Deborah Hopkins: How to Act in Revolutionary Times

You know, you have to have a front line and a front guard. So put people out there that are out finding out what's going on. And that's frankly what my team does. That's part of meeting with 600 startups. That's part of really being out here and what's percolating, what's happening on big data, where's the cloud going? How is that going to impact the way companies work? So that becomes really important. You know, it's trust your gut. It's so funny and frustrating to me that I think our educational system has drummed out of you the concept of your intuition. Every single person in this room has intuition. You can learn to make it work better for you. So in the work that many of you are hoping to do, it's important when it feels right, it usually is. So learn to trust that feeling. Strike. When you find an opening, you gotta go. You see a slot. And I often say to my team, the windows open, but not for long, go. And that's when you've got to have your plan ready and go and really find the opportunity in front of you. You know, as leaders in this kind of work, you have to be fearless and inspiring. And all kidding aside about the revolution, you think about people really trying to lead teams through things like this. They need your inspiration, they need your courage. Because it's scary. You know, it is really. You're fighting against this huge thing that human nature hates, change. We all just want it to go back to the way it used to be. Wouldn't it just be easier? Yes, maybe. I think this is a lot cooler and then, you know, carry the banner for creative chaos. It's funny that one of the other things about these vertical things and corporations, it's all this little orderly kind of stuff. And the reality is innovation's messy. You gotta get in the dirt, you gotta roll around in the dirt and you gotta be willing to fail and you gotta be willing to get back up again and you gotta do it over and over and over. And that's the fun of it. But it's not something that traditionally, I think companies have thought about as an okay thing to do. Those are the people that used to put them in the resource room because they're causing too much trouble. But this is really, I think, core to thinking about creative chaos leads to creative confidence. Share your intel again. Knowledge is power when it's in the network. And I think that is really critical to what you're doing. Go in armed. I mean, I think you all know this. This is what you learned here. Know your stuff. Think through what the unintended consequences. When my guys say, what should I do? I'm getting ready. I'm going in for this big pitch. What are the unintended consequences? If you can get good at thinking about that, it'll help you a lot as you think about really pursuing some of your dreams in this arena. Everybody goes through basic training, so don't forget that, man. I mean, we all fall down, we all look silly, we all make a mistake, and we have to say to the next guy, it's okay, come on, let's go. We'll get on to the next thing. Don't worry about it now. Don't worry about the sound. Didn't work. You know, it's okay. I mean, I'm dealing with it. I have no idea why I'm holding onto this wire right now, but I'm going with it and, you know, fight for the customer. I mean, this is really. I swear to God, we're going to get little flags that say we're fighting for the customer. We really believe that and in our team, and I believe you will see, as the few years go by here, this will be the rallying cry is really being able to demonstrate, not with words but with real deeds, that that is the case. And finally, you got to celebrate the victories because the fighting is hard. You know, we work really intently. It's really tough, but it is the best work I've ever done, and my hope for all of you is you get to do the same.