This book is answering such questions as: 1) What sort of thinking the Conceptual Age demands; 2) Why thinking this way is so important; 3) How to develop your capacities in this area. Moving from the Information Age to the Conceptual Age? Pink?s reasoning about the forces shaping this new age is striking in its simple rigor, as are the questions he offers that let you check how ready you and your business are for the economy that is emerging.

From the Informational Age to the ?Conceptual Age?
?Right brain? and ?left brain? are different hemispheres of the same brain, with different functions. Depending on who is talking, one is good and one is bad Of course, both are good and highly necessary.

A few things are true about the division in your brain. First, the left brain controls the right side of the body. Second, the left is better at sequential thinking, while the right is better at simultaneous thinking. So your left brain is stronger at recognizing individual symbols, but your right brain processes items where the whole composition is crucial, such as facial recognition. Third, while the left brain focuses on the text, the right focuses on the context. Left brain handles the literal meaning of a spoken message, but the right tunes in to nuance and connotation. Fourth, your left brain focuses on details while your right brain puts them together into a larger picture.

Why does this matter? ? because you?ve been living through a transformation that parallels society?s shift from an agricultural base to an industrial one, or from the Industrial Age to the Information Age. During the shift to the Industrial Age, people tot better at making things via machinery ? first through creating items, then through organizing them for mass production. One machine, the computer, dominated the shift to the Information Age. As people got better at processing information, the ?knowledge worker? stepped forward. These workers are gifted at left-brain ? or ?L-Directed? ? thinking, they improved computers so much that these machines became better at logical, sequential, detail-oriented thinking than people are.

There is lots of real life examples showed tat computers had become better than humans at L-Directed Thinking (e.g. the legend of John Henry, the powerful laborer who died defeating a stream-powered drill; chess grand master Garry Kasparov?s defeat by ?Deep Blue?, and IBM supercomputer). This should shift our attention to areas where computers are not and will not be superior: right-brain processing or ?R-Directed Thinking?.

Because computers and machines in general are also driving social and economic changes by creating mass abundance through mass production. Last one is driving down the price of most items while increasing their quality. If automation has not replaced a worker?s job, it probably can be outsourced to some place where it can be done more cheaply. All of those above should concern any businessperson to ask below question for him/herself:
- Can someone overseas do it cheaper? Or Can a computer do it faster? - If ?yes? to either, your profession will be transformed or eliminated;
- Is what I?m offering in demand in an age of abundance? ? If your work depends upon R-Directed Thinking, you can say, ?yes.?

R-Directed Thinking will augment, but not replace, left-brain, logical thinking. So in additional to high tech, you need to integrate ?high-concept and high-tough? elements to distinguish your work. ?High concept? means making your product beautiful, recognizing new patterns and potential market niches, and synthesizing ideas or items from apparently unconnected disciplines. ?High touch? means you add the human touch: empathize with others, and try to provide joy and a sense of meaning.

A range of professionals and business people are beginning to see this need. Masters of Fine Arts (MFA) programs are booming, as more companies seek individuals with such degrees, hiring their creativity and skill in synthetic thinking over the purely business (and more L-Directed) sill of many MBAs. Don?t wait for these changes to work their way through society to you. Instead, develop your R-Directed Thinking skills by working on six ?high-concept and high-touch? attributes that will be central to the Conceptual Age: ?Design. Story. Symphony. Empathy. Play. Meaning.?

Design.
Every child is an artist, and draws, paints and signs. However, as children grow older, they learn not to be artistic. You may have encounted this attitude in business, the sense that design is essentially frivolous, something you add after you plan a product?s function and development. Now, design is taking a central place. Now, design is taking a central place. In an age of abundance, you can?t rise to the top with high quality and low prices alone. Make your product beautiful, unique and recognizable. You want it to do more than just get the job done; you want consumers to feel proud to buy it. In the Conceptual Age, everyone must think in terms of design.

To start to develop your design talents, carry a notebook devoted to design and make notes of any item of striking design. Pay attention to good design, and figure out why it appeals to you. Note bad or irritating designs, and brainstorm ideas to fix them. Finally, choose beautiful things and display them appropriately.

Story.
Previously it was difficult to get information, but computers have changed that. Now most people in the world have access to information. Therefore, to stand out, you need to present your information in an accessible, pleasing fashion that sticks in people?s memories. The best tactic is using stories. Business units that must persuade people ? such as sales or marketing ? have always used stories, but now that use is expanding. Businesses are starting to use ?organizational storytelling? to explain their histories and their employees? experiences, although this approach doesn?t show up well in metrics. Doctors now use stories in diagnosis and healing. Real estate agents tell stories to sell homes and weave homebuyers into new communities.

To develop your skills in this area, write stores. You can start with small ones, line 50-word ?mini-sagas? about facets of your life.

Symphony.
In this context, ?symphony? refers to the ability to assemble different elements into a larger whole, perhaps even one as complex and beautiful as a musical symphony. In business, you use symphony when you cross boundaries. The prefix ?multi-? is a good signal that you will need symphony, from personal multi-tasking to designing a multi-cultural organization.

To develop your skills, listen to great symphonies by notable composers. Notice how the different elements of the music fit together. A lighter way to develop this skill is to sample magazines you don?t usually read. Flip through the pages, and let yourself find ways this new material connects with your life.

Empathy.
When you empathize, you put yourself in other people?s shoes and see the world through their eyes. This requires paying attention and opening yourself up to people?s small cues about what?s really going on inside their thoughts and emotions. Unlike other new Conceptual Age skill, which work individually, empathy works with and amplifies other aptitudes. E.g. you will design more effectively for other people ? and better fulfill their needs ? if you feel what they are feeling.

To develop empathy, study facial expressions, since people communicate a lot of emotion that way. Try to volunteer or go different places to meet a lot of new people.

Play
When you want your employees to be creative, fun is an asset. Some companies are committed to fun, which they see an essential part of doing things well. Successful managers are more likely to try humor to make things go more smoothly in the workplace. Sharing jokes or any sort of fun help create unity.

To develop play, try to play with cartoons ? find one, cover the caption and then try to write an appropriate replacement, either alone or with friends. And of course play games

Meaning
It?s about ability to find meaning in life. Once material goods became widely available, whose who prospered gained the margin to realize that happiness comes from other sources. More people regard spatiality seriously, in their personal lives and in the workplace. People seek meaning at work, and see that aligning that aligning their workplace activities with their deeper ethical values produces greater peace ? and better business.

To find meaning in your life, express gratitude. Thank the people who matter to you for all they have been to you and done for your. Read books that grappled directly with the roots of meaning, and the meaning of life.

by Daniel H. Pink
Riverhead 2005
272 pages