Why Right-Brainers will Rule the World

Daniel H. Pink has created a body of inspiring and thought-provoking work in his book A Whole New Mind. This is a book that Oprah gave to 4500 graduating students from Stanford last year, because it offers a whole new perspective on the skills and apptitudes that will be required for the next generation of leaders.  In his book, he argues that a “Whole New Mind” is required to thrive in the future, one that is more holistic, balancing both the attributes of left and right brain thinking.

He outlines the progression of Ages over the past 150 years, starting with the Agricultural Age which was dominated by farmers. During the late part of the the 19th century, machines of the Industrial Age replaced much of the back-breaking labour and created a whole new type of worker – the factory worker. The latter part of the 20th century was dominated by the Information Age with “Knowledge Workers” at its core, which included computer programmers, accountants, lawyers, etc. As we evolve in the 21st century, he argues that the left brain thinking of analysis, linear thinking and computation, will not be enough to see us through the next age – The “Conceptual Age”. This age will be marked by the reemergence of the “Creators” and the “Empathizers”.

He states that three factors have dramatically shifted the playing field: affluence, technology and globalization, which he refers to as “Abundance”, “Automation” and “Asia”. The typical left-brain skills are being automated and out-sourced to Asia.  The proliferation of consumer choice and abundance means that products can no longer compete on function and price alone. The right-brain aptitudes of design, story telling and empathy will be required to create more relevance, beauty and meaning for consumers.

According to Pink, “The aging of U.S. baby boomers – as well as the even more notably aging of the populations of Japan and the European Union – is also accelerating this shift. As individuals age, they place greater emphasis in their own lives on qualities they might have neglected in the rush to build careers and raise families: purpose, intrinsic motivation, and meaning.”

In this new age, Pink claims that the MFA (Master of Fine Arts) is the new MBA. He points to six particular “High Touch” right brain senses (Six Senses) – Design, Story, Symphony, Empathy, Play and Meaning. To survice and thrive in this new age, we all will need to dust off these innate skills. In his book, Pink offers helpful tips and tools for strengthening these skills.

Daniel Pink’s new and revolutionary thinking typifies the approach of seeing things whole and understanding the interconnectedness of seemingly unrelated factors influencing global transformation. This is the core philosophy of DesigningTransformations.com. We intend to bring you more articles and stories of the latest ideas across a broad range of topics, all related to transformation and the mechanisms of change. We hope to hear from you. Please let us know what you think and what you would like to hear more of in future posts.

 

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