 Live from the Mandalay Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, it's theCUBE at IBM Insight 2014. Here are your hosts, John Furrier and Dave Vellante. Okay, welcome back everyone. We are here live in Las Vegas for IBM Impact. This is theCUBE's special presentation at IBM Insight inside the digital experience, IBM Insight Go, social media lounge, the social media gurus are here, John Furrier with Dave Vellante. That's playing off the joke that we're just sharing on Twitter, but seriously, we're here. In fact, the signal from the noise, my co-host Dave Vellante. Next guest, Marcia Collier, who's the Managing Director of Impact Ingenuity at Marcia. Marcia? Yes. That's your Twitter handle, it's awesome. It is, it's Marcia Connor actually. Welcome back, welcome back. Well thanks, thrilled to be here. So we're just joking about Halloween and we're going to be a social media guru. It's a little bit of a meme going around the internet. I mean, there is no social media guru. I mean, you can't really be a guru with developing technology, you can be a practitioner. I mean, guru, what is a social media? What is a social media guru? This is a word because I offer that I would answer any question you ask me. You can ask me those things, sure. Well, I think that's the problem. I think that's why it'd be a fabulous Halloween costume. I'm going to think about doing that one too. Because people seem to be bowling to these folks, of following them to the ends of the earth because it's something that they said on social media. I mean, that's a kind of a scary concept. Hey, it's a chance to use your Google Glass. You know, it can be a glass holder. As well, I mean, I'm not going to go there. But let's go into that, that theme. I mean, honestly, Jeff Jones was just on, he's awesome. We always get in the weeds. He's the fun character to talk to. But he's super smart. We're on this G2 thing, observation space. But we're all internet of things, right? I mean, it reminds me of the bookies to read to my kids, Thing One and Thing Two. You know, we're all things. We're all internet of things. What do you see as that impact to this digital transformation where not only are the humans connected to the machines, the data, that they're exhausting or sharing or streaming, but the machines are connected and collecting as well? How's that going to change? What's your view on all this? While I have been in the technology sector most of my life and I appreciate and enjoy the technology, I never lose sight of the fact that this is about the people. It's about us actually working together, of actually learning together, doing whatever the hell it is we're needing to do. So if all of my appliances are actually then taking care of the mundane, if my water softener system is actually getting the water put in and it's getting delivered on the right day, all the better. If the toaster is alerting me to some sort of news, I'm thrilled. I love the idea of the technology actually being able to take care of all that stuff that we never wanted to do in the first place. But the technology's been so lousy over the last couple of years, actually forever, that we've had to do this stuff because the technology isn't doing it for us. What's your observation out in the customer space? Because that's more of the home example, but even business now, it seems to be early innings. I mean, people are kicking the tires. We talked to all the gurus coming up here who are the tech side, IBM and customers, and the reality is we're all pro data, which we all kind of see that obvious social data and big data analytics, certainly helpful. But this transformation, people are now really changing how to operationalize their business with it. It's a huge daunting task and it's scary. Some people are like, whoa, I don't want to do it. Or, hey, I'm jumping in, I'm cool. Is there a cool factor? Is there a scared factor? What's your observation from talking to everyone out in the marketplace? Well, first, I'll totally bash the idea that this is only a consumer play or that it doesn't apply to businesses. Think of all the mundane and ridiculous things we have to do at work because they're not being taken care of us, taken care of for us by our desks, if we want to look at that way, or our computers. I loved hearing about the new pairing of Wayblazer and Watson and the idea of the travel being taken care of us. What we discover because of the data that we're putting off each and every moment is there's systems around us all the time that actually know our preferences, know how we would be handling this, but yet they don't do anything about it. So the idea that we can actually move forward in that way should be just as applicable to our business. A manager should not have to actually be asking some of the questions that they're asking. The HR department does need to be asking how you're doing. It's evident by all the things that you put out into the world and by just actually attending to what's going on. We have a huge opportunity to get back all that time that we've been wasting all these years and just the stupid stuff. So what's the bottleneck? So fear, security, oh, we want privacy. Marsha will