A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future [Paperback]

Ever since Peter Drucker pointed out that the future performance of organizations in the developed world would be in the hands of knowledge workers, we've been blessed with an understanding that the dominant economic focus can shift rapidly into new directions. Prior to that, the industrial age had lasted for over two centuries. The agricultural age that preceded it lasted several thousand years, and the hunter-gatherer age had lasted even longer.

What is the conceptual age? It's a time when due to applying all of our brain's many functions and the many advances of technology that we enjoy, a person can imagine totally different ways to serve and entertain others. Imagination is the limit.

A number of people have preceded Mr. Pink's message in partial ways such as those who have written about the entertainment economy, works about serious play, cataloguers of storytelling best practices and those who consider emotional intelligence.

But I think Mr. Pink's concept is both bigger and more accurate than that which has preceded this book. Most methods of making improvements only harness parts of our capabilities and serve only parts of our needs. Anyone who has sat in a traffic jam recently realizes that. What good is s beautiful sports car if traffic is bumping along at 10 mph? Put that same driver into a Grand Prix simulator, and the person comes alive in a way that's almost beyond belief.

Mr. Pink points out six key opportunities to supplement traditional, linear thinking. These are design, story, symphony (integration of disparate elements), empathy, play and meaning.

I think, however, that Mr. Pink is wrong about these being the primarily undeveloped senses. Given what I've read about brain research, I wouldn't be surprised if aroma, physical touch, musical stimulation, simulation and directed meditation didn't end up being as, if not more, important.

Some will be disappointed that Mr. Pink doesn't give them a manual to operate in the new age. Given how little we know about how to engage one another in these other ways, time will have to pass before we have what amounts to instructions. In the meantime, Mr. Pink does a good job of pointing towards experiences and books that can help with whole brain development.

If you think the problem with the economy is that we have too few engineers, you should read this book. It'll take you ahead into a future you need to start preparing for now.

To give you a sense of how important I think Mr. Pink's concept is, I made this book the focus of a recent briefing for The Billionaire Entrepreneurs' Master Mind.

As someone who was in an engineering and IT field, but not of it, I began to feel that there was hope for creatures like me. I understand technology, but my viewpoint tends to be a big picture viewpoint. Writing lines of code left half of me wanting something more and my fellow employees and managers irritated.

Pink provides a clue as to the types of jobs that will no longer exist in the United States in the coming decades by asking three questions: Can someone overseas do it cheaper? Can a computer do it faster? Is what I'm offering in demand in an age of abundance?

As I watched Information Technology (IT) jobs move overseas and become automated, I fully understood what Pink meant with the first question, but the last one had me stumped until I read further. Then, I grasped that I was already a member of a "fleet of empathic, meaning-seeking boomers" which had "already started wading ashore." I had self-identified as a Cultural Creative a number of years ago.

So if American jobs are significantly going to change, how do we prepare for what Pink calls the Conceptual Age? Even if you are planning to retire from your current job in the near future, the likelihood is that you will continue your work life in some form or another.
The world is changing and the economy is changing. As boomers enter the last phases of their official working life, what will they bring to the picture? Will corporations understand the value that people with experience bring to the job, or will they pursue the "cheaper and faster" model of exporting to Asia and hiring young college grads (often immigrants) to replace an aging work force?

Thank for you for also recommending the perfect companion book,
THE BLACK BOOK OF OUTSOURCING by Brown & Wilson (Wiley Press, 2005) which showed me where the new opportunities are, how to get up to speed on what outsourcing is truly all about from very clear instructions, and an incredible resource directory for me to pursue my job search.

Good light read. Interesting research.

Daniel Pink, highlights a need for right brain thinkers, and for training your right brain. Thus far, technological, mathematical, algorithmic (programming), highly structured financial thinking has been the dominant traits for success. Pink highlights that many of these jobs are going to much less expensive outsource nations like Inida, Philippinese, etc. The case is solid for accounting, programming, call centres, and other highly structured such work. He does not make the same case for MBA-types, financial analysts, computer architects, and other similarly structured thought work.

Despite this flaw, it is interesting to have a good case for whole brain thinking, and to highlight the importance of learning music, drawing, maze solving, and other more abstract thinking skills. Likeable read. Intersting points. Glad there is a reason I am paying for my kids' piano & violin lessons :-).