Book Review: A Whole New Mind

In A Whole New Mind author Daniel Pink first outlines a bit of human history. He describes the Industrial Age, in which assembly line workers were the key, and the transition to the Information Age, when knowledge workers reigned supreme. Now he sees us moving into the Conceptual Age, where Creatives will be the main ingredient for success.

This, Pink argues, increases the need for right-brained thinking, not so much to replace the more logical left-brained thinking, but rather, to complement it. Success will come to those who can develop ideas, who can give customers the design or the story they desire, who can do more than just use current knowledge and instead can develop new knowledge.

The first part of the book describes the emerging Conceptual Age and highlights Asia, Automation, and Abundance as prime reasons for it. Asia, he argues, has taken over much of the industrial work and is now taking much of the knowledge work as well. Automation, which was at one time replacing assembly line workers, is replacing many knowledge workers now. In both of these cases the need has been created for employees to turn their attention to doing something beyond just manipulating existing knowledge. Abundance, he says, has put us (well, the developed world, anyway) in a state where, since we already have so much — especially in terms of material goods, information, and leisure time — customers are looking for something extra (e.g., unique design, a captivating story) to distinguish between different products and ideas. Whether Pink means to or not, he leaves an open challenge for readers to identify other factors underlying the shift to the Conceptual Age.

The second part of the book gets into the six “senses” that Pink says will guide our lives in the Conceptual Age: Design, Story, Symphony, Empathy, Play, and Meaning. He does a great job of explaining these concepts and demonstrating why they are so important, then goes a step further and helps readers understand how to develop these senses themselves. I have to admit, I started doing some of these exercises immediately, and within a short time I have found myself noticing things I never would have seen before, things that were always around me but which went unnoticed. Just as in his earlier book, Free Agent Nation, the author gets pretty detailed in his suggestions. He recommends individual techniques, useful books, and even some classes, and while not everyone can do that last one, for the price of a book Pink shares some of the key lessons he learned when he took them.

A Whole New Mind really helps introduce the reader to new perspectives. Creatives tend to be pretty right-brained anyway, and for them this book is probably most helpful in terms of putting into words what they already experience. For those who might not have such strong right-brain skills, especially those who may be leading right-brainers, Daniel Pink offers some great insights and exercises to help build those skills.