to think differently than spending time with someone whose strengths are your weaknesses or whose ideas are radically different from your own. This exposure sparks new ideas and makes you well rounded. This is why we see so many great companies with co-founders who stand in stark contrast to each other. Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak from Apple were a prime example. Neither could have succeeded without the other.

7. They keep an open mind. Exposing yourself to a variety of people is useless if you spend that time disagreeing with them and comforting yourself with your own opinions. Successful people recognize that every perspective provides an opportunity for growth. You need to practice empathy by putting yourself in the other person's shoes so that you can understand how their perspective makes sense (at least, to them). A great way to keep an open mind is to try to glean at least one interesting or useful thing from every conversation you have.

8. They're fearless. Fear is nothing more than a lingering emotion that's fueled by your imagination. Danger is real. Danger is the uncomfortable rush of adrenaline you get when you almost step in front of a bus; fear is a choice. Exceptional people know this better than anyone does, so they flip fear on its head. Instead of letting fear take over, they're addicted to the euphoric feeling they get from conquering their fears.

9. They turn tedious tasks into games. Every job entails some degree of tedium. For most people, tedium leads to sloppy, rushed work. Only the most successful people find ways to make the tedious interesting. By turning tedious work into a game, they challenge themselves and produce high-quality work, making things interesting in the process.

10. They dream big but remain grounded. Successful people reach for the seemingly impossible, but they do so in a way that is actionable and realistic. While you may not know exactly how you're going to achieve your dream, you need to make progress no matter how small the steps. For example, Elon Musk's goal at SpacEx is to "Occupy Mars." While this is a big dream, Musk keeps it realistic by engaging in regular steps that, some day, may get him there. SpacEx just landed a rocket upright on a boat in the ocean for the first time ever. It's a far cry from colonizing Mars, but it's an essential step in the process.

Bringing It All Together

The above behaviors can make any of us more successful if we use them every day. Give them a try, and see where they take you.

What other habits set ultra-successful people apart from the rest? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below, as I learn just as much from you as you do from me.

Why Your Job Title Doesn't Matter And You Can Throw Away Your Degree

Ok so don’t throw away your degree.  It was probably a lot of work, pretty expensive and you likely had some fun times which you may (or may not) remember from buck-a-beer nights.

But a job title and a degree aren’t the end-all, be-all to your career.

There’s a lot more to a brilliant career. 

A few years into my career, I worked on a project where I helped relocate people from Fort McMurray to Calgary (8 hours away).  Ironically, through the project, it was decided that my job would also be moving. Troy (my boyfriend at the time) and I chatted about it. It was right at the 2-year mark of my time in Fort McMurray.  However, I still loved living in the city.   We were making great friends. We’d just bought our dream house. I wasn’t ready to leave. 

But I couldn’t stay in my current job AND stay in our community.

I needed to find a new job.  Within my current company. 

At the time, most of my work experience had been in HR.  And I really liked HR.  My degrees were in Accounting and Finance and I had zero interest working in either of those.  I wanted to stay in HR.  Unfortunately, there were only two options for me.  Recruiting or Advising.  And neither appealed to me. 

I was stuck.

What was I going to do?

I loved the company and didn’t want to leave.

I didn’t want to move.

I just wanted to work in HR.  

Why did things have to change? 

Completely lost, I sat down with my mentor. I explained my predicament and while I felt like my life was spinning out of control, he didn’t seem so concerned.

“Why don’t you look outside of HR?”

For a minute, I was confused.  Had he not just heard everything I said?  I wanted to stay in HR.  But I couldn’t stay in HR.  But I wanted to stay in it.

Spin. Spin. Spin.

The advice that followed changed the trajectory of my career and life.  And now I want to share it with you.

My mentor asked me what kind of work I liked doing.  And I wasn’t allowed to answer “HR”. 

Needless to say, I was stumped at first.  But then the genius came through.

He challenged me to think about what I enjoyed doing.  Not the subject, but the WORK itself.  What kind of WORK did I enjoy?

My career, he explained (and literally drew for me), wasn’t linear.  He was (and still is) a mining engineer.  You’d think something like “mine engineer” would be pretty specific and a straight line to the top. 

