www.pedromendes.com

Abundance, Asia, and Automation

In chapter 02 of A Whole New Mind, Daniel Pink starts by telling about the emergence of the “Knowledge workers”, term coined by Peter Drucker. Their work is based mostly on Left-Directed Thinking (examples are lawyers, doctors, accountants, engineers, and executives). World economy benefited and standards of living got better and better. But nowadays, it seems not to be enough anymore. Right-Directed Thinking will determine more and more who gets ahead. The causes of this shift are Abundance, Asia, and Automation.

Abundance
We moved from an environment of scarcity a few decades ago, to one of abundance. Just take a look at the huge shopping outlets that exist more and more in the Unites States and Europe. This abundance has caused an ironic result, according to Daniel Pink: Right-Directed sensibilities are becoming more and more relevant. Examples of this are the commercial successes of a designer wastebasket, or even a toilet brush. “In an age of abundance, appealing only to rational, logical, and functional needs is woefully insufficient”, says Pink. Things now have to appeal to the soul, for them to have some success. This is because “the result of meaning has become an integral part of our lives”.

Asia
Many “knowledge worker” jobs are being more and more outsourced to Asia, for a fraction of the pay. Fortune 500 companies are outsourcing thousands of job positions to this area of the World.

Automation
Of the examples given to illustrate this fact was Garry Kasparov, the chess grand master. He was undefeated by humans for many years, until he lost against a computer (Deep Blue). The conclusion is that, when it comes to actions based on “rule-based logic, calculation and sequential thinking, computers are simply better, faster and stronger”.
He argues that engineers and programs for example, must acquire more Right-directed aptitudes such as creativity and competence, and focus more on the big picture instead of on the details.

Pink ends the chapter with a question: “So what happens next? What happens to us as our lives get clipped by automation and Asia – and reconfigured by abundance?”
He promises to address that in Chapter 03, and so will I.

This is part of a series of posts I’m doing while reading Daniel Pink’s book A Whole New Mind.

- My Summary of Chapter 01 – Right Brain Rising

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 18th, 2009 at 10:21 am and is filed under English, Professional, Readings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.