It's Monday! What are you reading?

My family had a road trip this past weekend, which meant I got to dip into my to-be-read pile!  This time it was an educational book for me:

It's been awhile since I've delved into Daniel H. Pink's books, and I had forgotten how personable his writing can be.  When I began the chapter entitled "Abundance, Asia, and Automation", the topics being covered seemed so timely that I checked the date of publication--2006.

Pink asserts that what used to be considered the top of the technology jobs--programming,coding,and the like-- are becoming mundane tasks that are being shipped overseas to capable workers whose countries haven't yet experienced the inflation of abundance, who happily work for pennies on our dollar.  When that job pool drains, what is left?  Pink writes that our once left-brained economy will have to come to terms with right-brain needs--creativity, quality of life, emotional health.  Yes, we will have to possess the technical skills that have made this Information Age possible, but we will need our right brain capabilities to continue to be successful and move forward.

I highly recommend this book to parents, teachers, and young adults who are looking ahead at future careers.  STEM--science, technology, engineering, and math--will only take us so far.  Creative connections--the ability to dream big ideas-- and personal connections--empathy and emotional intelligence--are equally necessary attributes for success in the 21st century.