Recommended Reading . . . "A Whole New Mind"

Time to share one of my favorite books of recent years. It's titled "A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future" by Daniel Pink (www.danielpink.com). What does this have to do with business intelligence (BI)? Answer: it explains the benefits of combining left-brain (analytical) and right-brain (creativity) thinking in a fun, quick read.

Here's a book description from Dan's web site: "The future belongs to a very different kind of person with a very different kind of mind. The era of "left brain" dominance, and the Information Age that it engendered, are giving way to a new world in which "right brain" qualities - inventiveness, empathy, meaning - predominate."

There are so many important ideas in this book. Some are obvious . . . we live in an age of abundance and knowledge workers at lower cost are now plentiful overseas. The book offers valuable insight on how we in America can compete, differentiate ourselves and retool for the future. First and foremost, unlocking your right-brain creativity will be a deciding factor in this success.

Let me extend Mr. Pink's ideas and state that a BI professional needs to develop both sides of their brain. The most valued people are those who can understand complex analytical requirements (left-brain alert!) while empathizing with others and developing creative solutions to business problems (right-brain alert!). Sounds like the job of a BI expert to me.

For Star Trek fans, left-brain is pure logic (Mr. Spock). Right-brain is pure emotion (Scotty). Why not a combination of both (James Tiberius Kirk anyone?). Become the leader to which people gravitate. Adopt the correct mindset going in and help the corporate "Enterprise" reach its BI goals.



The author provides a very brief description in this short video (worth one minute and twelve seconds of your time): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syo6ecgclR0.

Your comments are appreciated.

Amazon link to book:
(http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=A+Whole+New+Mind&x=0&y=0)