Will Right-Brainers Rule The Future?

Now that we're in the 21st Century, can we tell what changes are occurring from the 20th Century that is now behind us? Can we predict what will change? What jobs and careers will develop that didn't exist before? What skills will we need?

The transition from the 19th to the 20th Century saw many changes. We changed from an Agricultural Age to a new Industrial Age -- making steel, cars, heavy industry. In more recent decades, we moved into an Information Age -- workers off the assembly line, now sitting at a computer monitor.

Currently, the emphasis in many jobs is on the logical, linear, analytical -- Left-Brain thinking. In the future, will companies begin to give equal importance to our Right-Brain abilities, which are more intuitive, creative and empathetic?

That's the theory behind a great book that I am re-reading:

A WHOLE NEW MIND

Why Right-Brainers Will Rule The Future

Written by Daniel H. Pink

Pink explains it all much better than I can, but let's see if I can cover some basics. He refers to the era we're entering as The Conceptual Age.

Computers are good at doing logical, sequential work. And many computer programming jobs are easy to outsource. But it is harder to outsource creativity, inventiveness and design.

While logical, linear thinking is still important, it's no longer enough. Creativity, design, and seeing the big picture are also valuable.

We tend to value the logical, left-brain as being the smart, more important side. The creative, artsy right-brain, has often been thought of as silly, or not as important. But that may be changing. For example, they have found that a well-designed hospital room that uses certain colors, can actually help people heal faster. So, perhaps good design is not silly.

For my own selfish reasons, I hope this theory is correct. The many jobs I've held over the years have mostly utilized my left-brain abilities (organization, administration, common sense). But if I could also use my right-brain skills (writing, art, design, inventive ideas) it would be so much more interesting and enjoyable. Most positions want you to pick one or the other, especially in large corporations, where they like to categorize and pigeon-hole people.

This book was written in 2005. In the last 5 years, I wonder if the author has started to see this change taking place in many companies... any companies? Change always takes time, and if we're in the midst of it, we may not realize it's changing until sometime in the future, as we look back. I hope it is happening. It would be nice of we could introduce more artistry, creativity, empathy, storytelling and play into our work days, wouldn't it?

Free Art, Museum Day, Sat. Sept 26

Sponsored by Smithsonian Magazine, a selection of museums nationwide will be open for free this Saturday, Sept. 26. Go to their website:

http://microsite.smithsonianmag.com/museumday/

Search for the list of participating museums (listed by state, or zoom the map into your area and check the marked locations). Then complete some basic information, print out your Museum Day Admission Card, and take it with you to the museum of your choice.

Enjoy a free day at a museum near you!

Ceramics at the OC Fair

The Orange County Fair in Southern California is in its final week, ending August 9. I have volunteered a few days at the Ceramics area, in Crafters Village. There are people throwing pots on the wheels, but since I don't know how to do that, I'm demonstrating hand-building, and have worked on some small sculptures. Here's a picture, (not my best look, but oh well) on a night when I worked on a tree, a tiny bust, and in my hand... is a clay hand. The hand looked a bit creepy actually, looked kind of real... Now I have to decide if I will have these fired to make them permanent.

I have one more shift to work, this Friday afternoon, August 7. It's been fun, chatting with fairgoers about art and clay and various things. It's interesting how many people stop and say, "I used to do that, back in high school." I have encouraged them to try to find time for creative projects, but everyone seems so stressed about finding time. It's understandable, but it's a shame. Kids like to stop and look, since it's basically playing with mud. One boy asked me, "What if you make a mistake?" I said, "That's okay, it doesn't matter. You do make mistakes, and you just keep going." He looked a little shocked, actually. I guess we're so focused on doing things "right", whatever that is, that I think it keeps people from doing creative things. Somewhere in my readings about art, it said you had to be willing to do a lot of bad art, so I try to remember that and just keep going. I think it is the key to doing anything creative, to not worry about everything being perfect... or even good... but to just keep going. It's often easier said than done.

Working on art at the Fair in front of people can be difficult. It's intimidating, especially when you're just starting, and you have a blob of clay in front of you. People pause and look, puzzled, trying to figure out what on earth you're making. Another lesson I learned at some point is that in a situation like this, you have to just not care. And I mean that in the most positive way possible. You can't worry about what people are thinking, you just have to keep going. Even if, as happened the other day, you're working on a sculpture of a woman dancing... and several people think it's a chicken.

Bad design

Why is there so much bad design in the world? I am puzzled by the design of some new shopping centers/malls near me.

Giant shopping centers with only one way in or out, not enough parking, streets that don't make sense and take you around in circles, stores in a mall spread out so far apart you literally have to drive from one store to another, and if you do try to walk, you take your life in your hands, because they have no areas for walking. You shouldn't have to go a dozen times before you can figure out the best way in and out of the place.

Maybe the design looked nice on paper, but I wonder if the men who designed them (I'm guessing men... may not be fair, but that's my guess) have spent any time actually shopping in any large malls. They're not designed for convenience and ease of use, that's for sure. After a try or two, I now avoid going to these places, (as do others I know) which I'm assuming was not their goal, at least from a marketing standpoint... let's make it so difficult and irritating, that no one will want to go there!

Certainly not the most important problem in the world, but, if you were designing a shopping center, wouldn't you try for convenient ... instead of annoying?

What is Cafe Marian?

I'm all over the map, racing to keep up with the creative monkeys who are spinning around in my head!

Okay, that starts to sound like some sort of psychological problem, but there is so much in the world to see, fascinating new things to learn and interesting new places to explore. I've never been very good at concentrating on only one thing for very long. The world seems to want us to specialize, but that's hard for me. I get bored and restless.

After years of living in my left brain (that practical, rational, analytical, logical place where most of us reside), I'm working to spend more time in my right brain (creativity, inventiveness, intuitiveness, empathy and joy). I believe the key to it all is balance. Balance seems easy enough, but the trick is finding the balance point that works for you. And beware, that point is constantly moving, so when you lose your balance... and you will... readjust and keep on going.

So, here we are, at Cafe Marian, a gathering place where I can write and share the stories I find that are interesting, smart, amazing, fascinating, genuine, amusing, impressive, clever, inventive, creative and fun.