Managers, Diplomats & Gaskets: On Being the Seal That Holds Teams Together

Speaker: Petrus Theron

Track: Other

Type: Keynote

Room: Ballroom

Time: Oct 11 (Fri), 16:00

Duration: 1:00

“For important negotiations we don’t send telegrams; we send ambassadors.” — Alan Kay

The problem with ambassadors is they only speak one language…typically French. But to negotiate between worlds, you need to speak two languages. You need a diplomat - or in mechanical terms, a gasket.

This talk is about transmuting wealth between domains of knowledge. Electrical engineering, in particular, has been unreasonably effective at predicting phenomena in other domains. So let's explore some ideas for creating wealth in an increasingly specialised world by cultivating generalist skills.