I really enjoyed “A whole new mind”. The basic premise is that in the past we have placed great value on L-Directed thinking, and that there is huge value in balancing this with R-Directed thinking.
Daniel explains why historically there was so much value on L-Directed thinking, how this type of thinking is easily replicable and that in the future emerging countries will monopolise this field. For instance Software Engineers in India getting paid substantially less than in other parts of the world but still producing relative value for their costs.
Daniel highlights a few areas to develop our R-Directed thinking
- Design
- Story
- Symphony
- Empathy
- Play
- Meaning
The book is in two parts, the first part examines the whole topic. The second part is dividied into each area and examines it in further detail as well as providing exercises and activities to develop them.
The two area that appealed to me the most were empathy and meaning.
This is a great book to “make you think”, especially if you are a software engineer and heavily focussed on L-Directed thinking already.
