After listening to Daniel Pink's A Whole New Mind: Why Right Brainers Will Rule the World,
...here are my take aways:
We've come from the Industrial and Information Ages, where manual labor then left brain thinking dominated. We've gone from factory workers and tradesman to doctors, lawyers, engineers, and CEO's. And society has rewarded those positions well.
But to evolve and become a world where more people win and thrive, we will need more creators, artists, empathizers, meaning makers.
Why?
The paradox of modern day prosperity: although standards of living have increased substantially, happiness, fulfillment, and thriving in personal relationships and family have not budged. There is still a craving for transcendent fulfillment and meaning.
In order to move into this arena, we must move from the text to the context, from analysis to synthesis. This will require much more right brain work.
In the past success has been defined by left brain activity. But in the future this will not be enough.
Today, spiritual and intangible inequity is the greatest injustice. People have plenty to live on but nothing to live for; they have the means but lack meaning.
According to Pink, the transition from material want to immaterial want is happening at an unprecedented rate. To thrive in the Conceptual Age, we need to start taking spirituality and happiness seriously.
Spirituality is being understood by professionals as searching for meaning and purpose. Effective leaders are finding this is what helps their organizations and companies reach their most important goals. Deep life experience is the next wave of business evolution.
The good life is no longer good enough. In our societies of material abundance, a calling is the most satisfying work. It's pursuing meaning by using our strengths to better the world. It's moving meaning to the center of our lives.
Furthermore, the abundance of material wealth and choices, the outsourcing of white collar jobs to Asia, and the power of automation will increase the need for more and more of us to live and work with a whole, new mind. Because in the conceptual age, putting together tons of data, interpreting it to derive relevance and meaning, imagining where to go with it, and implementing the steps to get there will require non-linear, holistic, narrative focused actions—all which are done by the right side of the brain.
Grab a copy of Pink's book and learn about the 6 senses that will strengthen your right brain: design, story, symphony (synthesis), empathy, play, and meaning.
Then book some time with me to discuss the personal growth and development you want to commit to that will take your leadership and management to the next level.