A Whole New Mind

Daniel Pink is a man of many colors, and so he explains how it will be color that employers look for in the years ahead. As mundane tasks begin to be outsourced for cheaper labor, Pink explains how a Master's of Fine Arts is filling more resumes where MBA's were the old standard in "standing out." Today logical, linear, sequential and spreadsheet abilities are essential, but not everything, according to Pink. There are three forces he lists as responsible for tilting the scales: Asia, Automation and Abundance. For one, left-brain tasks are being sold off-shore to the millions of often-times better educated at a fraction of the labor cost. Secondly, automation, as Pink used the example of Turbo Tax, is making left-brain work more rudimized. Lastly, abundance, our country where everything is made on factory belts, is quickly cutting out the unnecessary human chain link where computer can do the job just as well. Using this information as a set-up for his new book, "Drive," Pink further commented on his thesis of a right-brained movement by taking it one step further; how are educators to facilitate right-brained development?
Pink went on to describe the three motivations of humankind. Motivation 1.0 was the primal operating system for humanity that included survival and procreation. We then moved on to Motivation 2.0, which Pink described as 'carrots and sticks,' and is what got us here. Motivation 3.0, which is where we are now, is built around autonomy, mastery and purpose. Autonomy is the urge to be self-directed, mastery is the desire to excel at something we enjoy passionately, and purpose is the human motive for being successful and leadership. In closing Pink described how humans have larger desires and that the science of motivation is in finding grander purposes behind the obvious and mundane. If curriculums can incorporate exercises that stretch the imagination and foster creative thinking, institutions will best prepare their students for the world ahead.