Silicon Valley is seen as a phenomenon to imitate in different places of the world. Is that possible? Lights and shadows of a unique ecosystem.  

By Martin Padulla* for staffingamericalatina

Last month, during the Senior Executive Program organized by INCAE in Babson College, San Francisco, I had the chance of interacting with three top level companies in Silicon Valley.  Moreover, outside the program, I was able to gain more insight by visiting my friends of Staffing Industry Analysts in Mountain View and two other companies from this incredible ecosystem.

Being immersed in such a particular environment generates many questions.

Why has this area of California been key to become the 5^th economy of the world, beating the United Kingdom? What is going on in with this 39 million inhabitants’ state, which contributes to 14% of the United States GDP, and that sends a message that is quite the opposite wot what  California Republic stands for (10 million foreigners and a State that protects at least 2.5 million  undocumented immigrants )? Can the Silicon Valley phenomenon be copied?

The expression Silicon Valley became popular as a large number of companies that worked on developing semiconductors started to settle in the area back in the 70s. They used silicon as one of their key elements. Today, the area includes the main high technology companies in the world. Companies such as Google, Apple, eBay, Intel, Yahoo, Verizon, Uber and Tesla, among others, lead the development agenda.

Something that can be observed in Silicon Valley is how a real ecosystem works. It is possible to identify a kick-starter, fuel, a proper environment, and a clear interdependence among key actors.

The kick-starter seem to be the absolute certainty among every social actor involved that education is the key. Everyone talks about the relationship there is among skills, productivity and growth. There are no discussions or theories with doubtful scientific background that resemble de old fashioned Latin American debates on education and work.

The fuel is a strongly defined strategy that connects skills development with the growth agenda. A look into the future, that gets feedback and is reinforced.

The proper environment involves flexible and updated regulatory frameworks, top level business schools, workers 4.0, incubators, accelerators, investment funds, risk capital, infrastructure and services. There is also sunlight during the largest share of the year and San Francisco is a city with high life quality (even though it is also very expensive).

Interdependence is linked to a coordination among the institutions that connect education and work, constantly looking into the future. All of them have the goal of “creating” the future. A system where universities, companies, accelerators, venture capitals, and startups are included and promoted.

Is it possible to think about Palo Alto without Stanford? Can California be explained without Berkley or UCLA? Would San Francisco be the same without Wharton or Babson?

Basically, Silicon Valley is a skills’ ecosystem. It is the largest innovation center in the world. Chips and microconductors’ silicon gave way to augmented reality, big data, and artificial intelligence. It is the place where technological startups coexist with consumers and investors. It is the place where they can achieve their own obsolescence through disruptions. The area where you can go to a 100% robotic bar, and to another with personalized human attention of premium quality.

When you interact with those who work every day in such an environment, it becomes clear their pride for innovation, the idea of failure as a key part of any creative process, the respect towards diversity, and a real passion to be part of this. Everyone seems to be aware of being in a transformational place where you can work under exponential premises that enabled the creation of Facebook, Netflix, WhatsApp, and Uber, among other. And where everything is about to happen again.

Nevertheless, I believe that the most important thing is that what is called Bay Area has generated a new way of doing business: startups, which are also transforming the concept of work.

In Babson I was able to experiment through controlled chaos, we can always be creative and even disruptive. It is possible to work in another way.

In Silicon Valley, inspiration demands sweating and, even though certain teams work for too many hours in certain periods, they have other periods to rest and think. This has absolutely modified workspaces’ lay outs. Flexibility and diverse forms of work have contributed to create an environment that includes playful spaces, plenty of light, recreation spaces, places designed to meet with others.

In organizations, culture is something you experience every day. The figure of the founder or CEO is omnipresent. Leaders quote them and tell stories where he/she is a leading character, always offering a different perspective. Storytelling is not only useful for pitches, it is a tool to bring culture to life, increase commitment and work in the cohesion of a team where the climate, the mood, and a relaxed way of interacting seem to be the key.

Everyone who works in this techno-ecosystem is aware that they cannot do it on their own. Work team, collaboration, and friendly competition are values strongly hold by every worker. Those who compete with me today, might be my clients or partners tomorrow. Learning, developing relationships, staying aware, re-learning, these are key ideas in the valley.

Among my notes I found the next concepts: better, cheaper, faster, and bigger. A common thread in Silicon Valley. To print 3D vital human organs, develop the supermarket of the future with augmented reality, or plan smart cities.

Is it possible to copy this mix of talent, passion to transform and improve the world, and venture capital that bets of innovative projects?

I believe that creating imperfect ecosystems that promote these sets of elements is quite complex, but it is possible, and definitely worth trying. While attempting, the connection among education, research, science, work, entrepreneurship, and transformational spirit. For Latin America, this is a mandatory way to get closer to the future. Only 20 km away from Santiago de Chile, la University of Chile is working on this, and by 2021 it will have a 250 hectares technological innovation center. An initiative to imitate.

What can we see in the future that Silicon Valley shows us today? Is everything success and joy? Not really. There are highly qualified workers, jobs of the future, great life quality at a high cost, problems to access a home, exclusion and people seem to be used to a social phenomenon such as homeless people. A real challenge in terms of public policies if we observe this phenomenon from a Latin American perspective, particularly those linked to social protection.

Regardless estimations, it is frequent to hear in Silicon Valley that in a short period of time, life expectancy will be 100 years old. This will be possible by the interpretation of our genome for only USD 100, and by connecting our brains to the cloud through nanobots. These are the words of futurist Raymond Kurzwell, Director of Google, who, as I write down this column has a certainty index of 86% in his predictions, and has been defined as the “successor of Thomas Edison” by Inc. magazine.

The flight back home was long. I could not stop thinking about the consequences in terms of society, demographics, work organization, healthcare, public policy, education, ethical dilemmas and equity of opportunities, which kept me awake.

If anyone has any doubts about the need of changing and updating our regulatory frameworks, of promoting STEAM skills (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics), connecting education and work, and developing socioemotional skills that will enable us to adapt and become key players in this change of an era, he/she should visit the Bay Area for just one day.

About Martin Padulla

Founder and Managing Director of staffingamericalatina. Martin Padulla is Sociologist (USAL), MBA (UCA) and labour markets expert. He published “Flexible Work in South America” and “Regulatory framework for private employment agencies in Latin America” two books about the new realities of work in Latin America.

Follow Martín Padulla on Twitter: @MartinPadulla

mpadulla@staffingamericalatina.com

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