"Left-Brained" thinkers need not apply.

The big buzz in education these days is about the shift from the Information Age to the Conceptual Age. Slowly but surely, the era of "left-brain" dominance: lawyers, accountants, engineers, information systems-- is going the way of the dinosaurs. Jobs of the future will be dominated by a different kind of mind: designers, inventors, composers, teachers, storytellers, poets- creative "right-brain" thinkers.

This revolution is like those self-check out kiosks at the grocery stores: we've been hearing about them for some time, but until they actually showed up in your local Ralphs many doubted that they'd replace clerks' jobs. Now, more and more I am beginning to see fewer and fewer clerks at the registers. And, whether you love or hate the direction that self-service check-out lanes are headed, you have to admit that the technology is more prevalent than half-price sales these days.

From a global perspective, the recent surge in outsourced tasks has transformed the way that US companies do business. Don't believe me. Call up your local customer service representative. So, why am I publishing this post?

I think that it is well worth the investment and research for today's parents to recognize that this shift is well on the horizon. As an educator and parent of children who will be entering into this new work force, I sense the urgency to at least make myself aware of these new trends. I've been reading this book by Daniel H. Pink called A Whole New Mind. At best, Pink address the problems that the Western world is facing: opulence, Asia, and computerization.

While the six aptitudes that Pink prescribes in his book for our Western culture's waning ability to survive in the global market aren't a great fit, he at least raises the right questions sounding the alarm of the coming shift. Wether you realize it our not, our children's futures are espoused in this dialogue.