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| A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future | 
 enlarge | Author: Daniel H. Pink
Publisher: Riverhead Trade
Category: Book
List Price: $15.00
Buy New: $8.35
You Save: $6.65 (44%)
Buy New/Used/Collectible from $7.25
Avg. Customer Rating:  (205 reviews)
Sales Rank: 149
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Paperback
Edition: Rep Upd
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 288
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.7
ISBN: 1594481717
Dewey Decimal Number: 153.35
EAN: 9781594481710
ASIN: 1594481717
Publication Date: March 7, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Compelling Read October 28, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
A senior colleague of mine recommended this book, and it really is a great read - easy and fun, but substantive at the same time. Pink's argument's flow logically and the porfolios at the end of each chapter are a great resource, I found myself looking up all the websites and jotting down notes for activities to try.
 Kort Amerikaans: welvaart boven welzijn October 25, 2008
2 out of 5 found this review helpful
Met de subtitel Moving from the Information Age to the Conceptual Age en een aanbeveling van Wired 'Why right-brainers will rule the future' en aanbevelingen op de achterflap van Tom Peters, Po Bronson en Seth Godin die de auteur onder meer positioneren als wonderdoener en 'Copernicus for the brave new age' worden enorme verwachtingen gewekt en kritische antennes geactiveerd. Een boek dat inmiddels in de VS in de 8e hedruk zit en gewoon erg populair is, moet toch wat te bieden hebben?
En ja, dat klopt. In de lijn van simplificaties en hapklare brokken als The World is Flat en de boeken van Covey past A Whole New Mind perfect in de tijdgeest, waar we opnieuw zoeken naar houvast in een turbulente wereld. En dus zijn de platmakers van Friedman gereduceerd tot een drietal verschijnselen Abundance, Asia en Automation bij Pink. Als je geen toegevoegde waarde hebt ten opzichte van al die andere aanbieders, veel goedkopere vakbroeders in China en India en je werk minstens net zo goed door een computer gedaan kan worden, dan zit je binnenkort werkloos toe te kijken. Tenzij, tenzij je 6 nieuwe zintuigen ontwikkeld die je eigen, bevredigende plek in de wereld geven:
1. Design (weg met alleen een functionele blik op middelen, schoonheid van ontwerp geeft meerwaarde)
2. Story (een goed verhaal bij een persoon of product verkoopt gewoon beter)
3. Symphony (alles heeft een context, overzie het geheel, focus niet op een detail)
4. Empathy (voelen wat de ander voelt)
5. Play (leve de gamers!)
6. Meaning (logisch slotakkoord, wat is het doel van wat je doet? Geef je leven betekenis en richting)
Naast veel betekenisvolle woorden, punten om over na te denken, bevat Pinks boek ook veel zwakke plekken. Waar hij zelf een verdeling zoekt in 'meer linker hersenhelft gericht' en 'meer rechter hersenhelft gericht', oog heeft voor het complementaire van onze hersenhelften en in het begin van het boek nog pleit voor een 'volledig gebruik van de hersenen', gaan diverse voorbeelden, te beginnen met de Wired aanbeveling op de voorkant met te stringent links/rechts en daarmee bij herhaling aardig/veel beter implicerend, de mist in. Wanneer ouders hun kinderen liever artiest laten worden dan wiskundige, ziet Pink dat als bevestiging van zijn argumenten, terwijl het juist wel 'links' georienteerd zijn van de tienduizenden jaarlijks in India en China in exacte vakken, Informatie e.d. afstuderende jongeren een bedreiging vormen die je niet alleen met de 6 zintuigen kunt opvangen. Sterker: wat moet je als meester in de genoemde 6 zintuigen, als er geen voedsel wordt bereid, geen wegen worden aangelegd, geen veilige auto's worden geproduceerd, geen huizen worden gebouwd, etc.? Anders gesteld: dit boek gaat volledig voorbij aan de samenleving, het milieu, de grote uitdagingen die de wereld zich gesteld ziet, zoals bijvoorbeeld Planeet India wel durft aan te snijden.
