See the Human Being First (ft. Phoebe Yang)
5/7/202637 min
Phoebe Yang is the daughter of a single-parent Chinese immigrant father who raised three daughters in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. She went to law school intending to become a law professor, until her father was diagnosed with late-stage colorectal cancer and given four months to live. That moment changed everything.
From there, Phoebe built a career that spans AOL Time Warner (launching their China office), Discovery (turning around Discovery Health and doing early deals with Amazon, Google, and Microsoft when nobody else wanted them), the Obama administration's FCC, the Advisory Board Company, Amazon, and board roles at GE, Doximity, and CommonSpirit. She now teaches the business of AI at Stanford.
In this episode, Phoebe talks about why healthcare is the only industry where the greatest predictor of success is tied to how well you see the human being first, what curious humility means in a board role, why Socrates feared the written word the same way we fear AI, and what it means to sit alone in a Roman church with two Caravaggio paintings all day.
Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsEd Marx· Host0:00
Ultimately, at the end of the day, everything comes back to the people.
Phoebe Yang· Guest0:02
What most people who try to disrupt healthcare from a technology per- perspective underestimate is the importance of the people and the culture, and it's really the only industry in which the greatest predictor of success is directly tied to how well you see the human being as first. But that relationship is one built on trust, and so if you can't orient yourself around that model of trust, it's gonna be very hard to be successful.
Speaker 20:33
[upbeat music] Welcome to Digital Voices, where healthcare and life science leaders explore the real work behind transformation. This podcast is about people, leadership, and the conversations that move healthcare forward. Now your host, Ed Marx.
Ed Marx· Host0:50
Hey, everyone. Welcome to another edition of Digital Voices. So excited as I am every week because we have the greatest guests, and today, on this episode, we have Phoebe Young. Phoebe, welcome to Digital Voices.
Phoebe Yang· Guest1:04
Thank you so much, Ed. I love listening to your podcast, and so it's exciting to be here. Thanks for having me.
Ed Marx· Host1:12
And you're, like, this icon in the industry. I know everyone knows you, and we'll dig a little bit deeper, maybe some areas that people don't know as much about you, but you're just a fabulous person. And we just really sort of met, I think, just digitally, if you will. We ... I- I've followed all your stuff, and you've been an i- like I mentioned,