Moving from Information Age to Conceptual Age
Daniel Pink is a well known and best-selling author about the changing shape of talent. His provocative works include “The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: The Last Career Guide You’ll Ever Need”, which interestingly is the first American book in the Japanese comic format known as manga. But you might know him from another one of his very interesting books, “A Whole New Mind: Moving from the Information Age to the Conceptual Age”. The book is a long-running New York Times and BusinessWeek bestseller that has been translated into 18 languages. I just got a copy from Amazon – look out for my next blog post 
. Dan has also worked in the White House, where he served from 1995 to 1997 as chief speechwriter to Vice President Al Gore. You’ll notice the same witty flavor to his engaging presentation in the video below.
As per Daniel, latest brain research suggests that our brain is divided into 2 major hemispheres – the LEFT brain and the RIGHT brain, both of which have clearly delineated tasks. LEFT brain focuses on the tasks that are linear, logical, analytical and/or sequential, while the RIGHT hemisphere processes tasks that are “contextual” and synthesis vs. analysis.
Dan argues that we see clear evidence of this concept in today’s global economy – till early in the century, the LEFT brain mattered the most, and got us here. However the scales are tilting – and (in particular US economy), will leverage the RIGHT hemisphere of the brain much more. He points to 3 main factors – Abundance, Asia and Automation – that points to the generalization, that any and all “routine” tasks… are “commodities” and can be easily outsourced… replacing the white/blue collar workforce. Economies of the advanced nations are/should increasingly becoming economies about “significance”, “aesthetics” and other RIGHT brain things.
I agree with his summary that we have moved from Agriculture Age (the age of farmers) > Industrial Age (the age of the factory workers) > Information Age (the age of Knowledge Workers)… and now are increasingly moving towards the “Conceptual Age” (the age of creators and empathizers). Great idea… couldn’t agree more. The problem is… our education system is way out of sync with this vision. We still rely on SAT, LSAT, GMAT and other such ridiculous scores that measure the volume of your LEFT brain. Maybe this is the right time to confess that back in school… I did my part to ensure a bigger bell curve Kinda reminds me of Malcom Gladwell’s presentation from NewYorker conference about how our talent development and acquisition strategies are still 18th century old and haven’t evolved a bit… while on the other hand… the kind of work we do has undergone dramatic changes. Obama’s pick for secretary of Education, Chicago schools Supt. Arne Duncan, is a reformer respected by traditionalists and innovators alike. Let’s hope his appointment is a positive step in this direction.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4462635091932444874
Tags: Al Gore, Amazon, Arne Duncan, Brain Research, Bunko, Career Guide, Changing Shape, Chief Speechwriter, Clear Evidence, Comic Format, Daniel Pink, Featured, Generalization, Global Economy, Hemisphere Of The Brain, Hemispheres, Information Age, Interesting Books, Left Brain, New York Times, Right Brain, Right Hemisphere Of The Brain, Routine Tasks, Talent, TalentJay Walker – Library of Human Imagination
Many of you know Jay Walker as the founder of Priceline.com, who made (and lost) billions during the dotcom boom era. Born 1956, Jay is an American entrepreneur who also founded Walker Digital, a private R&D laboratory based in Stamford, CT. He founded the lab in 1994 with the guiding vision that new consumer applications for large-scale networks represent the key growth opportunity for many industries. In total, Walker Digital has invented about 1,000 applications for the Internet, cell phones, credit-card networks, and casino networks, as well as vending machines and lottery and retail networks. At one point Mr. Walker’s net worth topped USD $4 billion, which was almost entirely Priceline.com stock.
A lesser known fact – Jay Walker is also the curator of the Library of Human Imagination. Check out some of the surprises from his library in this engaging TED presentation.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7683720469649827459
His library is 3,600 square feet on three mazelike levels, and showcases his vast/crazy collection including 1493 Nuremberg Chronicle, 1535 Coverdale Bible, 1660 celestial atlas by Andrea Cellarius, 1665 Micrographia by Robert Hooke or his Kelmscott Chaucer, real meteorites, an original Sputnik from the 7 surviving Sputniks, an American flag which was carried to the moon and bag on Apollo 11, the original chandelier from the James Bond flick Die Another Day… and many more such brain numbing “stuff” like an Enigma code machine and complete dinosaur skeleton.
Check out some of the pics of his library here: http://www.wired.com/techbiz/people/magazine/16-10/ff_walker?currentPage=all
The question is – what use is a library if its doors are closed to the “knowledge seeker” – the public? Schoolchildren, executives, politicians and scholars can visit the library by invitation only.
Tags: American Entrepreneur, Apollo 11, Celestial Atlas, Coverdale Bible, Crazy Collection, Credit Card Networks, Dinosaur Skeleton, Dotcom Boom, Enigma Code Machine, Featured, Googlevideo, Guiding Vision, Human Imagination, Inspiring, James Bond Flick, Jay Walker, Kelmscott Chaucer, Knowledge Seeker, Nuremberg Chronicle, People Magazine, Retail Networks, Robert Hooke, Walker Digital, Walker LibrarySocial Intelligence – Daniel Goleman
I have always been a great fan of Daniel Goleman’s work. His bestseller book, “Emotional Intelligence and working with Emotional Intelligence”, caught the business world by storm. In the book Daniel argued that the secret of success is not IQ, a business school degree, technical know or even years of expertise. Instead, in most cases, it’s Emotional Intelligence that plays the key role.
