‘A Whole New Mind: Why Right Brainers Will Rule the Future’ is a book written by Daniel Pink and was first published in 2005. In this book, Pink attempts to address the role of creative thinking in shaping society and other aspects that will determine success in future. This paper analyzes the themes in the book and the lessons we can draw from the book.
Pink starts the book by describing the four major ages; agricultural age which was characterized by farmers, industrial age which was characterized by factory workers, Information age characterized by knowledge workers and conceptual age characterized by creators and empathizers. Pink concentrates on the conceptual age in describing how businesses can remain competitive and successful in future. According to pink, we have moved from the knowledge age which was shaped by left brainers to the conceptual age that will be shaped by right brainers. Left brainers are individuals who have acquired relevant skills and the ability to link facts to data usually through standardized tests. Left brainers include professionals such as doctors, accountants, computer programmers, lawyers and engineers. On the other hand, right brainers have the ability to connect totally unrelated concepts to create new ideas. Right brainers include professionals such as designers, actors and poets.
Pink points to three prevailing trends today that individuals, businesses and economies need to consider in order to realize that the knowledge age is fading away. The first is abundance; consumers today seem to have very many choices and therefore appealing to logical, rational and functional capabilities will not be enough. Creativity will therefore become the competitive difference which will differentiate commodities in future. Secondly, the increased outsourcing of knowledge work to Asian countries such as India and China to cut costs will result in a significant reduction in white collar jobs in European countries and America. This implies that Americans will be forced to develop a new set of skills which will not be abundant overseas. Lastly, increased automation has resulted in computerization and use of robots because they are faster and cheaper. Computers and robots will continue displacing knowledge workers, who will therefore have to develop new skill sets in order to survive.
Pink explains the differences in the right and left hemispheres of the brain. He points out that the right hemisphere of brain has the high touch and high concept abilities that are the driving forces behind social and economic aspects of life. High concept is the human ability to create emotional and artistic beauty, to detect opportunities and patterns and to combine what seem to be unrelated ideas into creative inventions. High touch is the human ability to understand, empathize, find happiness within the person and to go beyond the ordinary in search of meaning and purpose. Pink therefore suggests that individual success in the future will be determined by how well an individual develops those two abilities.
Pink states that an individual needs to develop a new mind set to survive in the changing workplace and society. Pink explains six senses needed to develop the new mind set. The first is design, a combination of significance and utility. The second is story content that is enriched by emotion. The third is symphony which is an individual’s ability to combine the pieces correctly. The fourth is empathy which is an individual’s ability to imagine himself or herself in another person’s position. The fifth is play which is the impact of humor, games and joyfulness. The sixth and last is meaning which is finding the sense of purpose.
This book has given me insight on the current prevailing trends in business, that is, abundance, automation and outsourcing. It has helped me understand how those trends will affect the economy and especially the labor market. I have learned that I need to develop the right hemisphere of my mind especially the high touch and high concept abilities to survive in the workplace in future. This book was an eye-opener of how technology has radically altered and displaced knowledge workers such as lawyers, computer programmers and doctors. This has made me realize that there is need to concentrate on careers that traditionally embrace creativity to remain relevant in the job market. Pink’s discussion of the six senses needed in the conceptual age that is being ushered was informative on skills that I need to develop to successfully fit in the job market in future.
‘A Whole New Mind: Why Right Brainers Will Rule the Future’ is a great book to read for anyone wishing to determine their career path. It would also be a great tool for convincing educators to change the emphasis on the education curriculum from standardized test, memorization, analysis and deep knowledge in a single profession to creativity and other skills that will be relevant in the conceptual age.
However, I do not agree with Pink’s prediction that knowledge workers will be displaced completely since their skill and expertise will still be relevant to some extent. For example, Pink’s prediction that CEOs will hire poets instead of MBA holders to manage their businesses is impractical. Secondly, the conceptual age like the other ages will soon fade away. The shift to careers that are considered creative will result in flooding of creative personnel that will in turn dampen wages in those sectors. There is also a possibility of these skills being outsourced cheaply from abroad in the future. I therefore think that at the end, the job market will not favor any class of workers but individuals who are talented and most unique in any class of workers as it has always been.
Works Cited
Pink, Daniel. A whole new mind: why right-brainers will rule the future. reprint,illustrated. New York: Riverhead Books, 2006.
