Future Think

HOT READS FOR THE PRACTIONER

Title: Five Minds for the Future (book)

Competencies: Adaptability, Strategic Problems Solving, Interpersonal Sensitivity/Empathy, Oral Presentation, Technological Leadership, Change Management, Visionary Leadership, Decision Making

Who benefits: This book will be useful to practitioners who derive their work from the concept of multiple intelligences and especially EQ.

Consultant Usage: For the creative practitioner, there are new tools to be developed to measure these cognitive abilities.  For the rest of us, it is a good read to stay current on what is important in human development.

What’s it about?  Tis the time of year when many of us look ahead, make plans, set goals, maybe even dream a little.  So too it may be a good time to look into the future at the next stages of human development. 

For as long as I can remember my heroes have been in the field of human resource development and I admit to looking to their bodies of works for inspiration.  If I had to put someone right at the top of the list, I think I would go with Howard Gardner, author of this book.  What Gardner has given us, more that anything else, is research to back up theories of multiple intelligence.  He has freed us from the notion that IQ is everything.

In a phrase, there is more than one kind of “smart”. 

Harvard-based Gardner’s research and earlier writings have greatly influenced the current trends in human resource development.  His books Frames of Mind (1983) and Multiple Intelligences: The Theory in Practice (1993) serve as data mines for Daniel Goleman’s blockbuster Emotional Intelligence (1995) and all that ensued.

Goleman generously acknowledges Gardner’s contribution to the field and to his own work. 

This 2006 book by Gardner departs significantly from his other works.  Up until this book he has primarily been descriptive in reporting his research and synthesizing others’.   This book, while retaining significant descriptive portions, has a very prescriptive flavor. 

What he is saying is that employees in the future must have 5 specific cognitive abilities if they are to excel in their professions.  For those who don’t have the inclination to read the whole book, I will take the liberty to quote the “five minds”:

· The disciplinary mind – mastery of major schools of thought (including science, mathematics, and history) and of at least one professional craft;
· The synthesizing mind – ability to integrate ideas from different disciplines or spheres into a coherent whole and to communicate that integration to others;
· The creating mind – capacity to uncover and clarify new problems, questions, and phenomena;
· The respectful mind – awareness of and appreciation for differences among human beings; and,
· The ethical mind – fulfillment of one’s responsibilities as a worker and a citizen 

In his final chapter he sums up the 5 “minds of the future.”  His writing is clear, concise and straightforward.  Unfortunately it is such an easy chapter to read that readers may think, “Hey, that’s just common sense.”  I don’t think it is such common sense or we would have put his ideas to practice years ago.  No, I think it is excellent writing that deserves to read and thought about.

For practitioners who find this book of interest, there is still another stage to go and an adventure to be had for the creative mind.  Gardner stops at “What needs to be done.”  Someone out there is likely to make a fortune when they figure out “How to do it.”  Have a great new year. 

[tags] multiple intelligence, EQ, IQ, future think, howard gardner, daniel goleman, cognitive abilities, the human mind, management education, leadership development, leadership education, bill bradley, william bradley [/tags]

Bill Bradley

Bill Bradley (mostly) retired after 35 years in organizational consulting, training and management development. During those years he worked internally with seven organizations and trained and consulted externally with more than 90 large and small businesses, government agencies, hospitals and schools.