Loy Machedo reviewed a book.
A Whole New Mind
“
In my career as a Trainer and Coach, I interact with a lot of children.
When I ask them the classic question, ‘What do you want to be when you grow up’, almost immediately I get answers like – Scientist, Engineer, Lawyer or Doctor. Very rarely do I get an answer like Singer,...”
“
In my career as a Trainer and Coach, I interact with a lot of children.
When I ask them the classic question, ‘What do you want to be when you grow up’, almost immediately I get answers like – Scientist, Engineer, Lawyer or Doctor. Very rarely do I get an answer like Singer, Dancer, Artist or Explorer. And if ever, such an answer does surface, I hear the snickers or the sarcastic ‘been-there-done-that’ laughter of the parent.
It becomes painful obvious, that the parents want their children to accept their reality and not the reality of what exists today.
In fact, this is not a remote incident. When I was young, Parents of my generation had done the same. And I sure parents of their generation had done the same as well.
Apparently nothing much has changed – or so it seems.
But here’s the deal. My Mom and Dad were wrong.
Though I failed miserably in the outdated academic walls of standardized tests (ended up being a college dropout), today I am doing fairly better than most of my school and college predecessors. And when I tell people that I work only 5 days in a month and earn the same or even more than what people earn in a month or at times 3 months combined – people not only get shocked, the do not accept such a reality does exist.
So what am I doing so different that others are not – well that is what the Author puts out so brilliantly.
According to Daniel Pink, the future belongs to a very different kind of person with a very different kind of mind. The era of “left brain” dominance, and the Information Age that it engendered, are giving way to a new world in which “right brain” qualities — inventiveness, meaning, empathy — predominate.
In the tradition of Daniel Goleman’s Emotional Intelligence and Marcus Buckingham’s and Donald O. Clifton’s Now, Discover Your Strengths, Daniel H. Pink offers a deeper insight into what it takes to excel in tomorrows world.
The book ‘A Whole New Mind’ reveals the six essential aptitudes on which professional success and personal fulfillment now depend:
1. Design – Moving beyond function to engage the sense.
2. Story – Narrative added to products and services - not just argument. Best of the six senses.
3. Symphony – Adding invention and big picture thinking (not just detail focus).
4. Empathy – Going beyond logic and engaging emotion and intuition.
5. Play – Bringing humor and light-heartedness to business and products.
6. Meaning – the purpose is the journey, give meaning to life from inside yourself.
The Book also includes several hands-on exercises and examples culled from experts around the world to help readers sharpen the necessary abilities.
Pink references three prevailing trends pointing towards the future of business and the economy: Abundance (consumers have too many choices, nothing is scarce), Asia (everything that can be outsourced, is) and Automation (computerization, robots, technology, processes).
Added to these points, the author also covers points like
A historical narrative begins the text by outlining four major "ages":
1. Agricultural Age (farmers)
2. Industrial Age (factory workers)
3. Information Age (knowledge workers)
4. Conceptual Age (creators and empathizers)
Why a seismic shift is now under way in much of the advanced world.
The differences between the left and right hemispheres of our brains.
Why people who master high concept and high touch are setting the tempo of modern life.
How six essential aptitudes can help you make your way across the emerging landscape.
Moment of Truth
What I loved about this book was the Scientific Basis by which the author reached his Concise yet Compelling Conclusions. Added to that the thought-provoking and logical sequence by which he presented his ideas along with the reference materials, books and authors he recommended, making this book a very welcome addition to my library of books.
Overall Rating
For the interest, the research and the truly compelling content, I give this book a solid 8.5 out of 10. An amazing Book indeed.
Loy Machedo
loymachedo.com | loymachedo.tv”
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