Presentation Zen [6]
Now, Pink is not saying that logic and analysis (so-called “left-brain reasoning”), which are so important in “the information age,” are not important in “the conceptual age” of today. Indeed, logical thinking is as important as it ever has been. So-called “right-brain reasoning” alone is not going to keep the space shuttle up or cure disease. Logical reasoning is a necessary condition. However, it’s increasingly clear that logic alone is not a sufficient condition for success for individuals and for organizations. Right-brain thinking is every bit as important now—in some cases more important—than left-brain thinking. (The right-brain/left-brain distinction is a metaphor based on real differences between the two hemispheres; a healthy person uses both hemispheres for even simple tasks.)
Particularly valuable in A Whole New Mind are the “six senses” or the six “right-brain directed aptitudes,” which Pink says are necessary for successful professionals to possess in the more interdependent world we live in, a world of increased automation and out-sourcing.
The six aptitudes are: design, story, symphony, empathy, play, and meaning. Mastering them is not sufficient, but leveraging these aptitudes has now become necessary for professional success and personal fulfillment in today’s world. The introduction of the aptitudes that follow on the next page is written with multimedia-enhanced presentations in mind, but you could take the six aptitudes and apply them to the art of game design, programming, product design, project management, health care, teaching, retail, and so on. The slide below summarizes six of the key points found in Dan Pink’s book. (Original images in the slide are from a vector file from iStockphoto.com, file no. 700018.)
Design
To many business people, design is something you spread on the surface, like icing on a cake. It’s nice, but not mission-critical. But this is not design to me, but rather “decoration.” Decoration, for better or worse, is noticeable—sometimes enjoyable, sometimes irritating, but it is unmistakably there. However, the best designs are so well done that “the design” is never even noticed consciously by the observer/user, such as the design of a book or signage in an airport. (For example, we take conscious note of the messages which the design helped make utterly clear, but not the color palette, typography, concept, etc.)
Design starts at the beginning, not at the end; it’s not an afterthought. If you use slideware in your presentation, the design of those visuals begins in the preparation stage before you have even turned on your computer. During the preparation stage, you slow down and “stop your busy mind” so that you may consider your topic and your objectives, your key messages, and your audience. Only then will you begin to sketch out ideas that will appear in some digital visual form later.
Story
Facts, information, data. Most of it is available online or can be sent to people in an email, a PDF attachment, or a hard copy through snail mail. Data and “the facts” have never been more widely available. Cognitive scientist Mark Turner calls storytelling “narrative imagining,” something that is a key instrument of thought. We are wired to tell and receive stories. We are all born storytellers (and “storylisteners”). As kids we looked forward to “show and tell,” and we gathered with our friends at recess and at lunchtime and told stories about real things and real events that mattered, at least they mattered to us.
But somewhere along the line, “story” became synonymous with fiction or even falsehood. So story and storytelling have been marginalized in business and academia as something serious people do not engage in. But gathering from what college students tell me, the best and most effective professors are the ones who tell true stories. My students tell me that the best professors (from their point of view) don’t just go through the material in a book, but put their own personality, character, and experiences into the material in the form of