“A Whole New Mind: Why Right Brainers will rule the future.” By Daniel H. Pink (Book Review)
by Therese Miu on 15/08/10 at 6:19 am
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“Lawyers. Accountants. Computer programmers. That’s what our parents encouraged us to become when we grew up. But Mom and Dad were wrong. The future belongs to a very different kind of person with a very different kind of mind. The era of “left brain” dominance, and the Information Age that it engendered, are giving way to a new world in which “right brain” qualities-inventiveness, empathy, meaning-predominate. That’s the argument at the center of this provocative and original book, which uses the two sides of our brains as a metaphor for understanding the contours of our times.”
The left brain analyzes, the right brain intuits; the left brain thinks, the right brain feels; the left brain is logical, the right brain is emotional.
I have always been more right brain so when I saw this book shelf in success magazine I was immediately drawn to it and knew I had to read it right away. No excuses! Thank God to my sister Mariz Brown who purchased it before I did. I borrowed her copy. For that I thank You Mariz I owe you; this entire blogpost is dedicated to you.
Once in a while you will run into a book that will literally change your mindset and this book is no exception. I truly enjoyed how well-research this book was and how thorough it was backed up my studies and given solution.
Dan important and powerful work and thesis provides us with a clear insight that we are shifting again into a new age- a new age of commerce, living, and learning.
Let’s take a look at the new era were heading to as the era of ‘high concept, high touch’. Hence, called THE CONCEPTUAL AGE.
Dan shares, “the future belongs to a very different kind of person with a very different kind of mind—creators and empathizers, pattern recognizers, and meaning makers. These people-artists, inventors, designers, storytellers, caregivers, consolers, big picture thinkers—will now reap society’s richest rewards and share its greatest joys.”
“Mastering them is not sufficient, of course, but leveraging these aptitudes may very well be necessary for professional success and personal fulfillment in today’s world.”
He breaks it down to 6 senses:
1.) Design- not just a function but also DESIGN
Sit back in your living room and look around. Everything that you have and everything that you own was possible because someone designed it first in their mind. From the couch you’re sitting on, to the T.V. your watching, remote control, movies. These are all huge components of design.
Action steps recommended by Dan:
Keep a design notebook, Read design magazines, or become a design detective. Read page 91.
2.) Story- not just an argument but also a STORY. In the conceptual age, we awaken to the power of narrative. I would like to compare this segment to the popular and wonderful written memoir by Elizabeth Gilbert Eat, Pray, Love. It was the way she convey her stories so deeply in each chapter. Her soul was literally written in every chapter thus capturing our own hearts as readers. And as a result look at the success of her book.
Action steps recommended by Dan:
Write a Mini-Saga, Visit a storytelling festival, & Experiment with digital storytelling.
3.) Symphony- not just focus but also symphony. This is the ability to put pieces together. Focus, specialization, and analysis have been important in the “information age,” but in the “conceptual age” synthesis and the ability to take seemingly unrelated pieces and form and articulate the big picture before us is crucial, even a differentiator. According to Pink, “symphony is largely about relationships.” If you hope to thrive in the next era you must understand and connect well with diverse individuals. He shares these 3 types of people as: the boundary crosser, the inventor, and the metaphor maker.
Action steps recommended by Dan:
Listen to great symphonies, hit the newsstand, and draw.
4.) Empathy-not just logic but also EMPATHY. Empathy is compassion in action. It is thinking of others before your own. How many people do we know out there that are brilliant in their current professional position yet has a hard time connecting with someone emotionally? “Good designers, for example, have the ability to put themselves in the position of the user, the customer, or the audience member. This is a talent, perhaps, more than it’s a skill that can be taught, but everyone can get better at this.”
Action steps recommended by Dan:
Emphathize on the job, take an acting class, and volunteer.
5.) Play- not just seriousness but also PLAY. Peter Gray, a psychology professor shares, “Play in our species serves many valuable purposes. It is a means by which children develop their physical, intellectual, emotional, social, and moral capacities.” It is also increasingly important as we become mature adults, “play is an important part of work, business, and personal well-being, its importance manifesting itself in three ways: games, humor, and joyfulness.”
Action steps recommended by Dan:
Find a laughter club, play at inventing, and step on the humor scale.
6.) Meaning-not just accumulation but also MEANING. Let me be the first to admit that I am self professed ‘meaning junkie’. I think everyone in my life now that I know are ‘meaning junkies’. I could not live without meaning in my life. It has helped me understand in every period of my life as well as the struggles I’ve been through. It’s actually quite difficult for me to be superficial about anything. I just can’t do it. Human being for a very long time as long as we existed have sought out and tried to seek meaning in our own lives. This is the realization and understanding that gives fullness and richness to our everyday experience. There are studies being done that people who are living their highest purpose in life have a high level of satisfaction and enjoyment in his/her life than those that lives in lower energy and with NO purpose.
Action steps recommended by Dan:
Say thanks, measure your spirit, Visit a labyrinth, dedicate your work. Picture yourself at ninety.
I truly recommend reading this book twice or three times. I have gone through it myself more than five times highlighting what I need to learn most and what can I do best to prepare myself in the future. This is an age which those who think very different will be even more valued than ever before.
So, I would like to ask you: What did you learn most from this blogpost? What 1 action step will you take this week?
Do you see this taking place in the next year or so? And if so, how can we as society benefit from this information?
LINKS:
1.)A Whole New Mind Why Right-Brainers Will Rule The Future Daniel H. Pink
2.) Daniel H. Pink Blog
3.) Revenge of the Right Brain by Dan Pink (wired)
4.) Dan Pink interview with Tom Peters.com
Eiji Morishita
