A Whole New Mind:

Why Right-Brainers Will Rule The Future

by Daniel H. Pink

Discussion Leaders:Kirsten Baesler

Konnie WightmanKathy Berg

“The last few decades have belonged to a certain kind of person with a certain kind of mind - computer programmers who could crank code, MBAs who could crunch numbers.

Daniel, Pink H. A Whole New Mind. New York: Riverhead Books, 2006. Introduction.

Daniel, Pink H. A Whole New Mind. New York: Riverhead Books, 2006. Introduction.

But the keys to the kingdom are changing hands. 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.

Daniel, Pink H. A Whole New Mind. New York: Riverhead Books, 2006. Introduction.

These people – artists, inventors, designers,

storytellers, caregivers, consolers, big picture

thinkers – will now reap society’s richest rewards

and share its greatest joys.”

Do You Agree? Why or Why Not?

We are moving from an economy and a society built on the logical, linear, computer-like capabilities of the Information Age to an economy and a society build on the inventive, empathic, big-picture capabilities of the Conceptual Age (pg 1-2).

Information Age vs. Conceptual Age

From the Agriculture Age to the Conceptual Age*ATG CONCEPTUAL AGE

(affluence, technology, globalization)   (creators and empathizers)

  INFORMATION AGE(knowledge workers)

INDUSTRIAL AGE(factory workers)

AGRICULTURAL AGE

(farmers) 18th century 19th century 20th century 21st

century * (from Daniel Pink’s book page 49.)

Agriculture age ____________

Industrial age ____________

Information age ____________

Conceptual age ____________

??? Farmers

Workers

Knowledge Workers

Creators, empathizers

Our Brain

1. The left hemisphere controls the right side of the body. The right hemisphere controls the left side of the body.

2. The left hemisphere is sequential; the right is simultaneous.

3. The left hemisphere specializes in text; the right in context.

4. The left hemisphere analyzes the details; the right synthesizes the big picture.

L-Directed and R-Directed Left-Directed (L-Directed):

sequential, literal, functional, textual, analytic

R-Directed: simultaneous, metaphorical, aesthetic, contextual, synthetic

Leading a happy, healthy, successful life depends on both

hemispheres of your brain.

A Whole New MindLeft-brain-style thinking used to be the driver and the right-brain-style thinking the passenger. Now, R-Directed Thinking is suddenly grabbing the wheel, stepping on the gas, and determining where we’re going and how we’ll get there. L-Directed aptitudes are still necessary. But they are no longer sufficient.R-Directed aptitudes—artistry, empathy, taking the long view, pursuing the transcendent—will increasingly determine who soars and who stumbles.

Chapter 1: Right Brain RisingTwo Half Brains...

Designed to Work Together 

LEFT 

Understands the WordsHears what is said (text)

Comprehends literal meaningSee detailsAnalyzes

ConvergesSees categories

RIGHT 

Sees the PictureHears how it is said (context)

Comprehends metaphorsConstructs big picture

SynthesizesDiverges

Sees relationships

Are You a Right-Brainer OR

a Left-Brainer? 

Take this quiz and find out!

http://mindmedia.com/brainworks/profiler

For instance:  "Junella has a heart as big as Montana."

Left hemisphere assesses:• who Junella is• what a heart is• how big montana is

Right hemisphere  gets the metaphor!

A Slam on How We EducateKnowledge workers and their L-directed thinking have shaped our society:

"most developed nations have devoted considerable time and treasure to produce left brain knowledge workers"     PSAT, SAT, GMAT, LSAT, MCAT    "These tests have become important gate-keepers for entry into meritocratic, middle-class society"     We have created a SAT-ocracy.     (pg 29)

Chapter 2: Abundance, Asia, and AutomationOur society is shifting from a focus on L-

directed thinking to one of R-directed thinking.

 Reasons: 

Abundance     Asia     Automation

Abundance

For most of history, our lives were defined by scarcity. Today the defining feature of life in much of the world is abundance.

Our left brains have made us rich. We spend more on trash bags

than 90 other countries spend on everything.

Abundance has produced an ironic result: The very triumph of L-Directed thinking has lessened its significance.

The prosperity it has unleashed has placed a premium on more R-Directed sensibilities—beauty, spirituality, emotion.

In an age of abundance, appealing only to rational, logical, and functional needs is woefully insufficient.

Mastery of design, empathy, play and other seemingly “soft” aptitudes is now the main way to stand out.

Abundance has brought beautiful things to our lives, but material goods have not necessarily made us much happier.

We quest for transcendence.

Asia

L-Directed white collar work of all sorts is migrating [to Asia and] other parts of the world as well.

The main reason is money. In the United States, a chip

designer earns $7,000 a month. In India she earns $1,000.

Many of today’s knowledge workers will have to command a new set of aptitudes.

