Ice Breaker – Technological Advancement

Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.

Steve Jobs

Most weeks on The Stretched Blog, I ask an ice breaker question on Fridays. The questions are designed to help us get to know each other here in The Stretched Community. I’ll provide my answer to the question here in the post, and then you can leave your response in the comments. While you’re in the comments section, see how others answered the ice breaker question.

Question:  What technological advancement would you love to see in your lifetime?

My Answer:  I used this question last week for a Toastmasters Table Topics contest I facilitated, and I loved the answers given by the contestants.  One contestant said they’d like to see a memory chip developed to help people remember things, and another contestant said a time machine would be an amazing advancement.  I can’t argue with either of these responses.

Today, I’m speaking at the PSPE (Pennsylvania Society of Professional Engineers) 2016 Annual Conference on the topic of Engineers Managing Engineers.  As part of my presentation, I’ll be talking about the importance of encouraging innovation among our team members.  As the end of my talk, I’ll be asking attendees to help me brainstorm ways to foster innovation, so this question goes along with my experience today.

Since the memory chip and time machine ideas were already mentioned, I’m going with something different.  I’d love to see scientists develop an affordable human teleportation device.  I first saw the device imagined on early episodes of Star Trek.  Captain Kirk and Spock used teleportation to visit alien planets.  Aboard the Starship Enterprise, Scotty would “beam” Kirk and Spock all over the galaxy.

With family and friends spread throughout the world, I’d love to travel to visit others without wasting time.  I could travel to Dallas, TX to visit my parents and youngest brother whenever I want to see them.  I could go to Guatemala multiple time a year (or even multiple times a week) to spend time with friends in Santo Domingo Xenacoj.  Imagine all the possibilities of having a human teleportation device.  Beam me up, Scotty!

Answer this week’s ice breaker question by leaving a comment. I look forward to reading your response! (As always, feel free to share links.)  And keep Stretching!

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