Book Review

A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future

By Daniel H. Pink

Review by Todd Hagler (aka Seeker)       Original Post: June 7, 2009

 

I don’t know if Daniel Pink has ever heard of the highly sensitive person (HSP); but I do know he’s created a guide for non-HSPs that can help them develop more HSP-like awareness.  

A Whole New Mind is a long-running New York Times and BusinessWeek bestseller that has been translated into eighteen languages.

Written for the business world, A Whole New Mind argues the future belongs to a different kind of person with a different kind of mind: designers, inventors, teachers, and storytellers–creative and emphatic “right-brain” thinkers. Sound familiar?

A Whole New Mind is a light-hearted approach to a very serious change that is taking place in the world. Drawing on a variety of research, Pink outlines six fundamentally human abilities he believes are essential to professional success and personal fulfillment in what he calls the “Conceptual Age.” 

Gone is the age of “left-brain” dominance. As the title suggests, the future requires a “whole” new mind where “right-brain” qualities will be needed to flourish.

As an HSP, you’ll be encouraged by the book’s premise. Perhaps Pink’s Conceptual Age will be a time when it will be easier to be an HSP. An age when we’ll not only gain a little understanding, but enjoy a higher value both professionally and personally.

After outlining his idea and making a case for the forces that are driving the change, Pink defines the six essential abilities needed to succeed in the Conceptual Age: Design, Story, Symphony, Empathy, Play, and Meaning. Each of these “Six Senses” is given its own chapter; then at the end of each chapter is a portfolio–a collection of tools, exercises, and further readings to help sharpen that particular sense.

To me, it’s these portfolio sections that are most interesting. They take A Whole New Mind beyond the traditional business book and make it ” The Non-HSPs Guide to Thinking Like an HSP.”

If you’re an HSP, read it to be encouraged. Then share it with the non-HSPs in your life to give them some insight into what it’s like to be you.

Pink has authored a trio of bestselling books on the changing world of work, including Free Agent Nation: The Future of Working for Yourself and his latest, The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: The Last Career Guide You’ll Ever Need.

You can order them from Amazon via this link.