Several Organics
have recommended Dan Pink's new book, A Whole New Mind. David Feldt in
particular is a huge fan.
After a brief romp
through the definition of left-brain/ right-brain thinking, Pink gets to his
main thesis: that the end of the Information Age is here, and that the 21st
century will be ruled by those who mastered six essential skills of the
Conceptual Age: Design, Story, Empathy, Symphony (Synthesis), Play, and Meaning.
Each skill section ends with
some practical, hands-on exercise to flex that part of the brain.
It's quick and informative read that confirms
many of the principles that underlie our work here at Organic:
- Designing around personas that are supported by user narratives
- Hiring wholisitic thinkers, not simply data-first number crunchers or art-first creatives
- Working colloboratively and with a sense of fun
- Creating (exceptional) experiences through an empathetic dialogue with our customers.
Misha
Cornes
If I
have one criticism, it's that there is not enough that's truly new here. It's a
terrifically presented argument, but like many popular business books (The
Tipping Point comes to mind), Pink is mostly repackaging the work of other
thinkers like Thomas Friedman (The World is Flat) and Richard Florida
(The Rise of the Creative Class). Perhaps he is simply demonstrating
the right-brain skills of pattern recognition and synthesis?
Here's an excerpt:
Here's an excerpt:
- “The last few decades have belonged to a certain kind of person with a certain kind of mind - computer programmers who could crank code, lawyers who could craft contracts, MBAs who could crunch numbers. But the keys to the kingdom are changing hands. The future belongs to a very different kind of person with a very different kind of mind - creators and empathizers, pattern recognizers, and meaning makers. These people - artists, inventors, designers, storytellers, caregivers, consolers, big picture thinkers - will now reap society’s richest rewards and share its greatest gifts. Thanks to an array of forces - material abundance that is deepening our nonmaterial yearnings, globalization that is shipping white-collar work overseas, and powerful technologies that are eliminating certain kinds of work altogether-we are entering a new age. It is an age animated by a different form of thinking and a new approach to life - one that prizes aptitudes that I call ‘high concept’ and ‘high touch’."
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Strategists & Planners
Comments (2)
I'm sorry but I simply don't buy Pink's thesis. The picture Pink paints is completely disconnected from what I see on the ground.
I happen to be a card carrying synthesized, left-brain/right-brain type. I also happen to be in the job market looking for a senior strategic position that will allow me to unfurl this marvelous skillset in all it's glory.
I have never, ever come across anyone in a leadership postion at any of the firms I've talked with that is remotely interested in my ambidextrous brain abilities. It is in fact a negative. People in a position to hire simply have no clue what to do with me. They have no reference frame.
In low-level positions, positions that have little or no strategic importance, perhaps Pink's ideas are important. But not at the big table with the adults running the show. Ain't happening.
Regards,
Doug Turner
skype: dduuggllaa
Posted by Douglass Turner | May 12, 2006 6:42 PM
Posted on May 12, 2006 18:42
I think Mr. Pink is making a prediction about the future, not necessarily describing the current situation on the ground.
But as Bill Clinton (who is credited in the book as the first whole-brained president) would say: "I feel you pain". I've spent my whole career trying to bring business strategy and design together. And you're right that the companies that get it are few and far between.
On the agency side in particular, it's a world of specialists: product design, branding, interactive, organizational development for innovation, etc. Earlier I posted a presentation that explains how we are all trying to get to the same place- wholistic experience design.
I don't know if our industry's slow progress is a function of agency leadership, or whether it has more to do our clients's reluctance to take "business advice" from creative agency partners.
I do think we get it here. Maybe you should look into a position at Organic?
Posted by Misha | May 13, 2006 1:06 PM
Posted on May 13, 2006 13:06