get offended if we tweet or she knows that we know that she tweeted that. That's a concern people have, it seems to be, is it? Well, we'll go back up. Why is it a concern? It's because the people who've been doing it earlier are doing it horribly. I mean, they're doing it in not respectful ways. There isn't actually a real thought about how would I be okay with this doing? And those are, we're so ahead of the curve. Maybe because of the guru status of some of these social media. Maybe that's the reason. And the big data gurus, look at the government. They were big data gurus and they screwed up that. That whole Snowden thing was all like, hey, just ask us. We'll give you our email address. You can search my email. Have a nice day. Search it. It's a very different message. It's a very different conversation. It's a very different question. It's a very different level of respect that we have from one person working with another of actually talking with people as opposed to at them. Instead of just making assumptions of actually participating. I mean, the idea that engagement is the goal just implies that we haven't been engaged all these years. We haven't been thinking. We haven't been doing. I personally haven't met a really dumb person in years. And yet everything I do would imply that we're too stupid to be able to really think and act and be thoughtful about our approach. So you're an influencer. You're out here in the digital sphere. And you're an influencer. I mean, you define influencer. I guess if they say so. Sure, yes, I am. If you are a VIP influencer, we'll go with that. I'm just digging on your Twitter stream here. It's fantastic. So what are you working on? So share this. You know, we'd love to hear your stories because last year you were awesome on theCUBE. We'd love to chat with you. Give us the update. What's going on? We saw each other at the Ted at IBM conference. We did. You're super busy. What's going on? Share with the folks out. This is one of the things you've been into. What's working? Show some stuff that didn't work. What's going on? What's happening? All right, John, if you're going to ask them, I'll tell you. Tell us, yeah. If you're really ready. Don, to me, probably a little after I saw you last time, after I was visiting here that our world's falling apart. And if all of us actually don't get on that, if we don't actually start figuring out how to use the precious time we have, the precious money we have, the roles we have in our organizations, the resources at our disposal, our brains for good, not evil. I'm not so sure about the world that my son is going to be inheriting, for example. And I'm at a point in my life where I realize, I know a heck of a lot in the world. I have a lot of skills. Everybody I know, look at these people around me, have tremendous skills. And instead of us churning out the butter one more year, we best- I love that phrase. We best be thinking about what can I do, given what I have of my time, my resources, my skills or whatever that is, and apply that to what I have influence over and be able to make as much difference as possible. And are we talking about God's last offer here, the sustainable world, or what's- Well, actually on all scopes, I'm bored. The timing's perfect too, if you think about it. Seriously, we're talking about the deterioration of our planet, we're talking about social condition. What, are we talking about the world for the Hell in a Handbasket? Yeah, yes. Well, I mean, I can go on and talk about- No, I just want to clarify the- Money, money, return, I can entertain for hours. But the comment that you just made- The comment I made is that no matter where we look, the scientists have pointed out that we're past the point of no return with our climate. We look at the deterioration of the planet around us. I happen to live in the woods, and I mean deep in the woods. And you can see the change of how much rain is coming down the- I mean, my intent here is not to talk about all the problems around us. We all actually feel them, even if we're not acknowledging them. What I see is the wasted opportunity of us not actually re-examining what we're choosing to do and figure out how whatever it is we're capable of doing could actually be helping instead of bringing down that world. So how should people- Yeah, you asked, you know. Let's say people want to- No, that's good, but I just wanted to frame it. Yeah, no, please, you're- So let's say people want to- So let's say that resonates to somebody in the audience. Yeah. What should they do? How should they start? Take a passion and- They have them. I mean, my approach to all the change work I do and have been doing with corporations for the last 20 years is actually not additive. It's not asking the question, what more could I do? Because that's usually what keeps people from doing it. I ask the question, what's keeping me from doing what I've always known needed to be done? So in our communities, you know, my experience is that everybody knows who it is that could use some assistance. Not in a handout sort of way, in a reaching out and caring way of asking, of having a conversation, of participating. And to be able