A Whole New Mind

I get frustrated by organizations and systems that are so devoted to metrics that they miss the creative opportunities at hand.

Daniel Pink’s A Whole New Mind flips the script on the AI-driven world we’re inheriting, insisting that the right-brained approach to creativity will unlock a brighter future for us all. I’ve found that his focus on story and design moves audiences far more than spreadsheets and PowerPoints.

Pink reminds us why empathy and playfulness are the kinds of superpowers we must rediscover amid so much machine learning.

In our digital world, where computers can do many tasks faster and better than people can, we will thrive if we excel at skills that are uniquely human. Pink writes about the cognitive skills that will be most useful in today’s world: design, story, symphony, empathy, play, and meaning. The book is full of fun and fascinating exercises that helped me develop those skills.

For many years, I taught in a graduate school of business. Daniel Pink’s book is a well-researched argument about why all of us—especially those of us who don’t think we’re creative—need to (1) realize we are creative, (2) develop the creative abilities we have, and (3) recognize those abilities as our competitive advantage, in our work lives as well as our personal lives.

I had been a fan of Dan Pink’s writing since he was on the staff of Fast Company and read his first book, Free Agent Nation. As I began my own publishing and speaking career in 2005, I had the pleasure of being on the same speaking docket as Dan. As I listened to him talk about A Whole New Mind, I knew I had to meet him and get that book. I did. To this day I constantly refer to my signed copy, stuffed full of Post-It notes marking all the amazing exercises and tools in this… show more.