According to Daniel Pink in this month’s Wired magazine, the logical left brain will soon be playing second fiddle to the creative and empathetic right brain as the engine of the American economy. (I know, it’s not exactly a new theory, but it’s always interesting to see how each version spins out.)
In the excerpt from his upcoming book, Pink outlines why he thinks logic, analysis, sequencing, and other left-brain traits will lose some their luster over the coming decade. In short: outsourcing will increasingly drive such jobs overseas (did you know that by 2010, India will be the country with the most English speakers in the world?); automation (such as TurboTax and legal programs) will make mid-level jobs in such fields less necessary; and the burgeoning excess of the American lifestyle will inevitably leave consumers aching for meaning. Says Pink:
Liberated by this prosperity but not fulfilled by it, more people are searching for meaning. From the mainstream embrace of such once-exotic practices as yoga and meditation to the rise of spirituality in the workplace to the influence of evangelism in pop culture and politics, the quest for meaning and purpose has become an integral part of everyday life.
According to Pink, this new reality will require a new emphasis on right-brain qualities such as creativity, empathy, emotional expression, and synthesis.
To flourish in this age, we’ll need to supplement our well-developed high tech abilities with aptitudes that are ”high concept” and ”high touch.” High concept involves the ability to create artistic and emotional beauty, to detect patterns and opportunities, to craft a satisfying narrative, and to come up with inventions the world didn’t know it was missing. High touch involves the capacity 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.
While the excerpt smacks of hopeful utopianism by a right-brained author, it will be a handy clip to share with your school board, your state representative, your governor, or anyone else who doesn’t see a role for creative experience and expression in the work-a-day world.
