Tuesday 28 December 2010

A Whole New Mind: the 6 skills to survive in the Conceptual Age



"People who lean on logic and philosophy and rational exposition end by starving the best part of the mind" W.B. Yeats 


Why this book? 
All books have the power to color the world around us in richer shades, but sometimes you come across a book that makes you see the world in a completely different light. A "Whole New Mind" by Daniel H. Pink is this kind of book. Deemed by many influential magazines one of the best Business Books in 2005, 5 years later it not only remains highly relevant, but it is even more significant as the changes the book predicted are now fully visible around us. 
This book is the roadmap to a new age in our history: the Conceptual age.
In this post you'll find an high-level summary of the book and a recap of the suggested readings that may help you develop each of the skills necessary to survive the Conceptual Age.

How to use this post: 

  1. Understand what is your key strenght: use the books suggested to hone this skill to perfection. Once you are confident with it you can move to the next step. 
  2. Focus on overcoming your key weakness: I am all for playing with your strenghts, all the same, every weakness that is highly relevant and can't be outsourced, like interpersonal skills, can't be ignored. In fact, all of this skills should be developed at least at a basic level and this brief guide will provide you with the tools to start this journey of personal growth and self-discovery.

The context: AAA ... Abundance, Automation, Asia
In this age of "knowing the price of everything and the value of nothing", a "Whole New Mind" shows us how Beauty and Emotion are the way to give meaning to products, services and ultimately our lives. We live in an age of Abundance where Automation and the Asian workforce are slowly but steadily replacing most left-brained knowledge workers in Europe and the US, forcing most of non-Asians to re-think their place in the world.

The fundamental questions we have to ask ourselves about our work are:
  1. Can someone overseas do it cheaper?
  2. Can a computer do it faster?
If the reply to one of this question is yes, developing creativity, intuition and social skills is no longer an option but a must.
Moreover, if you are offering a product or service you have to ask yourself: am I offering something that satisfies the nonmaterial, trascendent desires of an abundant age? The skills covered in this book will be the key enablers to be able to meet these emerging needs.

The 6 Aptitudes to survive in the Conceptual Age:

A "Whole New Mind" guides us in developing the 6 fundamental aptitudes that we need in order to be ready for the Conceptual age.

DESIGN: everything we create has to be both functional, beautiful AND emotionally engaging. No matter what we do each of us has a design component to his job be it a store window, a report, a ppt presentation or a meal; mastering this skill is therefore fundamental not only to be better at what we do, but also to improve the life of those we come in contact with because "Aesthetics matter, Attractive things work better" (Don Norman).

STORYTELLING: it's not what you now, it's how you tell it ... a compelling narrative is the key to persuasion, communication and self-understanding. Facts are a commodity, storytelling builds differentiation.

    SIMPHONY: Analysis was essential to survive in the Information Age, but as information based jobs will be automated by computers or outsourced to Asia,  synthesis will become the skill in greater demand. Symphony is the aptitude to put the pieces together, to extract the essence of a situation and to cross boundaries to combine the existing into something completely new, to identify opportunities and to make connections between them.
    "Creativity generally involves crossing the boundaries of domains" (Csikszentmihalyi)  and the most advanced at this skill will see relationship that the rest of us will never notice.

    EMPATHY: As pure logic becomes a commodity thanks to ubiquitous information and advanced analytic tools, empathy, to say the ability to understand and care for other people, will become the differentiator for successful leaders and innovators.
    PLAY: lightheartedness is good for your wellbeing AND your career. 
    As Einstein said "Games are the most elevated form of investigation" and the new breed of Nintendo DS mind training games show us how games are slowly becoming a way to extend our knowledge.
    Moreover, as Csikszentmihalyi points out "a playfully light attitude is characteristic of creative individuals". On top of this humour, being a sophisitcated form of human intelligence, can also be a strong cohesive force in an organization leading to greater creativity, productivity and collaboration.


    MEANING: abundance and ubiquitous technology are creating a "perfect storm of circumstances" that enables us to pursue the search for meaning on an unprecedented scale. Some call it "postmaterialism" others call it "The Fourth Great Awakening" but what is for sure is that meaning is becoming more and more a central aspect of how we live our work and free time.
    The key to embark in this journey is to give greater importance to happiness and spirituality.
    In sum, I think this is a great book to acquaint yourself with right-brained skills while approaching them methodically with a left-brain strategy. In fact the book offers a clear portfolio of actions to take to fully develop each skill.
    As we transition to 2011, a great New Year's resolution could be to work and develop one of this aptitudes in order to get ready for the new forces shaping our world.

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