A Whole New Mind, by Daniel Pink
Part Two – Introducing the Six Senses and Chapter 4
Pages 65-100
A summary
The author offers six high-concept, high-touch senses for success in Conceptual Age. He denotes them as six essential R-Directed aptitudes to compliment L-Directed reasoning:
1) Design – emotionally engaging, whimsical, and/or beautiful
2) Story – narrative
3) Symphony - synthesis
4) Empathy – caring relationships
5) Play – benefiting health and profession
6) Meaning – purpose
He states, “Anyone can master the six Conceptual Age senses. But those who master them first will have a huge advantage.” (p. 67)
Chapter 4 focuses on the first attribute, Design. The author tells a school story that draws in our audience, teachers. It’s about a Hallmark designer that visits classrooms and asks if there are any artists in the room. He finds, as the students age, their vision of themselves as artists dies. Pink calls it a cautionary tale, because artistic sensibility must be cultivated. In this Conceptual Age we must all be designers for personal fulfillment and professional success. He states three reasons:
1) Due to prosperity and technology, good design is accessible, allowing the public its pleasures and becoming connoisseurs of good design products.
2) It is a means of differentiation and crucial for creating new markets in an age of abundance.
3) Its ultimate purpose is changing the world.
His story continues at CHAD (Charter High School for Architecture and Design – a tuition free Philadelphia public school), with a design-centered curriculum infusing design to teach core academic subjects. They also spend 100 minutes a day in a design studio. Other subjects include architecture, industrial design, color theory, and painting. It is interdisciplinary. The result is producing holistic thinkers that can work with others and inspire others. They have a 95% attendance rate and the only high school in Philadelphia without metal detectors. CHAD is a pioneer but there are others. Miami public schools has Design and Architecture Senior High. New York City has the High School of Art and Design.
Washington, D.C. has Studio School, a charter elementary school. The concept is providing a liberal arts education that enhances student’s ability to solve problems, understand others, and appreciate the world around them.
Pink discusses the economic advantages of design, as the competitive edge over the pricing structure and labor costs of the Far East. “Design’s most potent economic effects is this very capacity to create new markets” (p. 81). He shares more stories reflecting the cause and effect of ‘design’ in various circumstances. He closes with, “Design is a high-concept aptitude that is difficult to outsource or automate – and that increasingly confers a competitive advantage in business.”
The Portfolio for Design is found on pages 87-100. Readers will find exercises, activities, magazines, websites, museums, and books to enhance their R-Directed aptitude of design, and expand their ‘whole new mind’.
Part Two – Introducing the Six Senses and Chapter 4
Pages 65-100
A summary
The author offers six high-concept, high-touch senses for success in Conceptual Age. He denotes them as six essential R-Directed aptitudes to compliment L-Directed reasoning:
1) Design – emotionally engaging, whimsical, and/or beautiful
2) Story – narrative
3) Symphony - synthesis
4) Empathy – caring relationships
5) Play – benefiting health and profession
6) Meaning – purpose
He states, “Anyone can master the six Conceptual Age senses. But those who master them first will have a huge advantage.” (p. 67)
Chapter 4 focuses on the first attribute, Design. The author tells a school story that draws in our audience, teachers. It’s about a Hallmark designer that visits classrooms and asks if there are any artists in the room. He finds, as the students age, their vision of themselves as artists dies. Pink calls it a cautionary tale, because artistic sensibility must be cultivated. In this Conceptual Age we must all be designers for personal fulfillment and professional success. He states three reasons:
1) Due to prosperity and technology, good design is accessible, allowing the public its pleasures and becoming connoisseurs of good design products.
2) It is a means of differentiation and crucial for creating new markets in an age of abundance.
3) Its ultimate purpose is changing the world.
His story continues at CHAD (Charter High School for Architecture and Design – a tuition free Philadelphia public school), with a design-centered curriculum infusing design to teach core academic subjects. They also spend 100 minutes a day in a design studio. Other subjects include architecture, industrial design, color theory, and painting. It is interdisciplinary. The result is producing holistic thinkers that can work with others and inspire others. They have a 95% attendance rate and the only high school in Philadelphia without metal detectors. CHAD is a pioneer but there are others. Miami public schools has Design and Architecture Senior High. New York City has the High School of Art and Design.
Washington, D.C. has Studio School, a charter elementary school. The concept is providing a liberal arts education that enhances student’s ability to solve problems, understand others, and appreciate the world around them.
Pink discusses the economic advantages of design, as the competitive edge over the pricing structure and labor costs of the Far East. “Design’s most potent economic effects is this very capacity to create new markets” (p. 81). He shares more stories reflecting the cause and effect of ‘design’ in various circumstances. He closes with, “Design is a high-concept aptitude that is difficult to outsource or automate – and that increasingly confers a competitive advantage in business.”
The Portfolio for Design is found on pages 87-100. Readers will find exercises, activities, magazines, websites, museums, and books to enhance their R-Directed aptitude of design, and expand their ‘whole new mind’.
