Several books have been written about the change of the agriculture age (farmers) over the industrial age (factory workers) to the information age (knowledge workers) and conceptual age (creators and empathizers). Just to mention a few : Rolf Jensen The dream society, Richard Florida The rise of the creative class, Pine & Galmore The experience economy or Davis & McIntosh The art of business.
Dan Pink in his book A whole new mind adds an interesting aspect to this debate. Traditionally our left brain part is for facts or ratio; the left part is for context or emotion. Schools (at least my high school) trained or still train the right brain. Facts and figures helped us to understand and control the world. Nowadays left brainers have more success. Pink states that abundance (a wider choice at a cheaper price), Asia (the transfer of left brain work to India and China) and automation (Kasparov being challenged by a computer) gives the Western world more space for right brain thinking.
To survive in the high concept age, one will need six skills :
- DESIGN : design is a skill that is vital to produce experiences, products or services that appeal to the consumers' senses.
- STORY : increasingly, it is being seen that stories are being used by companies and individuals for purposes of selling, inspiring, communicating and persuading.
- SYMPHONY : the ability to see the big picture and put the disparate pieces together.
- EMPATHY : the ability to understand other people and their feelings.
- PLAY : the skill of understanding games, humour and laughter. It helps balancing our lives.
- MEANING : the search for meaning of purpose of life through spirituality, charity or other means.
For a full summary of this book check Compelligence. With a full mind map for the right brainers.
P.S. Dan Pink also refers to a lot of interesting links. Just a few.
Storycorps
Cliff Atkinson, Beyond Bullet Points, Using microsoft powerpoint to create presentations that inform, motivate and inspire.
Make your own font.