This weekend I got the chance to catch up with his follow-up work, “Social Intelligence – The new science of Human Relationships”. Daniel describes Social Intelligence as the interpersonal part of Emotional Intelligence. He argues that human beings are “wired to connect” with brains of other individuals. Our brain is “Social”, meaning that our interactions with others, verbal or visual, have a far-reaching biological impact, sending out cascades of hormones that regulate everything from our hearts to our immune systems, making good relationships act like vitamins–and bad relationships like poisons. Daniel points out those emotions are “contagious” – we can “catch” other people’s emotions the way we catch a cold. The “Social Brain” has something called “Mirror Neurons”, which sense both the move another person is about to make and their feelings, and instantaneously prepares us to imitate that movement and feel with them. This is extremely important when you consider implications on the business world, when negotiating with the opposite party, and especially in Leadership. Followers are naturally attuned to mirror the emotions of the leaders.
Hmmmm… does this make it all the more important for leaders to manage emotions? Sometimes I think of a true leader as a symphony conductor – aware and being one with the surroundings, attuned to each and every musician in his group, expert in communication both verbally, by movements of the hand, gestures, facial expressions… all in order to create a state of the art experience for the audience – the final product. Agree/Disagree?
The book points to experiments, like a British study of health care workers who had supervisors on alternate days, once they dreaded and one they liked. One the days the dreadful boss worked, their average blood pressure jumped 13 points for the systolic and 6 for diastolic. Wow. I guess now those law suites we hear of… where employees claim heath issues from workplace harassement, may hold some truth.
Too often, when leaders deliver a message, the content takes the first seat and the “HOW” is ignored. Daniel points out to a study where when a manager delivered a piece of bad news (disappointment that an employer had failed to reach performance goals) with a warm demeanor, people neverthless rated the interaction positively. When good news (pleasure that the goals had been met) was delivered with sullen expression, the interaction paradoxically left people feeling bad. This points to the fact that leader’s emotional tone has a surprising power over the organization.
Interestingly, Daniel points out that today’s technological advances which have given birth to the concept of “global communities” and “online virtual worlds” might have a sinister down-side. He discusses the concept of social corrosion resulting from “technocreep”:
“… There are unknowns in the ways humans around the words are connecting – and disconnecting –as technology offers more varieties of nominal communication in actual isolation. These trends signal the slow vanishing of opportunities for people to connect. This inexplorable technocreep is so insidious that no one has yet calculated its social and emotional costs.”
“The one-person shell created by headphones intensifies social insulation. Even when the wearer has a one-on-one face-to-face encounter, the sealed ears offer a ready excuse to treat the people as an object, something to navigate around rather than someone to acknowledge, or, at the very least, notice.”
Daniel argues, “to the extent that technology absorbs people in a virtual reality, it deadens them to those who are actually nearby. The resulting social autism adds to the ongoing list of unintended consequences of the continuing invasion of technology into our daily lives”
Daniel makes a powerful point… which I hate to admit, I have noticed myself. Looking back, I can see how I switched from the good old paperback edition of books to MP3 versions. The convenience and ease is just undeniably one of those things that attracted me to audio books in the first place. Plugin that iPod and take it wherever you go… the long drive, the gym, the walk from the parking lot to work… however, I realize that I DID get in a “bubble” when listening to those books… sometimes so much so that a 10 hour cross-state drive seemed like something I looked forward to!! Yeah – that’s sick for sure. And lemme not forget my huge twitter list who I believe NEED to know everything and anything I do. And my virtual social network, on those gazillion websites out there, where I HAVE to drop in to “show some luv”. Have you paused and wondered if a comment on “My Wall” is really something that “connects” me to my ”virtual” peep sitting in Russia? Do we really understand Social Networking?
“In 1970s two-thirds of Americans belonged to organizational with regular meetings that they attended. That number has dropped to about one-third by the 1990s… New organizations keep people at a distance. Membership comes via e-mails or mass-mailings, and the main activity boils down to sending money, not getting together.”
I agree with Daniel that this new “communication culture” is still too new. There are unknowns in the ways humans around the world are connecting – and man disconnecting – as technology offers more varieties. Are we losing that “personal touch”? Am still looking for that “right answer” – What do you think?
The book has a vast multitude of stories and references to research materials which makes it a very interesting read. Usually I take at least a week to finish off a book, mostly reading an hour or so in the night… but this one got me reading all through thanksgiving
Check out the “introductory” video by Daniel Goleman below… and also 2 related posts – Daniel points out the connection between Social Intelligence and Leadership, and the inspiring Ted presentation on Compassion and Empathy.