to step back and ask that question, what's keeping me from doing that? We know what needs to be done, but we're not doing it. So how can I say, oh, well, what's keeping me from doing is I don't have enough time to do it. Okay, well, what can I do to actually just get a little bit more time to do something that matters in the world? So that's at the most very, very- Less Twitter? Basic level. It could be. Right? It could absolutely be that it's less Twitter. It could also be reevaluating how much time I'm spending at work on stuff that could be automated. I mean, going back to this whole conversation about automation is to ask those questions what I could do. That's just about time. I ask- But that is one of the biggest objections, right? I don't have time, right? Yeah, so what I find is when I talk about global health, actually, is that when we look at the idea of health, not as in just exercising more or just eating right, we're talking about physical health. We're talking about creating a world that is just a healthier place. When I ask people those questions, most of them can say, well, yeah, this is important to me, but I don't know what to do about it. So one is, as you absolutely said, is finding those passions and being able to figure out what you're going to do. But more importantly, to ask yourself that question, when am I going to do this? If not now? I feel like I'm falling, yeah. My mic is falling out. Let me get that addressed. Well, let me chit chat. I have a lot of hair. Yeah, yeah. Okay, so we're talking about different ways to find time. Well, Dave, I mean, I think it's a great time. I mean, the passion thing is where the keyword is contributing, right? So I think it's a good time because we both, Dave and I both have four kids. So we see the new generation in their minds. And we don't have time because we're driving them around. No, but they're impressionable right now. The old expression is you grab the play though and you can shape it. We can actually, as leaders and mature, experienced people that have some skills in computing, we can influence like STEM. We can influence women in tech. We can influence computer science curriculums. Sure. We can influence modern society because the new generation is coming in and they're natives, they're adopting and they're thirsty for leadership. And I don't think that they're seeing it. So I think there's really a good time. You've seen the Kickstarter, the crowdsourcing stuff is really becoming a part of this new tribe. So I believe the gravity around making things happen is participation, collaboration, and data. Data is knowledge, endorsement, social proof. These are concepts that are easily transferable if you can just wake up and do it. So I think, you know. If you just wake up and do it. I mean, the thing about it, so why, if you wake up every day why aren't you doing it today? We have Craig Brown on earlier. He's doing $25,000 investments for kids to start companies. You know? Whether they're intercity kids and or... That's a pretty cool segment. I mean, so, you know, this is the democratization piece but in a connected network it's frictionalist communication. I mean, hell, Twitter overthrew governments. So you can have solidarity, peaceful solidarity as well as other revolutions. So I think that's a very doable thing versus just checking the bottle I volunteer to do something. I think that has been more of a peace quarrel about it. I helped people. Come on. And I'm personally, I asked this question of everybody that I, I asked, actually asked two questions of everybody I work with now. Well, one of them is, what can you not do? What can you not do, actually? So if you think to yourself, if I look back on my life, if I look back on my life, what is it that I thought to myself, oh, I didn't have time for that or I couldn't do it. We've all heard that, you know, what do you want on your tombstone? However that works. But I find that everybody I know think it has a burning need to be doing something useful in their lives. It's not just mission-driven. Absolutely, it's a purpose. It's a connecting with people who are helping to move the world forward. And I just stop and I say, even in a business context, I say, you know, now's time. We're kind of out of time. Get on with it. Please. Please, please. Well, Jeff Jones was talking about the asteroid thing to geospatial. It's more a geeky conversation. But the key thing out of that was better focus of finite resources. And that really comes down to the fundamental better decision-making. I mean, my wife says to our kids all, make better decisions. I mean, that's a mother talking to the kids, but that's our life now. So like, if we can make better decisions, that ultimately is the big-date opportunity from social change to play to business. And then the second question, absolutely, absolutely agree with everything you said. The next big question I ask is, what are you doing to improve the world? Now, I would say, 50% of the people I say just give me this completely dear-in-the-headlights look. What do you mean to save the world or to improve the world, to change the world? However you want to frame that. But I haven't met