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our audience.
 * 06-22-22


WHAT I LEARNED ABOUT HUMANS BY BUILDING ROBOTS AND HOW IT CAN HELP CREATE A
BETTER WORKPLACE


UNTIL YOU HAVE BUILT A ROBOT, IT MAY BE HARD TO APPRECIATE JUST HOW CAPABLE,
ADAPTABLE, RESILIENT, INTELLIGENT, AND DEXTEROUS HUMANS ARE. MANY OF OUR HUMAN
CAPABILITIES ARE TAKEN FOR GRANTED BECAUSE THEY’RE NATURAL TO US.

[Blue Planet Studio / Adobe Stock]
 * 
 * 
 * 
 * 

More Like This
Palmer Luckey: The U.S. is falling behind in defense because Big Tech is scared
of China
How AI is transforming the future of healthcare
The omnichannel analytics solutions for customer engagement
By Daniel Theobald4 minute Read

For decades, Hollywood has made robots and humans out to be close cousins. In
addition to being tireless, methodical, and precise, robots have been presented
as self-aware beings that think, reason, feel, and even love. These human-like
robots may become heroes or villains that enslave or exterminate us. Think
Westworld or Ex Machina. Rest assured that it’s all lies. Humans aren’t robots,
and robots aren’t human.




HUMAN BRAINS ARE WIRED DIFFERENTLY

Until you have built a robot, it may be hard to appreciate just how capable,
adaptable, resilient, intelligent, and dexterous humans are. Many of our human
capabilities are taken for granted because they’re natural to us. Something as
simple as picking up a cup of coffee without spilling is beyond most robots, yet
humans do it daily without a second thought.

The human brain, however, cannot be programmed the same way robots can. Humans
often tire quickly of doing the same thing over and over. It helps to understand
that the human brain, which evolved over millions of years, has two major modes
of operation:


 1. I don’t feel safe because something is going to attack me, which causes
    stress, anxiety, panic, and a tendency toward fight or flight.
 2. I do feel safe which allows for deeper thinking, creativity, higher
    productivity, fun, and caring for others.

The modern work environment has barely existed for a century, yet our brains are
still running that millions-of-years-old software. Most humans today aren’t
worried about getting eaten by a saber-tooth tiger, but we do worry about what a
co-worker is saying about us or if we are going to pass a performance review.
That anxiety creates the same physiological responses as if a saber-tooth tiger
was lurking in the bush about to eat us.

The problem with this modern anxiety is that we can’t escape it. Because these
threats are more abstract, they can linger with us 24/7 while the
tiger-fear-induced stress goes away when the threat is gone. This constant
stress can wreak havoc on our health, happiness, and productivity. So, how can
we prevent this?

THE IMPORTANCE OF BUILDING A TRUST NETWORK



One of the most effective ways to help people feel safe is through sincere
praise, as research has shown that people need over five times more positive
feedback than constructive feedback for higher performance. Building a great
company requires a great team of dedicated humans who need constructive feedback
to learn and grow and achieve their potential.

But this ratio of positive to critical feedback presents a problem. Positive
feedback seems hard to come by because we tend to take the good for granted and
focus on the negative. Instead, start showing gratitude to those around you for
the good work they do. Then, when constructive feedback is required, it can be a
positive learning experience rather than a toxic, stress-inducing,
new-job-search type of situation.

Positive feedback should be presented publicly as often as possible and critical
feedback should only be given in private with the sincere desire to help the
person. There is never an appropriate time to give critical feedback to someone
in front of their peers. That can create a toxic environment, and people may
start watching their backs instead of doing amazing work.



It’s also important to remember that positive feedback shouldn’t be a strictly
top-down process. Praise needs to be given and received in all directions.
Feedback from peer to peer and manager to manager can be far more helpful and
effective than the obligatory feedback from a manager.

Building those relationships based on positive feedback and non-stressful, fun
work events can be a huge benefit. Workers can be more efficient when they have
solid, natural, enjoyable working relationships than if everything is kept
coldly professional, which doesn’t feel safe. In fact, it can make it feel like
another saber-tooth-tiger situation.

If you haven’t invested in creating a safe work environment and a network of
trust, when a problem rears its head, it may be easier to disintegrate instead
of rallying. The bottom line is that for someone to be happy and achieve great
things, they should feel safe, valued, appreciated for their contributions, and
cared about as a person.



HUMANS NEED TO EMBRACE CONFLICT

When things go poorly, workplaces can easily feel like a battlefield. Even when
giving and receiving plenty of positive feedback, there will be challenges. By
understanding our own needs and triggers, we can have a chance to manage issues
effectively.

