In his book “A Whole New Mind” Daniel H. Pink prepares us for a new kind of society. This new social environment will change the way we function – a new way of thinking which will improve the future and help people be more productive in their professional work environment as well as in their personal lives.
Pink outlines six key RIGHT brain concepts or senses, that will aid us in our changing society. These concepts are Design, Story, Symphony, Empathy, Play and Meaning.
Design is the ability to do the best you can out of a task that you are given to perform, and still stay within the frame, meaning that the purpose and function of the product should clearly appeal to the others. Look for the appeal of good design – good design is not “me too” or copycat style – it is original and artistic
Telling stories is a powerful way to express yourself and it is also the most efficient way to remember something. We can see that people in the modern world are looking for ‘connections’ – stories provide these links for us to connect with. An ancient and highly efficient form of communication we MUST re-learn. Try looking for a ‘story’ in a presentation – it will prove highly engaging for the audience and you will see their engagement increase. We see advertising telling stories and products have a story about their lifecycle or design.
The next sense, Symphony, is all about relationships; seeing the big picture and thinking about the relation of the details. Here’s an easy way to help you see the big picture – grab a newspaper or magazine and link articles to your job or life. You can zoom in and zoom out to see the impact on your company, your team, your family and you. Try listening to the composition of great symphony music – see the threads and themes building to big inspiration.
Empathy is a very "feeling-related" sense. It is basically about "being in someone’s shoes". It means to deeply understand someone and to be able to emphasise with what they are going through. This sense helped us to climb the evolutionary ladder but the ‘greed is good’ culture has robbed us of the sensitivity this skill requires. We need this sense to connect to our people and our customers.
Play is about being happy by not just achieving success in the work place, but also being spontaneous. Look for ways to ‘play’ – you will learn more and inspire others. We confuse being serious with being successful – tell everyone “It is Okay to have fun”. This is one ‘F’ word you can take to work! Southwest Airlines has a mission statement – “People rarely succeed at anything unless they are having fun doing it”.
Meaning is to know yourself, your abilities, your goals, and to believe in them with all your heart. How many short term goals do you have? Use them and tell others about them – act on them and really focus on what is important to you. Make a list of all the important people in your life – then add the values that are important to you. Finally write down the favourite activities you have – now line up the three lists and ask yourself to rate a TOP TEN. Grab your diary and see how much time you have spent with the important people doing favourite things – these connect with your values and meaning. Is it enough? I doubt it is . . .
So, we can see if these concepts are mixed together and also applied in balance with some structured LEFT brain thinking, a new social, political, and economic revolution is about to begin. This revolution is quiet but definite.
