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Remember life before the internet?  What about the smartphone?  If you grew up pre 2000’s you know exactly what life was like before technology forever changed the way we interact with others, work, play and pastime.  I remember the days of doing research papers in school and having to use the card catalog system in the library to search out information.  It was agonizing and tedious, but hey, it’s all we knew or had for that matter.  Technology has certainly enabled us to be much more efficient in many aspects of our lives.  As we’ve grown in our use of technology so have the side effects that come from our technology dependency in the office and at home, especially with our smartphones.

The side effects I speak of, impatience and declining interpersonal skills, directly impact an incredibly important part of our being - our peace of mind.

People have become increasingly more impatient than they’ve ever been.  I know because I’m one of them.  The golden rule in business back in the day was to return a phone call within 24 hours.  Today, if we don’t get a response in 30 minutes we think the person on the other end is avoiding us or must not have received our call. We then resort to a whole list of communication outreach shenanigans, frantically trying to get a response by texting, Facebooking, IG-ing, LinkedIn Messenger, emailing from three different addresses and blasting off SnapChats.  Sound familiar?

The result of our increased impatience is a heightened level of stress.  When we’re stressed the last thing on our minds is peacefulness which leads to bad decision making, mistakes and a decline in our health. Stress is the real McCoy here as over 75% of all doctor's office visits are for stress-related ailments. 

Our interpersonal skills are also experiencing side effects of smartphones and their associates technologies.  At an alarming rate we’re focused on the technology in front of us rather than the people and experiences we’re surrounded by.  Ever been to a restaurant and see a couple facing one another, not saying a word, both eating ferociously while they text and bounce from one social media app to the next?  An entire meal goes by with little more said than ‘pass the guac’.  Parents at playgrounds are absorbed into their phones while their kids play about unaware that mom and dad are more interested in the scrolling unyielding stream of meme’s and picture perfect vacation images of strangers rather than their own kids development and experiences. Our conversations and relationships suffer because we are fixated on what is happening in the world thousands of miles away rather than what’s right in front of us.

Folks, it’s not a pretty picture.  Smartphones, while useful in many ways, have had a dramatic change on the way we operate.

While I know the above to be true, I’m also an addict.  Like many of you reading this I too am addicted to the never ending stream of nonsense on my phone.  Yesterday a good friend of mine encouraged me to do a little test, one that I’ve jumped into wholeheartedly.  As I write this article I’m 24 hours into a social media hiatus.  I’m going for a month off, then from there I’ll evaluate how my life is for better (my hunch is this will be the case) or for worse without social media.  I’ve deleted all social media apps from my smartphone and am excited to experience an existence without those distractions. 

I encourage you to join me in a month of social media/ smartphone hiatus. 

​Use these five techniques to unplug so you can start enjoying life in the moment:

• Give Technology a Time Out – go cold turkey for a month, or just leave it at home for a day
• Read a Paperback – reading a real book, ditch the Kindle
• Experience the Great Outdoors – go for a walk, hike, bike, slip & slide what have you; being outdoors restores the soul and revitalizes the mind, a bit of sun always brightens up the day
• Casual Convo with Friends or Family – taking time to appreciate and enjoy the relationships around you isn’t just rewarding, it’s bonding at a level technology can’t compete with
• Breathe – next time you have the urge to check your social media apps for the 19th time in the last half hour take a deep breath and just enjoy the moment; silence provides a great opportunity to reflect and enjoy the moment, you might be surprised what you’re missing out on that’s right in front of you

This week I’ll have the opportunity to participate in an impactful event here in Irvine, CA covering women in medical device leadership.  With this being the 3rd annual event the team putting it together was concerned primarily with how we would pull off the event and do so while keeping the content fresh and appealing.  Needless to say when you’ve done something twice its really easy to have the 3rd end up on autopilot.  Just ask Al Pacino, he’ll know exactly what you’re talking about as a result of Godfather III. (my first of many digressions in this article)
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While we had a great topic to address, ‘Successfully Addressing Conflict Resolution & Crisis Management in the Workplace’, the team agreed we were missing something from the event.  Missing something to make this 3rd event really special.  It was during this time one of our strategic partners, Society of Women in Engineering, or SWE, suggested we offer a scholarship for female STEM students as a part of the event.

