Whew! Dreamforce ‘16 has officially come to a close, and it was our biggest —and dare we say best —bash yet. Groundbreaking new AI technologies like Einstein were introduced, U2 brought the house down at Dreamfest, and together we raised almost $1 million for (RED) to support the work of the Global Fund to fight AIDS. A huge thanks to our trailblazing customers and partners, our ohana, for joining us and making it all possible.

So what better way to end an event like this than with a day dedicated to exploring how each of us can change the world for the better? We designated Day 4 of Dreamforce as Compassion Day, and heard from a slew of brilliant, world-changing leaders and thinkers.

Here’s 4 reasons why they all believe that compassion is the driving force behind the new business innovations, ideas, and movements that impact our lives in extraordinary ways.

1) Compassion is an Action Verb

In the words of Dr. Rich Fernandez of Wisdom Labs, true compassion is an action verb. In the fullest sense of the word, compassion is the capacity to:

• Create a sense of kindness and goodwill

• Take action to reduce suffering in world

• Be of benefit and service to all.
  

To be compassionate is to positively impact the world, in whatever way you can.

Dr. Fernandez shared a parable in which a grandfather is talking with a young child. The old man tells the child that within him is a fight between two wolves. One is filled with hatred, anger, and ill-will. The other is filled with kindness, love, and compassion.

The child asks, “Which one wins?”

The elder replies, “The one you feed.”

The clear message from today is that the power, resources, and know-how to solve some of the world’s most pressing problems reside here within our own technology and business community.  

So ask yourself: which wolf will you feed?

2) Compassion is Listening to the Canary in the Coalmine

Pediatrician Dr. Burke Harris of the Center for Youth Wellness advised us to not only take compassionate action, but to also incorporate the most ancient form of medicine: listening.

By looking beyond the surface symptoms and listening with an open mind to what her young patients were telling her, she was able to identify the root cause of the behavioral health epidemics she was seeing: childhood traumas that changed the ways kids brains developed and caused long-term negative health effects.

3) Compassion Enables Creativity

Elizabeth Gilbert, the author of Eat, Pray, Love and Big Magic, explained why she believes that to be creative you must have self-compassion. The only way to advance on any creative journey is to be able to embrace and forgive your own limitations and learn to live alongside self-doubt and fear.

4) Compassion at Scale Changes History

Dr. Larry Brilliant, who was instrumental in helping to eradicate small-pox, implored us to practice compassion at scale. That means practicing compassion not just for our loved ones and those like us, but also for those that don’t look like us, or haven’t even been born yet. Doing so can solve the biggest problems our world is facing.

Psychologist Dr. Daniel Goleman, who popularized the concept of emotional intelligence, left us with this advice from the Dalai Lama:

Whenever you face a decision that has real consequences, ask yourself these three questions:

• Who does it benefit, me, or a group?
• Just my group, or everyone?
• And is it only for now, or for the future?