But he drew out a map of his career for me regardless. I saw that even as a mining engineer, he’d worked in a lot of different areas of the business.  Some that had nothing to do with mining. Some that certainly didn’t focus on engineering.  

And here he was loving his work.  In a very senior role.  At a young age.  Being a great leader.  And he was having fun doing it!

I had nothing to lose, so I took his advice.

Over the following few weeks, I started paying attention. I paid attention to what I enjoyed doing.  

(Side note:   I highly recommend you start writing down what you enjoy doing.  If you haven’t ever done it, start now.  I swear it’s extremely valuable!)

So back to my career crisis.  Here’s what my reflection came up with:

•   Presenting at meetings - enjoyed

•   Sitting at the computer analyzing spreadsheets - wanted to gouge eyes out

•   Explaining HR metrics to senior leadership - wanted to gouge their eyes out

•   Developing content and material for emails, presentations, stewardship reports – enjoyed

•   Facilitating awkward, messy conversations to find awesome outcomes – made me forget to eat, drink, and pee (I figured that was a fantastic sign!) 

I came back to our next mentorship session proud of my list. From there, he encouraged me to start looking at job postings through this new lens.  To start looking at job descriptions with the criteria I created, instead of only the jobs in the HR department, or that had HR in the title. 

Suddenly a world of job opportunities and possibilities opened up.

Soon after this critical mindset shift, I found an opening for a Learning Coordinator role.  I applied, and I got it.  And I got a sweet 20% raise and extra bonuses on top of it!

A year later, I had gained more insight into what I liked and didn’t like in my work. I didn’t like repetition.  I loved project work.  I didn’t like fire-fighting crises every day.

I was ready for another change.  Looking at job descriptions through this new lens, I wasn’t stuck on just HR or Learning jobs.  I changed completely and went to a job in the “Engineering” category (can you imagine going from HR to Engineering?!).   I was offered a job as a Continuous Improvement Specialist and it fit all my new criteria.  And I got another raise (YES!).

As you can see, opening my eyes to the careers I could do allowed me to:

•   Gain incredible experience in diverse fields

•   Rapidly increase my income

•   Learn a new skill set

•   Be continuously challenged

•   Never get bored

•   Network with people across the company and get sh*t done through great relationships

•   Blow people’s minds with how much I knew about other parts of our company and our business

•   Successfully avoid ever being an accountant (Amen!) 

Here’s what you need to know about your career:

•   Most careers are not linear anymore

•   The more experience you have in different departments, the more value you bring

•   If you have experience in multiple areas, you can qualify for leadership opportunities in all of them

•   Your career doesn’t have to focus on what you went to school for

•   Your career aspirations should not be about any title or department 

Here’s what your career SHOULD focus on:

•   What fires you up

•   What engages you

•   What you find interesting

•   What you love doing

•   What you are good at

•   What keeps you doing what you want. Here are some examples.

◦       Learning

◦       Focusing on efficiency

◦       Project-work

◦       Specializing

◦       Being challenged

◦       Working on the fly (fire-fighting, as I call it!)

So, if you are contemplating a change but you’re stuck, like I was, consider a mindset shift. Maybe you need to re-think your career like I did. 

Track what you love.  Take notes of the work you’ve really enjoyed doing. All the times you forget to eat lunch, or you don’t even want to get up to pee ― star those things.  And go find more opportunities to do those things!

This shift has made all the difference.  Each day, I focus on the type of work I enjoy doing.  I structure my business to do what I love doing. Heck, maybe you even need to go rogue and become an entrepreneur like me! 

Think about your career in terms of the TYPE of WORK you do, instead of the subject.  

And watch the options in front of your eyes expand  ― and your career to grow into what YOU want it to be!

Expand your horizon and watch the world of opportunities open up!

Time to go eat and pee (because yes, writing is on my list of loves!)

-Lisa

www.lisamichaud.com

 

PS. It’s my mission to help ambitious women and men like you from around the world OWN and LOVE your career. I believe you can have it all - you can have sucess on your terms!  If you know a friend who wants a fulfilling and meaningful career, share this post!  If you have a friend who’s looking for the next exciting opportunity, forward her this page.  She’ll thank you for it! 