We loved the idea and since our organization, DeviceAlliance, had yet to do a scholarship program it was a great way to give back to the local community we serve while also providing a unique experience for the event attendees.

As we dove into the creation of this scholarship program, which would later be called ‘OC Exceptional Female STEM Student Scholarship Award’, we learned a lot of interesting stats having to do with our country’s STEM education programs.  Some of those STEM stats were good yet many of them were disheartening to say the least.

While I knew what STEM education was I must admit I wasn’t familiar with the actual programs, how it operated and what the results were.  As I began to dig for details to educate myself on this part of academia, I found myself becoming increasingly frustrated with the information I was finding.
STEM education in the US is struggling.

I found this really hard to believe.  How can such an amazing program have such mediocre to poor results.  I learned things like:

1. Of 35 members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the US ranks 30th in math and 19th in science, according to Pew Research
2. 78% of high school graduates don't meet benchmark readiness for one or more college courses in mathematics, science, reading, or English, according to the Smithsonian Science Education Center
3. It was projected that 2.4 million STEM jobs went unfilled in 2018, according to Smithsonian Science Education Center

These stats are frightening and only the beginning of the landslide of poor outcomes and frustrating data plaguing STEM education.  One could easily deduce from this information our country’s efforts to produce a successful STEM education program for the up and coming generations is failing.  Perhaps, failing miserably.

I wasn’t willing to accept that.  Just because the stats may not be in our favor doesn’t mean STEM isn’t a good opportunity.  In fact, I look at it the opposite way.  Sure, STEM education reform would almost certainly help our country however in the wake of misfortune opportunity can always be found.

Fortunately, the future for STEM isn’t so doom and gloom, it’s all a matter of how we address the opportunity at hand.  Let’s look at some other stats related to STEM:

1. In 2012, the median earnings for workers in science and engineering occupations (regardless of education level or field) were $78,270, more than double the median ($34,750) for all U.S. workers.
2. Between 2017 and 2027, the number of STEM jobs in the US will grow 13 percent, compared to 9 percent for non-STEM jobs
3. There is a giant opportunity for women and minorities to flourish in STEM related work fields; there are thousands of scholarships and academic programs which have been created to encourage and entice women and minorities to join STEM education; the same is true for many top companies which rely on technical talent and the programs they have to hire and onboard such talent

Yes, the academic side of STEM may be struggling in the US.  Yes, we’re pumping a lot of money into STEM and we’re still behind many 1st and even 2nd world countries in terms of our scoring and performance in STEM.

Yet there’s one thing for certain you just can’t argue – technology is only going to increase as time goes on.  This means the demand for STEM educated students will continue to be both important and a key driver of our economy.  Rather than focusing on the bad, I see it as a chance to focus on the good and the potential growth in STEM education in front of us here in the States.

So how do we address the issue of a struggling domestic STEM education program so that we can get more students through it and into the workforce?
The answer in my opinion is two-fold:

1. Industry needs to get more involved guiding both our government, including its respective politicians, as well as academia to help them understand what is needed in the workforce and just as important how to successfully get students there through robust programs which use heavy amounts of real-world educational applications and not just theory found in a textbook
2. Older generations (in particular parents) need to take the time to educate younger generations at a very early age on STEM and as they grow continuing that education on the opportunities in the workforce which come from STEM educations; our work as parents, coaches, advisors and mentors doesn’t end there, we must stick by them through the process encouraging and supporting our STEM students through to graduation

While those two answers may be wildly simple and perhaps naïve on a big scale it’s hard to argue one key fact: technology is here to stay; the jobs of the future will largely be focused and depend on emerging technology. 

As technology continues to advance it brings us opportunity, how we and the generations to come choose to take advantage of that opportunity, well that’s still yet to be seen.  It’s vital we act NOW to uplift our country’s STEM education programs while encouraging our youth to reach for those opportunities.

