Daniel Pink – A whole new mind: Why right-brianers will rule the future.

I love this book. It literally changed my life. I may even consider it the best book I read in 2008.

Daniel Pink went to law school and has established himself as a thought leader. He was also Al Gore’s speech writer. I am not sure if he ever practiced law. I was impressed when I emailed him and he responded to me. I follow him closely.

I am also thrilled about the fact that I “discovered” him before Oprah discovered him and had him on her XM Radio show. If you subscribe to Oprah’s XM radio show on Itunes, you will see her interview with him.

Why is this book important to me? In 2008, I made a drastic change in my life. I closed out my law practice and started to coach full time. I have been a coach for about three years but I decided to plunge fully into coaching the earlier part of the year, after I read this book.

I was researching books on how the brain works and this is one of the books I found.

Basically, he says that Abundance, Asia and Automation are changing the world and tilting success towards those with artistic and empathetic abilities. He even points out that the new MBA’s are the MFAs. He says that Abundance gives us so many choices that we have no choice but to be more discriminating. He says that with outsourcing of jobs to Asia and Automation replacing many jobs, that employees have to contribute more to the job. His solution is that we should all include right brain abilities in our work so that we can distinguish ourselves and make our work input more valuable.

One very important example he gave, which applies to lawyers of course, was a litigation support company that drew great visuals for courtroom cases. This is the type of thing that could not easily be outsourced to Asia or easily Automated.

He says that design, story, symphony, empathy, play and meaning are all critical skills that we should develop to compliment the left parts of our brains.

When I read this book, a light bulb went off in my head as I realized my frustration with the practice of law. I realized that my right brain was screaming for expression in my work. I love reading and researching concepts and I particularly experience “flow” when I synthesize information and make new connections that create new meaning.

What a joy!

Once I had that epiphany, that I was actually starving my brain, I made the decision to close out my office. Of course, the economy helped usher that in faster than I could have imagined. Nevertheless, it was one of the best decisions I have ever made.

The power of storytelling is something that I use with my clients and in my classes. It is a powerful tool that activates all the senses and all the parts of the brain and increases learning. I also understood design at work, innovation at work is what will make a company succeed.

We are going to hear a lot more from this thought leader. f

Please pick up your copy of this book. And read it. It is also out on audio.