They’ll need to do what workers abroad cannot do equally well for much less money…

…use R-Directed abilities such as forging relationships rather than executing transactions, tackling novel challenges instead of solving routine problems, and synthesizing the big picture rather than analyzing a single component.

Automation

Human beings have much to recommend, but when it comes to endeavors that depend heavily on rule-based logic, calculation, and sequential thinking—computers are simply better, faster, and stronger.

Automation requires L-Directed professionals—like computer programmers, physicians, lawyers—to develop aptitudes that computers can’t do better, faster, or cheaper.

Three

High Concept,High Touch

The Last 150 Years

18th Century 19th Century 20th Century 21st Century

Agricultural Age(Farmers)

Industrial Age(Factory Workers)

Information Age(Knowledge Workers)

Conceptual Age(Creators and Empathizers)ATG

AffluenceTechnologyGlobalization

The Last 150 Years

18th Century 19th Century 20th Century 21st Century

Agricultural Age(Farmers)

Industrial Age(Factory Workers)

Information Age(Knowledge Workers)

Conceptual Age(Creators and Empathizers)ATG

AffluenceTechnologyGlobalization

The Conceptual Age We’ve progressed from a society of

farmers to a society of factory workers to a society of knowledge workers.

Now we’re progressing to a society of creators and empathizers, of pattern recognizers and meaning makers.

In the Conceptual Age we need a whole new mind.

High Concept

The ability to…. create artistic and emotional

beauty detect patterns and opportunities craft a satisfying narrative combine seemingly unrelated

ideas into a novel invention

High Touch

The ability to… empathize understand the subtleties of human

interaction find joy in one’s self and to elicit it in

others stretch in pursuit of purpose and

meaning

The Importance of High Concept and High Touch

A Master of Fine Arts is now one of the hottest credentials.

The number of jobs in the “caring professions” is surging.

For many in this new era, meaning is the new money.

What Does this Mean for You and Me?

We must become proficient in R-Directed Thinking and master aptitudes that are high concept and high touch.

We must perform work that overseas knowledge workers can’t do cheaper, that computers can’t do faster, and that satisfies the aesthetic, emotional, and spiritual demands of a prosperous time.

What Exactly Are We Supposed to Do?

Develop six specific high-concept and high-touch aptitudes that have become essential in this new era:

The Six Senses

AbundanceDesigner Toilet Brushes?

Powered by knowledge workers, the information economy has produced a standard of living unlike anything in the past (32). Even though people have their basic needs met, their life satisfaction have remained the same… People are craving transcendence (35). Businesses must now produce not only a product that is reasonably priced and functional, but also beautiful, unique, and meaningful (33). 

AsiaTechnology Jobs $$$

Many L-directed American jobs are being shipped overseas to Asia where workers earn much less for the same job. We are not all going to lose our jobs tomorrow.  Outsourcing is overhyped in the short term.  But it's underhyped in the long term. The US workers need to do what workers abroad cannot do equally well for much less money - using R-Directed abilities.

Hot Spot for Technology Growth

AutomationTurboTax & EZ Divorce

Computer technology is able to duplicate (quicker and cheaper) the process of many L-directed jobs. Any job that depends of routines - that can be reduced to a set of rules, or broken down into a set of repeatable steps – is at risk.

INTRODUCING THE SIX SENSES

In the Conceptual Age, we will need to complement our L-Directed reasoning by

mastering 6 essential R-Directed aptitudes(65-67).

1.  Not just function but also DESIGN2.  Not just argument but also STORY3.  Not just focus but also SYMPHONY4.  Not just logic but also EMPATHY5.  Not just seriousness but also PLAY6.  Not just accumulation but also MEANING

Design Today it’s economically crucial and

personally rewarding to create something that is not merely functional but is also beautiful whimsical, or emotionally engaging.

Everyone, regardless of profession, must cultivate an artistic sensibility.

We may not all be Dali or Degas. But today we must all be designers.

Boiling FlasksCorning Glass Works, company designMuseum of Modern Art, Architecture and Design Department New York City (www.moma.org)

DESIGN 

"The wealth of nations and the well-being of individuals now depend on having artists in the room.  In a world enriched by abundance but disrupted by the automation and outsourcing of white-collar work, everyone, regardless of profession must cultivate an artistic sensibility" (69).   

WE MUST ALL BE DESIGNERS!

Design has become DemocratizedMatch the font on the left

with the font name of the right (75).   

Improving a school's physical environment could increase test scores by as much as 11 percent

(82).

• Keep a Design Notebook• Channel Your Annoyance• Read Design Magazines• Be Like Karim• Become a Design Detective• Participate in the "Third Industrial

Revolution"• Visit a Design Museum• C-R-A-P-ify Your Graphic Design• Put It on a Table• Be Choosy

With Design in Mind…

StoryWe are our stories! Personal narrative has become more prevalent, and perhaps more urgent, in a time of abundance, when many of us are freer to seek a deeper understanding of ourselves and our purpose. Context enriched by emotion, a deeper understanding of how we fit in and why that matters. (pg. 115)

Story When our lives are brimming with

information and data, it’s not enough to marshal an effective argument.

