A Whole New Mind

I just got done with reading this book and really enjoyed it. It basically talks about how we are in the Information Age which is primarily made up of “L-Directed” thinking jobs, which means jobs that require a focus of attention from the left hemisphere of your brain as opposed to the right hemisphere. The left typically controls sequential, logical and analytical thought, as opposed to the right which typically thinks in non liner, intuitive and holistic ways. The author argues that this is about to change as we transition from the Information Age to the Conceptual Age where L-directed jobs will be a thing of the past due to abundance, Asia (outsourcing) and automation. Instead, R-directed thinking and jobs will be the new cornerstone of the market to counteract the three factors above. In order to change our norms and standards of working as a society who is built to act and rewarded by thinking in L-directed ways, we need to improve on 6 factors: design, story, symphony, empathy, play and meaning which stem from the right hemisphere and R-directed thinking. When we utilize these 6 factors we make ourselves unique as a worker because we offer something that can’t be duplicated by a computer or outsourced quickly. This is a great read, full of humor and remarks on interesting studies, pick up a copy – you’ll enjoy it :)