At a recent conference I was intrigued by a presentation on Daniel Pink’s book A Whole New Mind.  So I checked out the State Library’s copy to learn more, and I highly recommend it to anyone who is curious about the skills that will be needed in the 21^st century workforce.

Pink argues that we are moving from an Information Age that is dominated by left-brain thinking to a Conceptual Age that requires more right-brain thinking.  The left side of the brain is sequential, logical, and analytical while the right side is nonlinear, intuitive, and holistic.  Jobs in the United States that reward left-brain skills are being challenged today by three factors: abundance, Asia, and automation.  The abundance of products available means that consumer choice is not made on functionality alone but on features such as design or appeal to emotion, requiring employers to hire people with better design skills.  Many jobs that require left-brain skills, such as computer programming and accounting, are rapidly being outsourced to Asia, where labor is much cheaper.  And automation is replacing jobs requiring logic, calculation, and sequential thinking with computers that work faster than humans.

In the new Conceptual Age we need to supplement our high-tech abilities with abilities that are high concept and high touch.  According to Pink, “High concept involves the ability to create artistic and emotional beauty, to detect patterns and opportunities, to craft a satisfying narrative, and to combine seemingly unrelated ideas into a novel invention.  High touch involves the ability to empathize, to understand the subtleties of human interaction, to find joy in one’s self and to elicit it in others, and to stretch beyond the quotidian, in pursuit of purpose and meaning.”

So how do we become more right brained?  By mastering six high-concept, high-touch senses:

• Design-creating something that is not just functional, but beautiful and emotionally engaging

• Story-persuading and communicating by fashioning a compelling narrative that goes beyond logical argument

• Symphony-synthesizing, seeing the big picture, and putting disparate pieces into a whole

• Empathy-understanding what makes our fellow man or woman tick,  forging relationships, and caring for others

• Play-using laughter, lightheartedness, games, and humor

• Meaning-pursuing desires that go beyond the material, such as purpose and spiritual fulfillment

If you want to read more, A Whole New Mind is available for checkout at the State Library.