A flight instinct (running away from a threat) doesn’t serve leaders well for
dealing with modern work problems. If we ignore or hide from the problem, we can
create an unsafe work environment. Humans need to “steer into the pain” to find
resolutions. This generally means some sort of conflict, which is an important
part of a high-performance team. If someone says or does something that
negatively affects you or your team, it is important to not bottle it up but to
care enough about yourself and the other parties involved to suffer short-term
discomfort to achieve long-term safety.



One way to bring these concepts into focus is to discuss our value-to-drama
ratio—how much value we create for our coworkers compared to the drama we bring
them. Since we are humans, our drama level will always be somewhere above zero.
But when not kept in check, the team’s ability to do good work can be quickly
damaged, often beyond repair.

This is one area where we should be more like robots that are mostly drama-free
(excluding the Hollywood robots, of course). In all seriousness, if we spend
time reflecting on how much value we bring to our work versus the amount of
drama we create, we have a chance of self-correcting. If we learn to do that, we
can watch our careers soar.

So, what is the main difference between humans and robots? Humans matter. If we
forget that, we might as well let robots rise up and overthrow us.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Daniel Theobald is Founder and Chief Innovation Officer of Vecna Robotics, the
leader in flexible material handling automation solutions.





#FCFestival returns to NYC this September! Get your tickets today!

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advertisement

The Fast Company Executive Board is a private, fee-based network of influential
leaders, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs who share their insights with
our audience.
 * 06-22-22


WHAT I LEARNED ABOUT HUMANS BY BUILDING ROBOTS AND HOW IT CAN HELP CREATE A
BETTER WORKPLACE


UNTIL YOU HAVE BUILT A ROBOT, IT MAY BE HARD TO APPRECIATE JUST HOW CAPABLE,
ADAPTABLE, RESILIENT, INTELLIGENT, AND DEXTEROUS HUMANS ARE. MANY OF OUR HUMAN
CAPABILITIES ARE TAKEN FOR GRANTED BECAUSE THEY’RE NATURAL TO US.

[Blue Planet Studio / Adobe Stock]
 * 
 * 
 * 
 * 

By Daniel Theobald4 minute Read

For decades, Hollywood has made robots and humans out to be close cousins. In
addition to being tireless, methodical, and precise, robots have been presented
as self-aware beings that think, reason, feel, and even love. These human-like
robots may become heroes or villains that enslave or exterminate us. Think
Westworld or Ex Machina. Rest assured that it’s all lies. Humans aren’t robots,
and robots aren’t human.

advertisement

advertisement



HUMAN BRAINS ARE WIRED DIFFERENTLY

Until you have built a robot, it may be hard to appreciate just how capable,
adaptable, resilient, intelligent, and dexterous humans are. Many of our human
capabilities are taken for granted because they’re natural to us. Something as
simple as picking up a cup of coffee without spilling is beyond most robots, yet
humans do it daily without a second thought.

The human brain, however, cannot be programmed the same way robots can. Humans
often tire quickly of doing the same thing over and over. It helps to understand
that the human brain, which evolved over millions of years, has two major modes
of operation:

advertisement

 1. I don’t feel safe because something is going to attack me, which causes
    stress, anxiety, panic, and a tendency toward fight or flight.
 2. I do feel safe which allows for deeper thinking, creativity, higher
    productivity, fun, and caring for others.

The modern work environment has barely existed for a century, yet our brains are
still running that millions-of-years-old software. Most humans today aren’t
worried about getting eaten by a saber-tooth tiger, but we do worry about what a
co-worker is saying about us or if we are going to pass a performance review.
That anxiety creates the same physiological responses as if a saber-tooth tiger
was lurking in the bush about to eat us.

The problem with this modern anxiety is that we can’t escape it. Because these
threats are more abstract, they can linger with us 24/7 while the
tiger-fear-induced stress goes away when the threat is gone. This constant
stress can wreak havoc on our health, happiness, and productivity. So, how can
we prevent this?

THE IMPORTANCE OF BUILDING A TRUST NETWORK

advertisement


One of the most effective ways to help people feel safe is through sincere
praise, as research has shown that people need over five times more positive
feedback than constructive feedback for higher performance. Building a great
company requires a great team of dedicated humans who need constructive feedback
to learn and grow and achieve their potential.

But this ratio of positive to critical feedback presents a problem. Positive
feedback seems hard to come by because we tend to take the good for granted and
focus on the negative. Instead, start showing gratitude to those around you for
the good work they do. Then, when constructive feedback is required, it can be a
positive learning experience rather than a toxic, stress-inducing,
new-job-search type of situation.

