Several people over the last few years have insisted that I read A Whole New Mind-Why Right-Brainers Will Rule The Future by Daniel H. Pink. While I am usually wary about reading books by business gurus sitting atop best-sellers list, I gave in, much like I did with The World Is Flat by Thomas Friedman, (a man I cannot stand) and read Pinks book. I was disappointed in both books and much for the same reasons.

I did not hate it as much as Gary Stager, but I was not overly impressed. As a language Arts teacher I saw nothing new in this book that would help me with the way I teach kids. The ideas and “skills” he is trying to help the reader hone are what English teachers do out of habit and necessity. I don’t need a book to tell me that I need to be playful, empathetic, and creative. These are the very reasons I became an English teacher, perhaps some in a more “left-brained” field needs to be reminded that smiling and laughing are good, but I could do without the pedantic sermon.

The book made some interesting observations, but I was never invested enough to make strong statements either way. This is a typical airport bookstore book, intended to tell people what they already know and make them feel better about this knowledge.

I will say that I really did like his chapter on Design and the importance that good design can and should have on our lives, but the rest of the book reads like a simple self-help book for people who are not aware they can be creative.

Perhaps some corporate square who has wasted his life pursuing material happiness, finds comfort in learning that he too can draw, but this epiphany was not new to me. You can read the book for yourself if you want to, but let me summarize the gist:

Be empathetic, love others, be playful, and synthesis instead of analyze. As a self-proclaimed right-brainer this book was too obvious and repetitive for me.

I did, however, take away this one quote:

When facts become so widely available and instantly accessible, each one becomes less valuable. What begins to matter more is the ability to place these facts in context and to deliver them with emotional impact.