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November 10, 2005

Thoughts on A Whole New Mind

I just finished Dan Pink’s new book called A Whole New Mind: Moving from the Information Age to the Conceptual Age. It is one of those books that aligns to my sensibilities so I give it a high rating. One of the aspects that struck me about this book is how similar it is to the 1999 book by Rolf Jensen titled: The Dream Society: How the Coming Shift from Information to Imagination Will Transform Your Business. While the latter is more futurist- and marketing-oriented (and it is always fun to look at books on the future after it has occurred), both authors are making similar arguments.

Essentially, the argument is that we are already in the final days of the information age. This age has moved much more quickly than the previous industrial age and the movement away is accelerating. Part of the reason is that information is becoming ubiquitous and is no longer a differentiating factor. The idea is not that information is going away, but that it is not going to be the element that determines success (in my view this is similar to the transformation from the industrial age to the information age-industrial components did not go away, they became subservient to information and have become commoditized).

Pink reasons that is the ability to use information in a more conceptual way that will be transformational. 6 key right-brain directed (or R-directed) aptitudes will be crucial to success in this new age: design, story, symphony, empathy, play, and meaning.

Learning professionals should pay close attention to all of these components. It is about integration, synergy, and differentiation of what we do. If it can be done easily, it can be done elsewhere for much less money. Aligning instructional objectives to content is not going to be the sweet spot for learning professionals in large companies. Those who can see the interplay of multiple diverse learning technologies and use them to move the organization forward (i.e. symphony), or those who create learning environments which are more than structured content (e.g. rich stories that help people understand the meaning and purpose of what they do) will stand out above others.

The book is a quick read and worth the time to provoke some interesting thoughts. The activities that Pink gives to help readers improve their R-directed abilities are a bit light but I see these as secondary to the more thought provoking aspects of the book.

Posted by Rovy at November 10, 2005 2:38 AM