The essence of persuasion, communication, and self-understanding has become the ability to also fashion a compelling narrative.

We are our stories. We must listen to each others stories.

“We had to do a good deed every day...”

John Hope Franklin, the late scholar of African American history, tells his son, John, about being a Boy Scout during the 1920s.

Hear this story at storycorps.org

Stories Versus Statistics Going to our School Board,

Administrators, etc., with facts & figures is not nearly as effective as sharing real stories that show how your library program has transformed your students’ lives.

Kevin A. R. King “Give ‘Em What They Want…” Sept. 24, 2008, NDLA Conference

Create a Story Portfolio

Write a Mini-Saga Enlist in StoryCorps Get One Story Visit a Storytelling Festival Riff on Opening Lines Experiment with Digital Storytelling

Symphony

• lips• eyes• nose• ears 

Seeing the Big Picture

"The guy who invented the wheel was an idiot. The guy who invented the other three, he was a genius." ---Sid Caesar

Seeing & Integrating Relationships

Symphony Portfolio

• Listen to Great Symphonies• Keep a Metaphor Log• Look for Solutions in Search of Problems

o Where else would it work?o Would flipping it work? www.whynot.net

• Create an Inspiration Board• Read “Symphonic” Bookso Encourage Wild Ideaso Be Visual• Celebrate Your Amateurness

Symphony Portfolio

• Listen to Great Symphonies• Keep a Metaphor Log• Look for Solutions in Search of Problems

o Where else would it work?o Would flipping it work? www.whynot.net

• Create an Inspiration Board• Read “Symphonic” Bookso Encourage Wild Ideaso Be Visual• Celebrate Your Amateurness

Symphony What’s in greatest demand today

isn’t analysis but synthesis—seeing the big picture, crossing boundaries, and being able to combine disparate pieces into an arresting new whole.

One of the best ways to develop the aptitude of Symphony is to learn how to draw.

A doodle by President Barak Obama

The ability to imagine yourself in someone else's position and to intuit what that person is feeling (159). Allows us to see the other side of an argument, comfort someone in distress, and bit our lip instead of muttering something under our breath (160). Builds self-awareness, bonds parent to child, allows us to work together, and provides the scaffolding for our morality (160). The one aptitude that's proven impossible for computers to reproduce*, and very difficult for faraway workers connected by electron to match (161).

Empathy

Empathy

Empathy is the ability to stand in others’ shoes, to see with their eyes, and to feel with their hearts.

It’s feeling with someone else, sensing what it would be like to be that person.

Empathy makes us human. It is an ethic for living.

Customer Service

 Which sign would YOU respond to?1) Please clean up after your dog.2) Our children play here. Please clean up after your dog.  "Empathy is neither a deviation from intellegence nor the single route to it.  Sometimes we need detachment; many other times we need attunement. And the people who will thrive will be those who can toggle between the two"  (174).

Play

Small groups of people who come together early each morning at parks, village greens, and shopping centers to spend a half hour laughing. Today about 2,500 laugh clubs exist. Acceptance of laugh clubs reveals an important dimension of the Conceptual Age - a move away from sober seriousness (Ford Motor Company) as a measure of ability.

Play

Play is emerging from the shadows of frivolousness and assuming a place in the spotlight.

Its importance manifests itself in three ways: Games Humor Joyfulness

Winslow HomerSnap the Whip1872

Meaning

  Our fundamental drive, the motivational engine that powers human existence, is the pursuit of meaning.

"man's main concern is not to gain pleasure or to avoid pain but rather to see a meaning in his life." Victor Frankl

Meaning

We live in a world of breathtaking material plenty.

That has freed hundreds of millions of people from day-to-day struggles and liberated us to pursue more significant desires: purpose, transcendence, and spiritual fulfillment.

Auguste RodinThe Thinker (Le Penseur) 1902

The "Fourth Great Awakening"

"Spiritual (or immaterial) inequity is now as great a problem as material inequity, perhaps even greater.“

Robert William Fogel 58 percent of Americans  say they think often about the meaning and purpose of life.

Mental and physical health better when attending to the

spiritual life.(222)

..a whole minded approach--L-Directed reason combined with R-Directed spirit--can be effective.

Contribute to Happiness

• Engaging in satisfying work• Avoiding  negative events and

emotions• Being married• Having a rich social network• Gratitude • Forgiveness• Optimism

Meaning Portfolio

• Say Thanks• Take the 20-10 Test• Measure Your Spirit• Read These Books• Visit a Labyrinth• Picture Yourself at Ninety

AFTERWORD

1.  Can someone overseas do it cheaper? 2.  Can a computer do it faster? 3.  Am I offering something that satisfies the nonmaterial, transcendent desires of an abundant age? 

These three questions will mark the fault line between who gets ahead and who gets left behind.