A+Whole+New+Mind+Script

Script by Lalla Pierce:

//A Whole New Mind// was a mind-tickling read. Daniel Pink challenges the reader to explore the past and current understandings of the brain, and implications that has on our future. To begin, he explains previous right brain, left brain divisions—such as those promoted by Richard Sperry and Betty Edwards and expounds on why the old models do not encapsulate the capacity our brain possesses.

Pink suggests while the past one hundred and fifty years have been spent in the Agricultural, Industrial, and Information Ages…we are teetering on the edge of a new dawn, which he is dubbing the Conceptual Age. His reasoning for the shift hinges on the three A’s: the abundance and excess driven culture in which we are living, the automation of typically left-brain classified activities, and the outsourcing of other tasks and jobs to Asia. “A to the third power,” according to Pink, poses three important questions for individuals and corporations: Can software do it more efficiently or expediently? Can it be outsourced for less? And most significantly- how is your product, service, business, or life, satisfying the non-material desires and longing for meaning that have been borne out of the age of abundance?

Pink’s answer? The six senses or “aptitudes” he believes are key to the Conceptual Age:

Design: Our left-brain thinking allows us to be efficient in our design but our right brain directed thinking supports the aesthetics of design. While we may not all be Chihuly, we can learn to become better designers. In our culture, Daniel Pink asserts design is inherently more accessible, crucial to our future, and within the power of design lies power for change.

Story: Our narratives connect us, distinguish our commonalities into our unique stories, and allow us to read the world from our own perspective. Even in the medical field, the power of story is beginning to be widely recognized and esteemed.

Symphony: Even as computers and programs have been written to tackle some of the left-brain tasks of “symphony,” such as making connections, there are not programs to complete the job of analyzing those connections in order to make meaning.

Empathy: Studies have shown emotions and expressions of emotion are cross-cultural, and Steven Plate considers the contagious nature of a yawn a “primitive empathic mechanism.” I love Daniel Pink’s assertion that we have an ethical responsibility to develop our empathic abilities in order to improve relationships, foster healing, and to be fully human!

Play: Whether it’s yoga for laughter that’s erupting in laughter clubs around the world, jokes told around the water cooler, or game playing; the benefits of “play” in the conceptual age cannot be underestimated. Humor is a powerful tool for effective management, a contributing factor in healing, and it has even been found that laparoscopic surgical mistakes are less frequent among surgeons who are video game players.

Meaning: Our innate longing for meaning is sprouting wings throughout our culture: evangelical consumerism, yoga classes, green products, and more point to our need to be at peace. Some of us view the glass as half empty and others see it as half full. We can learn to sip from whatever our outlook disposition limits are, rather than drown in the depths of our glass of emotion. Daniel Pink suggests that instead of “living for the weekend,” we use our “signature strengths” to live the good life. We can even go a step further and use our strengths for the greater good!

Each “aptitude” Pink elaborates upon contains a Portfolio section that poses activities or ways to heighten your conceptual age aptitude. Why not: Listen to a great symphony? Empathize with a co-worker? Participate in StoryCorps? Go back to school? Take time to consider your life at 90?

Live into the Conceptual Age and pay attention to the three questions: Can someone overseas do it cheaper? Can a computer do it faster? And am I offering something that satisfies the nonmaterial, transcendent desires of an abundant age?

In the closing words of Daniel H. Pink: “Good luck in the age of art and heart.”

I give //A Whole New Mind// five stars because Daniel Pink has a clear understanding of where our culture has been, is, and could be going. He clearly presents his ideas while engaging and challenging the reader.

About Daniel Pink: Daniel Pink spent two years as the chief speechwriter for Vice President Al Gore during the mid-1990’s. He now works as a free agent and has written four books including //A Whole New Mind, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us//. Articles by Pink have appeared in multiple major news and business outlets.

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