Prep Work - Dan Pink - A Whole New Mind

 As faithful readers know, I've been on a bit of rant lately about the way in which many are interpreting the new book by Dan Pink - "Drive - The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us."  I received a pre-release copy prior to Christmas - but had to promise not to post a review until after January 4th.  Not really sure why they put that constraint on me but it just might have something to do with a New Year's Day event he's holding (link here.)

But there is no constraint on reviewing his last book - "A Whole New Mind".  While this book did get quite a bit of play when it came out it didn't get quite the action his new one is getting.  

I figured, it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to get re-acquainted with his previous book while putting my thoughts together on his current effort.

The Premise:

A Whole New Mind is designed to convince the reader that we are moving from the age of the Knowledge Worker - defined by Pink as one who is a "well-educated manipulator of information and employer of expertise" to one where workers will become those that have "the capacity to detect patterns and opportunities, to create artistic and emotional beauty, to craft a satisfying narrative and to combine seemingly unrelated ideas into something new."

This shift will require more "right brain" than "left brain" thinking in order to do it well.  The point being is that our left hemisphere controls logical, sequential, rules-based thinking.  The right hemisphere is designed for simultaneous, pattern-based thinking.  

He explains it well by saying "the right hemisphere is a picture; the left is the thousand words."

Why The Change?

According to Pink three things are driving the need for a "whole new mind."

1. Abundance.  We know have what we want - and in many cases 10 versions of what we want.  Function alone cannot convince us to buy an item because I can get 10 of them that do the same thing.  Focusing on form and design and esthetics separates products - those are all right-brain activities.  Because of abundance we need to focus on other reasons to buy (and to market) products.  Left-brain, logical thinking won't get it done.
    
2. Asia. What he means is outsourcing.  Pink highlights the fact that many jobs that require following rules ie: coding, accounting -  can be done overseas at a fraction of the cost of doing it here at home.  Jobs that rely on simply following and applying rules are easy to move and will continue to move to the lowest cost provider.
    
3. Automation.  Citing software that helps doctors get to a diagnosis through patient inputted answers to questions in a decision algorithms, to online law documents, the grunt work of many "knowledge" professions is being automated.  

He's Right - I didn't find anything radical in this book.  The point is well made - business is changing and a more "holistic" (if I can use that overused word) approach to business is needed.

Why It Matters to You and What It Means to Motivation and Influence

Recruiting

You should be recruiting for more "new mind" thinkers - people who can use both sides of their brain.  Too often we rely on "intelligence testing" and process success to determine who's a good fit.  Tomorrow will belong to those that can do that - AND socially integrate, see patterns in chaos and connect disparate pieces of information in new and innovative ways.  Recruiting needs to change.

Motivating

Right brain is more difficult to quantify.  Programs focused on specific behaviors and specific tasks aren't applicable.  Unfortunately, most, if not all programs, use this approach.  I always recommend behavior-based programs but even that approach will have difficulty quantifying the real effort and activity that makes up right brain work.  A new way for rewarding people will have to be included in the mix.  I'm not saying we have to do away with rewards (see my review on Drive when I can "officially" post it) but I am saying we need to look at some new criteria.

This will have profound effects on pay for performance strategies and other task-driven incentives.  When the activity you want isn't sequential, rules-based and logical - how do you reward for it?  How do you even encourage it?  

Team-Based

Not referenced in the book, but inferred by me, is the fact that as you move from doing sequential, logical tasks into a world of interpretation and understanding contexts around data - diversity of input is required.  I cannot put together disparate pieces of information if I don't have the source information from disparate sources.  

Diversity of inputs is required and that will force more team-based activities.  Teams will drive the diverse content that is the raw material of the right brain.  How do I engage and motivate the team?  What needs to change in my reward strategy to take advantage of that resource?  What behaviors should I reward - if any? 

Net-Net

The ideas in the book are good.  Most of the research is sound (sometimes it does fall into the trap of "many researchers believe" or "many scientists will admit" rather than quoting studies, data, etc.) and it does support his case.  But Pink isn't looking to solve our problems as much as sell a book.

The bottom line is that there will be a shift in the things we do and the way we engage and encourage new behaviors.  Understanding the process is important to understanding how to improve, enhance and encourage new thinking.

At least that's what my left brain is saying.  

My right brain is saying --- oohhh pretty art on the cover of the book. ;-)

Comments

[www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=632019852]

I wonder if the guy who fixed my tire, the other day, used his whole brain or half his brain? The tire is fixed, I'm happy, and he's got some cash in his pocket.

[Paul Hebert]

I'm guessing both halves - but at different times and independent of each other.

I didn't mention but Pink did say that not EVERY job has the need for right brainers - some jobs will always be no-brainers.

[Andy Klemm]

The book sounds like a paean to Apple.

Steve Gross wrote the book, Compensation for Teams in 1995. Definitive at the time, it was based largely upon being able to set all sorts of goals. Accepting the Pink premise would seem to crumble that foundation.

As for the rewards questions in a Pink world, the notion of pre-determining what behaviors should be rewarded and goal setting become problematic. If a reward premise accepted, it would seem the default would be outcome based and generalized such as profit-sharing, stock plans, or a new form of gainsharing.

[Paul Hebert]

Pink's new book (my review to come) is more focused on the "how" of rewards - and how they don't fit with this new mind economy. However, he does make allowances for those situations where behaviors can be codified and attached to specific rewards. His new book doesn't eliminate rewards for specific tasks - but severely limits their applications.