Reflections on Daniel Pink's "A Whole New Mind"

I started reading Daniel Pink’s A Whole New Mind last summer in preparation for our PG&L assignments for the fall. Immediately, I was intrigued by Pink’s analysis that in order to survive in the new global community, we had to start thinking with more than our left brain. Having started my career in the law, a totally left-brain driven profession if there ever was one, I understood when Pink described our society’s aversion to anything not motivated by the left brain. I too got caught up in that philosophy when I chose law as my career, even though I am basically a creative person, I didn’t place much importance on it. Now, having gone that route and been dissatisfied with it, and chosen a more creative outlet for myself, I agree with Pink that we shouldn’t undervalue the right-brain characteristics any longer, and in fact should embrace them, based on what is happening in the global economy, the future rests with creative right-brain thinkers like designers, teachers, inventors and storytellers to name a few. I felt so strongly about this after reading Pink’s book, that I had a long discussion with my teenage daughter. She is also a very creative person, but her school schedule reflected only left brain honors courses and the basics all schools offer: English, math, social studies and science. Since she was entering 10th grade at the time and her future is closer than I like to think, we discussed what it is she would like to do someday. She revealed that she enjoyed being creative and yearned for a profession in the fashion or publishing industry, something her schedule did not reflect. Based on what I learned in Pink’s book and what I now knew about my daughter, I didn’t feel the need to direct her to the left-brained type of professions like I was steered towards. We immediately called her guidance counselor and changed her schedule to include an introductory art class. She took the course this year and enjoyed it very much and was recommended for a special district program in graphic arts and design. She is now enrolled in this course for her last two years of high school and has also enrolled in a summer course at F.I.T. for high school students. It’s amazing what a simple change to her schedule (inspired by Pink!) to include an art course made to her future plans!
Now to get back to Pink’s A Whole New Mind, I enjoyed reading about all the senses, but Story really spoke to me. I’ve always been an avid reader, and the art of story telling has always fascinated me. I totally agree with Pink that society has overlooked the potential of Story for too long and is only now trying to get back to it. As an educator, we strive to instill good reading and writing skills in our students, but do we ever really explain why this skill is so important? Of course students grow up knowing that they must learn how to read and write in order to survive and progress in a profession, but the impact of Story is never truly explained or explored. Even children learn better when told a “story” about a subject rather than given just a list of facts. The publishing world has begun to notice this too, with more and more “trade” books being published on non-fiction subjects which look more like picture or story books for children.
Pink gives several ideas to enhance and develop Story skills. One I particularly liked and feel would lend itself well to students in a classroom setting is the Mini-Saga. The Mini-Saga is a fifty word short story, and unless you’ve tried to write one, you know this is no easy task! To get your thoughts and points across in just fifty words takes practice and skill and should be taught to law students, since lawyers are some of the most verbose people there are in the world! I wrote a Mini-Saga for my first Pink discussion and I’ll repeat it here (I tend to be wordy too, a throw back to my lawyer days, so I’m proud of this):
A group gathered around the man: wife, children, grandchildren, sister, nephew. Amid tearful goodbyes, he thanked them for being there, prayed with them and breathed his last. His passing came and went, but the blessing of his life remains forever in their hearts; saying so long for now, never goodbye.
This exercise in writing a short story, besides being enjoyable, really brings home Pink’s point that in today’s society, when facts and information are free and immediately available to the taking for almost everyone, the facts themselves are not what are valuable. “What begins to matter more”, says Pink, “is the ability to place these facts in context and to deliver them with emotional impact.” This is the real meaning of the skill of Story and why we are seeing more of it in the worlds of business, medicine and hopefully education too someday. There are many ways for teachers to incorporate the skills of Story into the curriculum, through the Mini-Sagas mentioned above, to digital storytelling (bringing technology into the mix to tell a story), interviews, writing exercises involving great opening lines to photographs for “back story” writing, and oral story-telling. Pink suggests all of these ways to work on improving our talent for Story and I feel all these activities would be appropriate for students in a school setting. Being a librarian, I’ve always believed in the power of a story for instructional purposes, so rest assured I will continue to embrace Story in my future lessons and foster more creative, right-brain type activities in my library media center!