Five Minds for the Future (Leadership for the Common Good) by Howard Gardner

We live in a time of relentless change. The only thing that's certain is that new challenges and opportunities will emerge that are virtually unimaginable today. How can we know which skills will be required to succeed? In Five Minds for the Future, bestselling author Howard Gardner shows how we will each need to master five minds that the fast-paced future will demand: The disciplined mind, to learn at least one profession, as well as the major thinking (science, math, history, etc.) behind it The synthesizing mind, to organize the massive amounts of information and communicate effectively to others The creating mind, to revel in unasked questions and uncover new phenomena and insightful apt answers The respectful mind, to appreciate the differences between human beings - and understand and work with all persons The ethical mind, to fulfill one's responsibilities as both a worker and a citizen Without these minds, we risk being overwhelmed by information, unable to succeed in the workplace, and incapable of the judgment needed to thrive both personally and professionally. Complete with a substantial new introduction, Five Minds for the Future provides valuable tools for those looking ahead to the next generation of leaders - and for all of us striving to excel in a complex world. Howard Gardner cited by Foreign Policy magazine as one of the one hundred most influential public intellectuals in the world, and a MacArthur Fellowship recipient is the Hobbs Professor of Cognition and Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Review ....the author has put his finger on some vital attributes needed by professionals in this hyper-competitive age -- The Financial Times, March 28, 2007 Anyone seeking an intellectual justification for life-long learning should look no further. -- Training and Development, April 2007 It is time for IT Managers to exercise their minds - all five of them -- VNU Business, April 2007 Visionary....Gardner avoids overly-technical arguments as well as breezy generalizations, proving his world-class reputation well-earned. -- Publishers Weekly, April 2007 [Professor Gardner] offers insight into the qualities of thinking that will allow people to survive and prosper in 21st century -- In View, January 2008 a detailed and thoughtful description of the multifaceted brains that are likely to be most valued in the coming decades -- Businessweek, May 7, 2007 [Gardner] is breaking fresh intellectual ground with Five Minds for the Future. -- The Times, 4 April, 2007 An ambitious book... Five Minds is a manifesto, a public declaration about education as it should be. -- International Baccalaureate Magazine, May 2008 improve your mind and ponder afresh how the hell we are going to cope in the future... a delightful book. -- Management Today, May 2007 From the Publisher This welcome book challenges us to ensure our curriculum equips young people for the demands of a rapidly changing world. - Professor Brian Boyd, University of Strathclyde From the Author You are best known for your work on Multiple Intelligences. How do the five minds differ? Multiple Intelligences is the idea that people have not one, but at least eight intellectual strengths--logical, linguistic, musical, visual/spatial, kinesthetic, intrapersonal, interpersonal, and naturalistic--that can't necessarily be assessed with standard psychometric tests. Rather than looking at individual skills that each of us possess, Five Minds focuses on the kinds of mental processes that need to be cultivated for a world that is in many ways different from the one that we evolved to inhabit. Developing these five minds means that people have to continually be out there learning new skills and adding to the way they see the world. The five minds are capacities that people should develop and really must cultivate so that we can all survive--and thrive--in the future.Why these five particular minds? Could the list be extended or changed? The five minds are the kinds of minds that are particularly at a premium in the world of today and will be even more so tomorrow. They span both the cognitive spectrum and the human spectrum--in that sense they are comprehensive and global. I did consider additional minds from the technical mind to the strategic mind to the spiritual mind, but my list is the most useful one for leaders to monitor and for educators to cultivate. How do these different minds work together? They really are interdependent. Let's take a look at the first three: Synthesizing, Disciplined, and Creativity. In order to be a good synthesizer of information, you do need to have a good mastery of multiple disciplines. While a synthesizer cannot conceivably be an expert of every relevant discipline, he or she must know enough about the requisite disciplines to be able to make judgments about whom and what to trust--or to identify individuals who can help make that determination. Mastery of existing disciplines will be necessary, but not sufficient. The creating mind forges new ground. So, synthesizing is not possible without some mastery ofconstituent disciplines--and perhaps there is, or will be, a discipline of synthesizing, quite apart from such established disciplines as mathematics, mime, or management. I would suggest that creation is unlikely to emerge in the absence of some disciplinary mastery, and, perhaps, some capacity to synthesize as well. Can you talk a little about the connections and distinctions between the Respectful Mind and the Ethical Mind? Of the five minds, the ones most likely to be confused with one another are the respectful mind and the ethical mind. In part, this is because of ordinary language: we consider respect and ethics to be virtues, and we assume that one cannot have one without the other. However, I see these as developmentally discrete accomplishments. Whistle blowers are a good example. Many individuals observe wrong doing at high levels in their company and remain silent. They may want to keep their jobs, but they also want to respect their leaders. It takes both courage and a mental leap to think of oneself not as an acquaintance of one's supervisor, but rather as a member of an institution or profession, with certain obligations attendant thereto. The whistle blower assumes an