Thursday, July 4, 2013

It Takes An Village... Thoughts About Five Minds For The Future





It takes all different types of people to create a strong team, a strong organization. A strong country, a strong world community.   We have all seen the person that can take a concept and understand it and then explain it in simple terms.  The person who can take an idea and create something different and innovative. The person that is “book smart” and has the knowledge and expertise in a field of study.  This is the concept that Howard Gardner has expanded on in his research and book Five Minds for the future.  He reviews the concept that organizations of the future must have all five of these types of minds to be successful and compete.  The Five Minds are Disciplined, Synthesized, Creating, Respectful and Ethical.  

The Disciplined Mind – This mind has mastered at least one cognitive scholarly discipline, craft or profession.  This is experience that usually takes at least 10 years of mastery.  This is progressive and is the advancement of skills and understanding in their chosen field of study.  This mind is usually obtained through formal study and education.  Without at least one discipline under ones belt, the individual is destine to march to someone else’s drummer.  Examples of disciplined minds are engineers, doctors, lawyers etc…

The Synthesized Mind - This mind takes information from different sources, understanding and evaluates the information putting it into easy to understand information for both the person and for other. This is an important part of our world today.  With information coming in such large quantities on the internet people that can grasp that information and create understanding for others and themselves can help to education and inform. Examples of these people are Teacher, Writers etc…

The Creating Mind – This mind breaks new ground.  They put forth new ideas, pose questions, have a fresh way of looking at things and arrive at unexpected conclusions. The creating mind is one step ahead of the thoughts of the day. Examples of these people are Artists, Inventors, and Researchers etc…

The Respectful Mind – This mind is a light in this global world.  They welcome differences and individualism.  They try to understand and seek to work effectively with others.  This mind creates the unity in a diverse world and binds everyone together through understanding and acceptance.  Examples of these people are Diplomats, Philanthropists etc….

The Ethical Mind – This mind ponders the nature of the work and the needs and desires of others in society.  This mind is conceptual in looking beyond self-interest and how citizens can work unselfishly to improve life for everyone.  This mind works for the good of all and is not guided by ego.  Examples of this are Activists, Human Services etc….

The minds are not singular to one person and several minds can be a part of the composition of a person but a balanced organization will encompass all of these minds to be competitive in today’s marketplace.   Learning these traits can come in many ways including formal education, mentoring, self-exploration and growth. The concept is a broader sense of intelligence then original thought of and spans the spectrum of human intelligence and interaction. 


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