Thinking sideways

March 7th, 2005

Wired magazine published an interesting article Revenge of the Right Brain which I believe reinforces why our soon to be published book Communities Dominate Brands was such a necessary exercise.

Written by Daniel H. Pink and adapted from his book A whole New Mind: Moving from the Information Age to the Conceptual Age

Beneath the nervous clatter of our half-completed decade stirs a slow but seismic shift. The Information Age we all prepared for is ending. Rising in its place is what I call the Conceptual Age, an era in which mastery of abilities that we’ve often overlooked and undervalued marks the fault line between who gets ahead and who falls behind.
To some of you, this shift – from an economy built on the logical, sequential abilities of the Information Age to an economy built on the inventive, empathic abilities of the Conceptual Age – sounds delightful. “You had me at hello!” I can hear the painters and nurses exulting. But to others, this sounds like a crock. “Prove it!” I hear the programmers and lawyers demanding.

Pink’s theory is that we have moved rapidly now through several ages; industrial, information to the conceptual. We have arrived at a point where again there are converging forces at work changing our world, and how we live and work and play in it. Digital economics plays a key role, with the automation of many professions, plus the loss of traditional white collar jobs to Asia, which will only increase through outsourcing.

His point is that today we need to focus on creative rather than process driven strengths. As a means of ‘unique’ economic leverage. Pink calls these “High concept” and “high touch”. Both relate directly to a more creative approach to invention.

This means many industries and professions should rethink what their core values are and, how commercially they will leverage them. How will they go to market? And how will they effectively communicate what we would describe as greater and different manifestations of value? How will they take advantage of what many have described as a paradigm shift?

Pink also argues that the “quest for meaning and purpose has become an integral part of everyday life.”

This means people are changing, changing how they buy and, what they consume. Marketing was built upon an industrial age model, today that model no longer works as it used to. And we know there are some in our industry that are working hard to discover what that exactly means.

Pink’s views might seem light years away from what many practice today as marketing communications and strategy And perhaps a bit hokus pocus – but from the conversations SMLXL has had both in the UK and the US, it is clear Pink positively adds to the debate about our rapidly changing world.

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