A Whole New Mind

I just finished Daniel Pink’s book titled A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future. In short, the author states that due to “Asia, Abundance, and Automation” we are moving from the Information Age to the Conceptual Age and therefore we must refocus our current mental and professional state. He contends that our past expertise in knowledge work, such as computer programming, accounting, and banking, can now easily be done on the cheap in China or India. What we now need to focus on perfecting is the more right brain aspects of the creator and the empathizer. He argues that we need to move from high tech to high concept and high touch. Once we develop this whole new mind, we can have an economy and society that are built on the inventive, empathic, and big-picture capabilities.

I found this book very thought provoking as someone who is questioning the value of an MBA at this point in my career. While I do not think it is time to toss all application in the trash and become an artist, I think he makes some good points on what we need to focus on to be competitive in the future. In the end, however, I believe that market favors the most unique and talented of a class and not one whole class of worker.

Worth the read and you can also get a glimpse based on his article in Wired.