I’m proud to be a part of a non-profit team which recognizes the importance of STEM education and just as important is doing something in our local community to encourage and support those students who are chasing their dreams in the areas of science, technology, engineering and math.

Key Take Away:
The US STEM education system is getting the pants beat off it by other countries which have placed a high priority in technology and science based education.  While this seems bad on the surface it also reveals a lot of opportunity ahead of us, with plenty of employment opportunities with nice salaries and upward mobility.  Industry and older generations (in particular parents) need to get involved earlier and more frequent to ensure the up and coming generations are able to take advantage of the opportunities at hand.

Action Item:
Think about how you land within these two areas: industry and adulting.  If you don’t have kids how can you educate people younger than you about the opportunities STEM produces?  If you do have kids introducing them at a young age to these possibilities is crucial, not just for their development but for our country as a whole.  From an industry perspective, challenge yourself and your company to get further involved with the local colleges and universities in your area.  Seek out STEM education programs to ingratiate them into your company, help to drive awareness, sponsor projects and competitions.   The more we get involved the better of we and those to come after us will be.
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​As the economy continues to boom we’ve seen several geographical areas around the country over the last 5-6 years show signs of impressive growth and future promise.  Areas like Boston, the DC, Virginia, Maryland area known as ‘Tech-Corridor’ and Southern California are quickly giving the traditional tech depots like Silicon Valley and Seattle a run for their money.  With home prices in the Bay Area and Seattle eclipsing obnoxiously high levels businesses are flocking to other areas and their doing so by the droves!  According to Inc Magazines Marc Emmer (a Bay Area local) upwards of 46% of Bay Area residents plan to leave “in the next few years”.

So where are they going?

Before we can answer that question we need to understand the three major fundamentals for what makes a good tech and business ecosystem: universities, money and talent.
Universities drive education which in turn drives innovation, money (VCs, corporations, private interests, etc.) provide the catalyst for development, while having an enriched talent pool ensures the jobs of today will remain input for tomorrow.

These three things combine are the building blocks for a strong and lasting ecosystem.  When each of these fundamentals coexists these geographical areas turn into a ‘build it and they will come’ field of dreams scenario.

So, where are businesses moving to?  Southern California!

SoCal may have been slow to catch on however the area including Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego is quickly showing why it shouldn’t be ignored as it turns into a tech and business force to be reckoned with.  Annlee Ellingson of LA Biz wrote an article based on a Boston Consulting Group tech report which outlines some of the reasons why SoCal is the next area on the block to look out for:

• It’s home to several major industries which have a top 3 foothold across the country: aerospace, medical technologies and business services.
• While the cost of housing in SoCal is relatively high, the cost of living in SoCal can be 20+% cheaper than the Bay Area, Seattle and DC, mostly due to lower housing prices comparatively.
• SoCal produces more tech PhDs per year than any other region in the country.
• Caltech generates more patents than any university in the U.S. and UCLA more startups.
• 54 percent of CalTech’s 2017 alumni chose to stay in SoCal versus 31 percent of grads from 2012.
• Recent high-profile tech leaders have relocated to SoCal including Meg Whitman (eBay, HP) and Peter Thiel (PayPal, Founders Fund, Thiel Capital).
• SpaceX, Snap Inc. and Cornerstone OnDemand are among the heavy hitters calling Southern California home.
• Tech giants such as Google, Yahoo! and Facebook have expanded their footprint in Silicon Beach, increasing the density of tech employees and engineers in the area.
• Santa Monica and West Hollywood already have an “entrepreneurial density” on par with many Silicon Valley cities, including Palo Alto and Menlo Park.

 
Key Take Away:  the three major fundamentals for what makes a good tech and business ecosystem: universities, money and talent.

Action Item:  One of the best things you can do to determine where the best place to be located is to review the labor pools in that area to determine if your place of business will be housed in an area that will provide you with good access to talent.  
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