Positive feedback should be presented publicly as often as possible and critical
feedback should only be given in private with the sincere desire to help the
person. There is never an appropriate time to give critical feedback to someone
in front of their peers. That can create a toxic environment, and people may
start watching their backs instead of doing amazing work.

advertisement


It’s also important to remember that positive feedback shouldn’t be a strictly
top-down process. Praise needs to be given and received in all directions.
Feedback from peer to peer and manager to manager can be far more helpful and
effective than the obligatory feedback from a manager.

Building those relationships based on positive feedback and non-stressful, fun
work events can be a huge benefit. Workers can be more efficient when they have
solid, natural, enjoyable working relationships than if everything is kept
coldly professional, which doesn’t feel safe. In fact, it can make it feel like
another saber-tooth-tiger situation.

If you haven’t invested in creating a safe work environment and a network of
trust, when a problem rears its head, it may be easier to disintegrate instead
of rallying. The bottom line is that for someone to be happy and achieve great
things, they should feel safe, valued, appreciated for their contributions, and
cared about as a person.

advertisement


HUMANS NEED TO EMBRACE CONFLICT

When things go poorly, workplaces can easily feel like a battlefield. Even when
giving and receiving plenty of positive feedback, there will be challenges. By
understanding our own needs and triggers, we can have a chance to manage issues
effectively.

A flight instinct (running away from a threat) doesn’t serve leaders well for
dealing with modern work problems. If we ignore or hide from the problem, we can
create an unsafe work environment. Humans need to “steer into the pain” to find
resolutions. This generally means some sort of conflict, which is an important
part of a high-performance team. If someone says or does something that
negatively affects you or your team, it is important to not bottle it up but to
care enough about yourself and the other parties involved to suffer short-term
discomfort to achieve long-term safety.

advertisement


One way to bring these concepts into focus is to discuss our value-to-drama
ratio—how much value we create for our coworkers compared to the drama we bring
them. Since we are humans, our drama level will always be somewhere above zero.
But when not kept in check, the team’s ability to do good work can be quickly
damaged, often beyond repair.

This is one area where we should be more like robots that are mostly drama-free
(excluding the Hollywood robots, of course). In all seriousness, if we spend
time reflecting on how much value we bring to our work versus the amount of
drama we create, we have a chance of self-correcting. If we learn to do that, we
can watch our careers soar.

So, what is the main difference between humans and robots? Humans matter. If we
forget that, we might as well let robots rise up and overthrow us.

advertisement


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Daniel Theobald is Founder and Chief Innovation Officer of Vecna Robotics, the
leader in flexible material handling automation solutions.


advertisement

advertisement

advertisement

advertisement

advertisement



#FCFestival returns to NYC this September! Get your tickets today!





VIDEO

The secret of Ikea’s innovation philosophy
Fast Company took a trip to IKEA’s headquarters in Almhult, Sweden, to explore
its secret to innovation. IKEA shared how they solved a design issue with
flatpack furniture
More Videos


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Copied
Live
00:00
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02:27








 



TECH

Tech


HOW AMAZON REDESIGNED PRIME VIDEO FOR A NEW STREAMING WORLD

Tech


TIKTOK SEO IS A THING NOW. HERE’S HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR RANK

Tech


AMAZON’S NEW FIRE SHOWS WHY 7″ TABLETS HAVE BECOME SUPERFLUOUS


NEWS

News


NETFLIX WAS EXPECTED TO LOSE 2 MILLION MORE SUBSCRIBERS. CAN IT PULL OFF A Q2
EARNINGS SURPRISE?

News


CRYPTO PRICES AND STOCKS ARE RALLYING AGAIN, BUT DON’T COUNT THE BEAR MARKET OUT
YET

News


THE AGE OF ‘GREEDFLATION’ IS HERE: SEE HOW OBSCENE CEO-TO-WORKER PAY RATIOS ARE
RIGHT NOW


CO.DESIGN

Co.Design


HOW ‘STRANGER THINGS’ IS FUELING AN OBSESSION WITH THE 1980S—AND WHY THIS
NOSTALGIA IS UNIQUE

Co.Design


HOW A SMALL CHANGE TO U.S. QUARTERS IS PART OF A BIG TREND IN LOGO DESIGN

Co.Design


HOW ONE COMPANY HAS PIGEON-PROOFED ALL OF NEW YORK CITY


WORK LIFE

Work Life


WHY GETTING THINGS FINISHED IS BETTER THAN GETTING THINGS PERFECT

Work Life


5 WAYS TO MAKE YOUR WORKPLACE MORE NEURO-INCLUSIVE

Work Life


IS EMPATHY SOMETHING YOU CAN LEARN?

 * Advertise
 * Privacy Policy
 * Terms
 * Notice of Collection
 * Do Not Sell My Data
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