Creatives, take solace. Your math skills may sometimes let you down, or your powers of memorization may be worthless. But you – along with your approach, your way of dealing with information and your ideas – are the most valuable type of employee, leader and partner. Or, at least according to Daniel H. Pink, you will be soon.

I read Pink’s book “A Whole New Mind” a few months ago. Since the hype machine is now in full swing (he was on Oprah recently) I figured that sharing my thoughts on the book might benefit those of you who are considering picking it up.

Pink covers a lot of material in the book – not in a lot of depth necessarily, but there’s enough reference to back up his thinking. If you’re looking for bulletproof analysis about the dawn of a new age, look elsewhere. His rationale is still well-thought-out, and I suspect those who stand to benefit (even if only emotionally) from reading the book will agree intuitively with its premise. As I do.

In the first part of the “A Whole New Mind”, Pink submits that we are entering a new era in the world of business called “The Conceptual Era”. In this new age, he says, business value is being shifted away from traditional left-brain tasks like computing, programming and number crunching, and towards right-brain tasks like designing, storytelling and big picture thinking. Because the left-brained stuff can be handled either by other people or by machines for much less money (Pink refers to ‘Asia’ and ‘Automation’ as two of the factors in this shift), creativity is becoming the real valuable currency.

The second part of the book is where it really gets good. Pink introduces six ‘senses’ of the right-brain, going into some detail about how each one has become important in the world of goods & services. He covers DESIGN, STORY, SYMPHONY, EMPATHY, PLAY and MEANING. He dedicates one chapter to each sense, and each one left me feeling motivated to develop the particular aptitude further. And, for the icing on the cake, Pink follows each chapter up with a “Portfolio” full of ways to explore the given sense. In my brief experience, the portfolios make for fun, fulfilling reference lists that can really get me working and thinking in new ways. I especially enjoy the little challenges he introduces (keep a metaphor log!) and his emphasis on development through play. The activities are refreshing and introspective at the same time.

All in all, “A Whole New Mind” was a great read. Regardless if you are naturally a right-brainer, or what Pink calls “R-Directed”, reading the book provides a wonderful impetus to approach problems holistically, reframe your skillset and value your conceptual thinking properly. I certainly came away excited to further explore my six right-brain senses, to focus on my ideas as much as my tangible (or viewable) deliverables, and to look at the big picture. The future belongs to Dynamo!

Alex - Dynamo's Interactive Director.
Alex's holistic mission at Dynamo is to push the team to create beautiful, usable work online, and to exploit new technological and experiential avenues. He is preoccupied with keeping the studio at the forefront of an industry travelling at light speed.