Pink husselt slim wat herkenbare thema's als Flow, Emotional Intelligence, storytelling, hersenonderzoek, spiritualiteit (waarbij alle uitingen, behalve christelijk geloof hip zijn), zelfhulpboeken en testjes tot een eigen mix, waarbij de rode draad immaterieel lijkt te zijn. Op de laatste pagina ontkracht Pink dit echter rigoreus: "China and India are becoming economic behemoths. Material abundance in the advanced world continues to grow. That mean that the greatest rewards will go to those who move fast. The first group of people who develop a whole new mind, who master high-concept and high-touch abilities, will do extremely well. The rest - those who move slowly or not at all - may miss out or, worse, suffer." Dus toch welvaart als maatstaf voor succes en een afstandelijk 'jammer dan' voor degenen die niet zo snel mee kunnen komen: kort Amerikaans!
A hole in the mind October 8, 2008
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
Pink starts with the inarguable premise that we live in a changing economy. The smokestack industries moved overseas long since, and white-collar jobs are fast following. Countries with low labor costs, compared to the West, have growing pools of highly skilled technical workers. As a result, things like programming, accounting, and circuit design have changed from specialty skills to commodity tasks, just as happened with material goods like toasters, toys, and sneakers. Pink declares that the new differentiators include aesthetics, design, and the human experience. His examples include car manufacture considered as an art form, holistic legal services, and the medical value of doctors' empathy.
Although I agree with many of Pink's points, the logical, left-brained underpinnings of his argument just aren't strong enough to support the weight of warm feelings piled onto them. For example, he notes that good product design has value to the product owner. Then, as a counter example, this book's front cover includes a die-cut that leaves little tongues of paper pointed out into the cut's opening. Those tongues catch on things, fray, and even tear into the cover around them. Mr. Pink: good design does not unintentionally self-destruct.
Elsewhere, Pink notes the established fact that mothers commonly carry infants in their left arms. Because of a crossover in neural wiring, Pink asserts that this puts the child in contact with the woman's right brain. Well, maybe. It also frees the mother's right hand to stir the pot or do other work at the same time as kid care. Even left-handed mothers often carry their children on the left side, possibly because the heart is on the left and its rhythm tends to soothe the child. But no, Pink has taken the right-brain bit between his teeth and runs with it. As a result, he gently sweeps aside little things like the basic fact that right/left brain duality has always been stronger in men than in women, and that Asian researcher sometimes have trouble reproducing the results at all. It might, in fact, just be an artifact of Western males.
I have an engineering degree, but art school training as well. At least one of the algorithms I developed was hard to describe, but physically obvious once my listener experienced it in her own hands - leaving her with the problem of explaining it to others. I understand the importance of the human terms in engineering equations. Unlike Pink, I also know that science and engineering are intuitive practices, and expressions of deep human feeling in themselves. I actually agree with Pink on many points. I just don't agree with his one-sided approach to two-sided problems, with his selectivity about facts friendly to his case, or with his weak logic in making the case that we need more than just logic.
-- wiredweird
A whole new way to see the world October 8, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
A Whole New Mind is written for those who are looking to increase their abilities and engage their brain. The book offers a holistic approach to changing your life and changing how you see the world and approach problems. Pink makes the argument that we all need to incorporate more empathy and play into our lives because it enables one to relax, enjoy life more and engage the unused capacity of one's intellect. He makes a strong argument that our society pigeon holes us into thinking a certain way and approaching life without the tools we really need to enjoy it and get the most out of it. I can't do justice to his theories here, but
the book is full of useful tips and strategies in addition to a call to action in your own life.
Another great book I read this week that I strongly recommend because it changed how I think is The Emotional Intelligence Quick Book
A right brain look at economic development October 6, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This book is an excellent argument for the need for creativiity, decision making and other right brain functions in our current economic system. It points out that left brain functions can be sent overseas or computerized but the right brain functions add the most value. An easy read. We used it for the foundation of an arts leadership class.
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