Dan Pink Lecture Recap

I attended a lecture hosted by Challenge Success last week. Dan Pink was the guest lecturer and it was refreshing to hear such an engaging businessman give advice to a group of educators and parents.

I blogged about his book, “A Whole New Mind” a while ago. You can read that post here: (http://eastbayhomework.blogspot.com/2009/06/right-brain-approach-whole-new-mind.html)

One thing Dan Pink said that I thought was really worthwhile was, “We need to prepare kids for THEIR future, not our past.” And by “our past” he meant the workforce as we knew it when we were young – a very different one from today’s workforce.

He also talked about the 3 A’s – Asia, Automation and Abundance

Asia: Offshoring is having a huge effect on our world. India will be the largest English speaking country in the world in the near future. Routine jobs are not valuable anymore here in the US. If you can write down the steps to a job, chances are it will be outsourced to India.

Automation: Software is replacing our brain (the left side, anyway).

Abundance: The US is doing extremely well in terms of material possessions. But to keep up that pace you have to give the world something they didn’t know they couldn’t live without. For example, the iPad. This is where creativity and right brain abilities are needed.

The schools of the past focused on routines, right answers and standardization; the business world of the future needs novelty, nuance and customization.

To read more about this, check out his two books: A Whole New Mind and Drive.

He ended with “The Candle Problem” which I urge you to watch on this TED lecture, “Dan Pink on the surprising science of motivation.” The Candle Problem is talked about in the first few minutes of the video and well worth the 9+ minutes to watch it.

One of the key points for me in Dan Pink’s lecture was rethinking vocations that cannot be outsourced or computerized. Carpenters, mechanics, hair stylists, wait-staff, nannies, teachers, athletes, etc. cannot be outsourced (not yet!). What implication does that have for us as we think about the future as a family, a community, and as a country?

One thing it means to me is redefining success. If it will be nearly impossible for many of our children to get high status jobs, then we must be ok with that and redefine what is important to live a happy, productive, successful life.

What implications does outsourcing have to you as you raise and educate your children?

The Right Brain Approach – A Whole New Mind

I just finished Daniel H. Pink’s book “A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future.” In it he talks about how the left hemisphere of the brain handles logic, sequence, literalness, and analysis. The right takes care of synthesis, emotional expression, context, and the big picture. (p. 25) He makes the case that in the future our society and our economy will increasingly become built more and more on right-directed thinking. Here’s an illustration from his book (p.50):

“When economies and societies depended on factories and mass production, left-brained thinking ruled. Then, as we moved to knowledge work, right-directed thinking took hold, though still second to left-directed thinking. As we continue to evolve, right-directed thinking is beginning to achieve social and economic parity. Left-directed thinking is still indispensable, but not sufficient. In the current age, we need a whole new mind. “(p. 50-51)

He goes on to say that you must think about what you’re doing to earn a living and ask yourself three questions:

1. Can someone overseas do it cheaper?
2. Can a computer do it faster?
3. Is what I’m offering in demand in an age of abundance?

This book was another example of why schools need to embrace the right-directed concept as much as left-directed thinking if we are really going to prepare our children for the future. With what I’ve witnessed over the past ten years in my own sons’ public schools, I’d say that left-directed teaching is much more prevalent than right-directed learning. We are a competitive, numbers-driven society, after all, so it’s no surprise the easily tested, regurgitated standards-based scholastic goals win out again and again over the artistic, subjective, performance-based objectives.

Another good read which speaks to this same point is Sir Ken Robinson’s “The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything.” You can also check out his TED lecture here: http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html about how schools kill creativity in children.

I recommend “A Whole New Mind” to teachers, parents, older students and business people. Maybe it could be recommended at a staff or business meeting to spark discussion?