Chad M. Barrett

I've had three books sitting on my desk, unread, for the longest time. I pick one up, read a few pages, then switch because I think that another book is more relevant at that moment. Switching between these books, along with my failure to read everyday (or even some weeks), means that all three have gone unread for better than half a year. (That's not something I'm proud of by the way.) As I prepare to make reading a priority (again), I thought I'd share a brief description of each book.

Leading Out Loud is the book I am currently carrying around. This book, by Terry Pearce, talks about authentic communication.

I picked up Drive sometime before Christmas last year. Drive is now third on my reading list. This book, by Daniel Pink, talks about motivation.

Leading Change was handed to me this past spring. I started reading Leading Change and then put it down when I decided to finish reading Leading Out Loud. This book, by John P. Kotter, talks about leading groups through the change process.

If these books don't suit your fancy, the catalystspace blog wrote an entry earlier this month titled What Are the Top 5 Books Every Young Influencer Should Read? You know it's a pretty good list when the first book is The Bible.

What's on your reading list? Let us know by leaving a comment.

Yesterday I continued reading A Whole New Mind by Daniel H. Pink. The author’s premise is that the world is moving from the Information Age, where left-brained analytical thinkers are coveted, to the Conceptual Age, where right-brained conceptual thinkers will be coveted. Throughout the book the author draws from his understandings of "briskly efficient high tech companies" in order to illustrate differences between the Information Age and the Conceptual Age. Yesterday, as I read, I couldn't help noticing that his contrasts resonated with me. Until yesterday I hadn’t thought to stop and think about why this is so.

I have a career that will change as we move from the Information Age to the Conceptual Age. I see my career as one that will flourish in the Conceptual Age. However, after thinking about this yesterday, I have begun to believe that the author’s illustrations may not resonate with everyone. Not everyone has a career that was born out of the Information Age. Not everyone has a career that will change as the world changes. Some people have careers that one could say are "age independent," like a doctor.  Others may have a career that is "not of this age," like a farmer. I wonder if someone with an age independent or not of this age career were to pick up this book whether the author’s premise would so easily resonate.

If you have read A Whole New Mind and have some insight, please leave a comment.

Reference

Pink, D. (2006). A whole new mind: moving from the Information Age to the Conceptual Age. New York, NY: The Penguin Group.

The world is moving from left-brained thinking to right-brained thinking. The United States and some other countries are relying less on logical sequential thinkers and relying more on creative and empathetic thinkers. This is the premise of Daniel Pink's book A Whole New Mind. I started reading this book over the past week and, as I read, I began to wonder whether this transformation is taking place. I soon began to realize that the answer is yes.

I see in my life and work the transition Pink described. I am being asked to explore tough questions and to find creative answers. I am being challenged to think about more than function, but to also embed the function in a beautiful form. And, once in a while, I am taking a moment to create by writing for this blog. These activities are challenging my creativity and my ability to get others on my team to express that creativity for themselves.

So, I believe that Daniel Pink is on to something. I think that we are being challenged to creatively answer serious questions in our lives and in our work. I wonder whether you see what Daniel Pink and I are seeing.

REFERENCE

Pink, D. (2006). A whole new mind: moving from the Information Age to the Conceptual Age. New York, NY: The Penguin Group.