@KimJamesPhotography

Artificial Intelligence, Real Engagement

Josh Sutton, Global Head, Data and Artificial Intelligence Practice, Publicis.Sapient

Artificial intelligence is one of the most transformative types of technology that we have ever seen. This is a strong statement and one that I do not make lightly. While Forrester Research believes that over 25% of the job tasks in the world will be impacted by AI as soon as 2019, I believe that AI will transform nearly every business across the globe within the next decade. To paraphrase Mark Benioff (Salesforce CEO) at the World Economic Forum in Davos earlier this year, “As a society, we are entering uncharted territory.”

When we look back at this moment in time a decade from now, I believe that we will segment today’s companies into three categories:

1. Those that did not use AI tools

2. Those that used AI tools to reduce cost and increase efficiency

3. Those that used AI tools to better engage with their customers

I believe that we will see a clear difference in the performance of those companies that embrace the third category versus those that fall into the first or second. We are going through a major business transformation cycle and companies need to recognize that AI will play an important role in their business success.

One of the earliest signs of AI’s potential impact comes in the form of virtual assistants, often called chatbots. Nearly every company is exploring whether a virtual assistant could help their business and many companies have already launched their first prototypes. Very few companies have done this well, however, as most haven’t adhered to two critical rules that are fundamental to designing a successful customer interface:

1. Experience Matters: Virtual assistants are stand-ins for people – and, just as with sales and service people, if a customer doesn’t like talking to a virtual assistant, s/he is unlikely to do so again – at least not by choice. The companies that have deployed successful solutions – ones that are creating real business returns – consistently place maximum emphasis on experience design.

2. Context Matters: When customers share information with virtual assistants, they do so in the same way they would with sales or service people – and with the same expectations.  Specifically, customers expect that the information they share will remain secure and that it will be used to better understand their needs – and that they will receive more relevant and personalized products and services as a result.  If companies aren’t prepared to use the information their customers provide to improve the customer experience, they shouldn’t ask for the information in the first place.

The impact of AI technologies will go far beyond virtual assistants. These technologies are enabling a fundamental shift in how businesses operate. Just as the internet and mobile connectivity have enabled the world to have access to information at any time and any place, AI technologies will raise the bar for engagement with customers. People will expect meaningful, two-way dialogues. They will expect companies to use what they know about them already, and what they have given those companies permission to discover, to refine and complete their imprecise instructions. They will expect that the information they share will be device independent and that the conversations they begin on one will carry forward seamlessly in their service to the next. They will expect their attention to be drawn respectfully, appropriately, and always to their advantage. They will expect companies to anticipate their requests thoughtfully and without pressure.

As with the introduction of many new technologies, companies will tend naturally to focus AI efforts first on cost reduction and automation. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but it should not be the only thing. As business models change and industry disruption continues, customer engagement will become progressively more important.  AI uniquely can provide the insights needed to strengthen such engagement and those brands embracing AI for that purpose will be the ones that form the most lasting customer relationships. It may be useful to remember that Amazon wasn't necessarily the best online bookstore, but with its original mission to make buying books the “fastest, easiest, and most enjoyable shopping experience possible," it gained people's trust. Similarly, companies shouldn’t underestimate the importance of creating the dominant experience as it relates to artificial intelligence and customer engagement.

The companies that succeed in the future will use AI tools to engage their customers. They will take a customer-centric, “outside-in” perspective to enable the design of digital solutions that drive customer loyalty, engagement, consumption and satisfaction. They will use AI for more than just cost savings; they will use AI to build long-term customer loyalty and revenue growth.

About the Author

Josh Sutton is the Global Head of Publicis.Sapient’s Data and Artificial Intelligence Practice. In this role, he is responsible for leveraging big data tools as well as correlation-based and causal-based AI platforms to help clients transform their businesses. He works closely with clients to ensure that we align the right tools and platforms with their business objectives.

Josh also serves as a member of the executive leadership team for Publicis.Sapient’s Business Transformation Services group. This group is focused on helping clients identify and capitalize on opportunities to transform their business.  Josh joined Sapient in 1995.

Josh serves on the board of directors for NPower, a New York based non-profit focused on mobilizing the tech community and providing individuals, nonprofits and schools the access and opportunity to build tech skills and achieve their potential.

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