I discovered Daniel Pink’s “A Whole New Mind” while I was searching for a better way to make power point presentations. Conceptualizing about Power Point sent me to the Zen of design, which sent me to the negative space of 
graphics, which sent me to the psychology of multi media learning, where I landed upon Pink’s great book. The journey was reflective of Pink’s belief that just over the horizon, Right Brain (“R Directed thinking” in his lexicon), resplendent in its ability to recognize patterns in disparate actions, will be the key to success and competitive advantage.
After reading his book, you’ll agree that the future belongs to those of us who can craft symphonies from unrelated categories (as opposed to those who just analyze alone), who have narrative aptitude for story (instead of who just read power point slides), and who have empathy to solidify relationships (as opposed to transactional engagements), we will be the masters of the his Conceptual Age universe.
Pink layers on aspects of globalization in advancing his argument pointing out that with ever flatter competitive markets, cost reductions and scale-well-educated workforces in Asia, the old narrow advantage of rote fact based work will fall to the greater functionality of working "jazz," blending and connecting "High Concepts"--relational advantages driven by right brain thinking. Not withstanding some of the New Age qualities such as “laughter class”, and buttressing the argument with globalization theory, Pink is spot on regarding the increasing economic value of pattern recognition and strategy development. At root his book is as much about approaches to business and competition as it is about psychology and the development of man’s working culture.
My epiphany in discovering the book is precisely how he outlined his theory of “High Concept” and its advantages. The pattern I detected in my journey was all about personal effectiveness. In riffing from design theory to graphics, then to learning theory, my “R Directed thinking” was cobbling together pattern recognition of personal effectiveness, the ability to lead an audience and establish “thought leadership.” That's how I jumped from powerpoints to human interpretation of information.
The easily read and well crafted book grabbed my attention from the first page. Along the way I found new language to describe how I already do things and approach problems. In building out a global business key elements of my success have been on the L Directed ability to execute, a focus on making things happen, but also within an overall big picture, R Directed aspects on the “Symphony” which Pink asserts the “Conceptual Age” will require. Too often, the business press narrows on “focus” to develop “expertise” but the real high value functions is not about how well you know one market or a technology, but how well you assimilate the pieces into the bigger picture. The special talent in the ability to interpret things simultaneously, in seeing all the elements of a situation and understanding what their integration leads to is really the Holy Grail in global business. In short, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
If you’re reading this blog, with its combinatorial elements, I think you’ll really enjoy Pink’s book. Whether it might be varied country markets such as Asia, N. America, Europe, Africa, Middle East, CEER, or a wide range of commercial sectors crossing mobile, banking, content, entertainment, platforms or social networks, the results and the rewards will go to those who can operate with equal aplomb in very different categories. Ummm, sounds familiar to my own background. [Note to Executive Recruiters, check out "About" on the side bar.] Probably why I enjoyed it so much. "A Whole New Mind” is an enlightening read for any global professional and should be on your reading list or office book shelf.
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