Professional+Reading+Club

Professional Reading Club
This is a new venture... a professional reading club... with the discussion taking place via a wiki. But we welcome employees of the Living Sky School Division to join the discussion and share their insights upon reading Daniel Pink's, //A Whole New Mind//.

Daniel Pink's [|A Whole New Mind] posits that due to //Asia//, (everything that can be outsourced, is) //automation// (many tasks can now be handled by computer technology), and //abundance// (we've moved beyond survival and can focus on finding meaning) there is a real need to utilize more than the left brain thinking skills required for an information age. We must now begin to also utilize the right brain attributes necessary for what he calls the conceptual age.

Pink suggests that survival in a conceptual age requires that we ask ourselves three questions:
 * 1) Can someone overseas do it cheaper?
 * 2) Can a computer do it faster?
 * 3) Is what I'm offering in demand in an age of abundance?

He maintains that high tech is no longer enough and that we need to develop include abilities that are high concept and high touch:

//High concept involves the ability to to create artistic and emotional beauty, to detect patterns and opportunities, to craft a satisfying narrative, and to combine seemingly unrelated ideas into a novel invention. High touch involves the ability to to empathize, to understand the subtleties of human interaction, to find joy in one's self and to elicit it in others, and to stretch beyond the quotidian, in pursuit of purpose and meaning// (pp 51-52)

Join the discussion (button at the top) and respond to the questions below or start a discussion thread with a thought or comment of your own.
 * Discussion Questions**
 * 1) Do you agree with Pink's claim that Asia, automation and abundance will have or is having a profound effect on the way we do business in the world?
 * 2) What left brain qualities are required for your job? What right brain qualities are essential?
 * 3) How do the three A's impact on teaching, learning and schools?
 * 4) Is there sufficient focus in our school system on the abilities of 'high concept' and 'high touch' ?

Alan November Interview Daniel Pink: [|A series of three podcasts] (scroll down the page to start with the first podcast) [|Sir Ken Robinson on TED Talks] Sir Ken Robinson is author of [|Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative], and a leading expert on innovation and human resources. In this video, he makes an entertaining (and profoundly moving) case for creating an education system that nurtures creativity, rather than undermining it.
 * Other Resources**