I finished reading Daniel Pink’s ‘A Whole New Mind’ last night. Great book with some interesting perspectives considering how our first world economy seems to be shifting from dominantly left-brain, logical directed thinking to a more holistic economy that incorporates right-brain perspectives. Wikipedia has a great summary here. He argues that we are now in the Conceptual Age, and success will often be correlated with the capacity to incorporate 6 senses that are not typically considered crucial determinants of success at the moment: design, story, symphony (big picture), empathy, play and meaning.
I tend to agree with Mr. Pink, as I’ve also considered a lot of my strengths to be some of these right-brain directed senses.
I had some fun the other night with some of the links he provides. Check out this online survey from BBC, where you can test your skills on detecting fake vs genuine smiles. I’m proud to say I nailed it: 100%.
In my never-ending TED talk quest, I also recently came across this one about how to spot a liar, from Pamela Meyer. She’s quite funny and articulate, and there’s a really interesting clip that starts around 14:50. It’s so creepy; you’ll know what I mean. One of the take-aways: the key to detecting genuineness is all in the eyes.
Thanks, Dan Pink, for being a part of rethinking and challenging the status quo. I’m looking forward to checking out his latest, To Sell is Human.
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