ethical stance, even at the cost of a respectful relation to his supervisor. Which mind should we strive to develop first? Is there a natural hierarchy? There is no strict hierarchy among the minds, such that one should be cultivated before the others. Yet a certain rhythm does exist. One needs a certain amount of discipline--in both senses of the term--before one can undertake a reasonable synthesis; and if the synthesis involves more than one discipline, then each of the constituent disciplines needs to be cultivated. By the same token, any genuinely creative activity presupposes a certain discipline mastery. And while prowess at synthesizing may be unnecessary, nearly all creative breakthroughs--whether in the arts, politics, scholarship, or corporate life--are to some extent dependent on provisional syntheses. In the end it is desirable for each person to have achieved aspects of all five minds for the future. Such a personal integration is most likely to occur if individuals are raised in environments where all five kinds of minds are exhibited and valued. So much the better, if there are role models--parents, teachers, masters, supervisors--who dis play aspects of discipline, synthesis, creation, respect, and ethics on a regular basis. From the Back Cover Gardner's newest book Five Minds for the Future outlines the specific cognitive abilities that will be sought and cultivated by leaders in the years ahead. They include: The DISCIPLINARY Mind: the mastery of major schools of thought, including science, mathematics, and history, and of at least one professional craft. In Business : Continuing mastery of one's professional role(s), including the acquisition of additional disciplinary or interdisciplinary acumen. The SYNTHESIZING Mind: the ability to integrate ideas from different disciplines or spheres into a coherent whole and to communicate that integration to others. The synthesizing mind and its impact on leaders was identified as a breakthrough idea by Harvard Business Review in 2006. In Business : Recognizing new information/skills from diverse realms that are important and then incorporating them into one's knowledge base and one's professional repertoire. The CREATING Mind: the capacity to uncover and clarify new problems, questions, and phenomena. In Business : Thinking outside the box--putting forth recommendations for new practices and products, explicating them, seeking endorsement and enactment; for the leader, formulating and pursuing new visions. The RESPECTFUL Mind: awareness of and appreciation for differences among human beings and human groups. In Business : Working effectively with peers, supervisors, employees, irrespective of their backgrounds and status; develop capacity for understanding forgiveness. The ETHICAL Mind: fulfillment of one's responsibilities as a worker and as a citizen. In Business : Knowing the core values of one's profession and seeking to maintain them and pass them on, even at times of rapid and unpredictable change. A willingness to speak out even at personal cost; recognizing one's responsibility as a citizen of one's community, region, nation, and world and acting on those responsibilities. About the Author Howard Gardner is the John H. and Elisabeth A. Hobbs Professor of Cognition and Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and Senior Director of Harvard Project Zero. The recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship and twenty-one honorary degrees, he is the author of more than twenty books, including Changing Minds, Good Work, and Multiple Intelligences: New Horizons. From the Back Cover Gardner's newest book Five Minds for the Future outlines the specific cognitive abilities that will be sought and cultivated by leaders in the years ahead. They include: The DISCIPLINARY Mind: the mastery of major schools of thought, including science, mathematics, and history, and of at least one professional craft. In Business : Continuing mastery of one's professional role(s), including the acquisition of additional disciplinary or interdisciplinary acumen. The SYNTHESIZING Mind: the ability to integrate ideas from different disciplines or spheres into a coherent whole and to communicate that integration to others. The synthesizing mind and its impact on leaders was identified as a breakthrough idea by Harvard Business Review in 2006. In Business : Recognizing new information/skills from diverse realms that are important and then incorporating them into one's knowledge base and one's professional repertoire. The CREATING Mind: the capacity to uncover and clarify new problems, questions, and phenomena. In Business : Thinking outside the box--putting forth recommendations for new practices and products, explicating them, seeking endorsement and enactment; for the leader, formulating and pursuing new visions. The RESPECTFUL Mind: awareness of and appreciation for differences among human beings and human groups. In Business : Working effectively with peers, supervisors, employees, irrespective of their backgrounds and status; develop capacity for understanding forgiveness. The ETHICAL Mind: fulfillment of one's responsibilities as a worker and as a citizen. In Business : Knowing the core values of one's profession and seeking to maintain them and pass them on, even at times of rapid and unpredictable change. A willingness to speak out even at personal cost; recognizing one's responsibility as a citizen of one's community, region, nation, and world and acting on those responsibilities. About the Author Howard Gardner is the John H. and Elisabeth A. Hobbs Professor of Cognition and Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and Senior Director of Harvard Project Zero. The recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship and twenty-one honorary degrees, he is the author of more than twenty books, including Changing Minds, Good Work, and Multiple Intelligences: New Horizons. About the Author Howard Gardner is the John H. and Elisabeth A. Hobbs Professor of Cognition and Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and Senior Director of Harvard Project Zero. The recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship and twenty-one honorary degrees, he is the author of more than twenty books, including Changing Minds, Good Work, and Multiple Intelligences: New Horizons.