anybody in years that isn't interested in truly contributing, leaving the world a better place than they came into. And that's no matter what their demographic makeup is. That's no matter the community they live in. No matter what they're doing, people have a fundamental desire to do better. And so I ask that of every business person, every corporation I work with. And I mean, that's one of the things I love about this whole idea of building a smarter planet. That should tie to every single thing we do. And when we lose sight of that, we see what happens. I think this is a really great conversation to have because it's something that's emerging. And again, there's some obvious examples. Oh, pebble watch, crowdfunding. But if you look at really impactful things like open-source software, you are seeing the playbook. I mean, the playbook is, people can participate at any level. So the fear of getting this kind of group going is that, ah, I'm too busy. Or, ah, you know, the contribution doesn't have to be game changing for an individual. It could be one small piece of the puzzle. It could be small contribution. Someone might do more heavy lifting than the other. That's an open-source concept. We've seen that work huge. A lot of leverage, a lot of participation. So I think that's something that I really haven't seen get applied to at a large scale. I mean, you see the protest in Hong Kong are interesting. That's an indicator. What does that mean? So what's your take on all? What do you think needs to happen to get more people tied into these shared missions? More crowd chats? A little over off the ranch. A little bit more honesty. More honesty, yeah. Yeah, I mean, not something that we talk about these sorts of events. Is that, I've gotten to the point where I do these large talks in front of thousands of people and I ask everybody to turn to the person next to them and introduce themselves honestly. Like, why are you here and why do you care? We've all gotten so wrapped up in the who we are. I am John Furrier, I'm a Cuba holocaust. Well, and that's why I said, I love the idea of you being a social media guru for Halloween. It's just it becomes so about the role that we've lost the connection with our humanity. And so I just, I asked people to just step back. So it's a simple, so yeah, I'm all for the large initiatives. Being self-aware is a really interesting concept and that really what you're talking about here is, I mean, I make fun of myself. I mean, I put that out there. I'm probably going to get some hate mail for that tweet, but it is what it is. I mean, I make fun of myself and us because we have to because it's really not moving fast enough in the writer, in my mind at least. I think social media is a real game changer and pro-social media, but I mean, come on. If you can't make fun of yourself, then... But what is social media doing? What is our untapped desire that why we're all participating in social media? We've missed the opportunity for all these years to be human in everything that we're doing. I mean, the idea that you can be wherever you are and be able to reach the people who have answers to be able to help you make better decisions is something that we've had that desire for a very long time. We've just been not able to do that for so long that it's now it's time we get on with that. Why we do theCUBE too, Dave and I talk all the time. We want to broadcast out the data because I think people want to be part of something and I think at the end of the day it's human psychology is that being part of something makes psychology of the soul work better. It's like, okay, I want to be part of a group. I want to belong. It's a yearning, it's a tribe, whatever that kind of collective group is, whether the clown or the guru or whatever, I think that's people are yearning for that collectiveness of group groups and I think the data is the gravity. Like how do you, a joke, it could be serious conversation. It could be something provocative. I think content is a nice piece of gravity to kind of bring people together versus tweeting, hey, look how big I am. I got a zillion followers. Okay, so let's back up though. So content. We can talk about the concept that is content. That's a lovely thing to do at a data conference. Talk about the content. It's about things we care about. That's what content is. So if we take that a step further and we actually extrapolate it and say how does this impact me? It's not because it's content, it's because we're talking about topics that matter to each of us. And so the more we get back to that sort of conversation, the more we get back to that sort of point, I think we have a bigger opportunity to have conversations that matter and not be able to be wasting our time doing the silly stuff. Okay, we're getting the hook here, Marcia. Conversations that matter. That's really what it's all about, changing the world. Thanks for coming on theCUBE. Great to see you again. And we'll be right back after this short break. Live in Las Vegas, day two continues. Wall-to-wall coverage here inside theCUBE, inside the digital experience, Insight Go with IBM Social Lounge. We'll be right back after this short break.