A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink
"Lawyers. Accountants. Radiologists. Software engineers. 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.
In the tradition of Emotional Intelligence and Now, Discover Your Strengths, Daniel H. Pink offers a fresh look at what it takes to excel. A Whole New Mind reveals the six essential aptitudes on which professional success and personal fulfillment now depend, and includes a series of hands-on exercises culled from experts around the world to help readers sharpen the necessary abilities. This book will change not only how we see the world but how we experience it as well."
-Daniel Pink's blog.
Buy the book at Amazon.
In the tradition of Emotional Intelligence and Now, Discover Your Strengths, Daniel H. Pink offers a fresh look at what it takes to excel. A Whole New Mind reveals the six essential aptitudes on which professional success and personal fulfillment now depend, and includes a series of hands-on exercises culled from experts around the world to help readers sharpen the necessary abilities. This book will change not only how we see the world but how we experience it as well."
-Daniel Pink's blog.
Buy the book at Amazon.
posted by Lainie McGann | 7:54 PM
1 Comments:
Here are a couple of my thoughts as I read the book:
1. A lot of Pink's chapter Abundance, Asia, and Automation reminded me of Friedman's message on globalization, but these two sentences caught my attention...
"Last century, machines proved they could replace human backs. This century, new technologies are proving they can replace human left brains.” This could send some left-brainers into a panic, but Pink’s message is not bleak. Pink uses part two of the book to explain The Six Senses (design, story, symphony, empathy, play and meaning) and how even us left-brainers can improve our right brain aptitudes.
Of course, as I read about The Six Senses I couldn’t help but take an inventory to see which of these I excel in and which I will need to spend the most time improving. I would have to say the sense I feel strongest in is design. I love design. Not to say that I am necessarily great at designing things, but I notice design around me and whenever I get a chance to design something, I take it. Brochures, flyers, websites… more on the graphic design side, but so gratifying.
BTW- Areas for me to work on would be story and symphony (e.g. “the ability to grasp the relationships between the relationships”).
2. “If the global supply chain ever confronted a shortage of No. 2 pencils, the American education system might collapse.” I literally laughed out loud when I read this line. Kind of a cheap shot at education, but funny none the less. Here Pink is discussing the difference between IQ and EQ (a reference to Daniel Goleman’s Emotional Intelligence).
This comment about assessment reminded me of Ken Kay’s talk at the Project Tomorrow Innovation Summit. During his talk Kay discusses the 21st Century Skills our students will need to join today’s workforce (http://21stcenturyskills.org/). He talks about supporting NCLB because “even up to this point the accountability and the metrics have been able to root out places where education has fallen behind even based on 50-60 year old standards”. As Kay says, the problem isn’t accountability and metrics… the challenge is to development accountability and metrics for 21st century not the 20th century. Of course, we also need to make sure that the curriculum and instruction are 21st century and not 20th century.
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