Title: A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future
Author(s): Daniel H. Pink

Let us directly begin with an excerpt:

“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.”

Further:

These people – artists, inventors, designers, storytellers, caregivers, consolers, big picture thinkers – will now reap society’s richest rewards and share its greatest joys.

The author says that your ability to survive and thrive in the new world depends on six “essential aptitudes”:

1. Design (beyond function)
2. Story (beyond argument)
3. Symphony (beyond focus)
4. Empathy (beyond logic)
5. Play (beyond seriousness)
6. Meaning (beyond accumulation)

A recent trend has been towards linear approaches of “FOCUS”, “ONE THING”, “NO MULTI-TASKING”, and so on. Gary Keller published his book “One Thing” in 2013. Daniel Pink, author of the book under discussion, “A Whole New Mind”, published 2005, says:

“While detailed knowledge of A SINGLE AREA guaranteed success, today THE TOP REWARDS go to those who can operate with equal aplomb in STARKLY DIFFERENT REALMS.”

Further:

I call these people “boundary-crossers”. They develop expertise in different spheres, they speak different languages, and they find joy in the rich variety of human experience.

And more:

“They lead multi-lives – because that is MORE INTERESTING, and, nowadays, MORE EFFECTIVE.”

A bit more:

Says, Nicholas Negroponte of MIT, “Many engineering deadlocks have been broken by people who are not engineers at all.This is because PERSPECTIVE IS MORE IMPORTANT that IQ. The ability to make BIG LEAPS OF THOUGHT is common denominator among the orignators of breakthrough ideas.”

With this, we have covered the first three “New Mind” aptitudes: Design, Story, Symphony. These three are loosely called “High Concepts”. The remaining part of the book is about “High Touch” – Empathy, Play and Meaning.

To simplify a bit, you need to understand the three “High Concepts” aptitudes to appreciate a wider world and get interested in a variety of things. This is the first essential step.

But, not enough. You need to bring in DEPTH – your sensitivity to people and things around you, your “enthusiastic” engagement with people, and finally the “meaningful” connection you make with people.

In another book, Sapiens (2014), yet to be reviewed on this site, the author speculates:

“Intelligent Design becomes the basic principle of life? Homo Sapiens is replaced by Superhumans?”

Well, Daniel Pink might have already laid down a BLUEPRINT FOR SUPERHUMANS with the book “A Whole new Mind”.

Ready to join “THE SUPERHERO CLUB”?