During this winter break I have revisited one of my favourite books “Drive” by Daniel Pink. Published in 2011, the book provides insight into how to create high performance and increase satisfaction (at work, at school and at home). He puts forward the case for the human element (motivation) and our need to “direct our own lives, to learn and create new things, and to do better by ourselves and our world”.
For me here are some key learnings gleamed from a quick revisit to his book:
- We need to prepare our children for their future, not our past.
- It is the skills that the various professions require that we should be instilling in our learning delivery in school
- Right brain thinking is just as important as left brain thinking.
- Three key forces (Asia, automation and abundance) shifting the abilities to deal with the global economy..
- Automation: Last century machines replaced our physical work, this century software is replacing our thinking work (left side of brain thinking – facts, financial analysis, )
- Abundance: Give something you didn’t know you were missing
- Develop new metrics: Are the new right brain qualities measurable?
- Need to move to install STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths) into the pedagogy – thinking, artist skills, connect technical skills
- The power of asking questions supersedes the vending machine delivery of recalling right answers.
- Arts education has gone from ornamental to fundamental –writing across the curriculum, music across the curriculum.
- Literacy/numeracy are stepping stones for great teachers to help support higher level learning.
It would be useful for leaders to take stock of what is motivating staff and to weave some of the many strategies contained in Daniel Pink’s Book into the new year strategic plan. Happy reading!
(PS. To help you further understanding this era we are travelling through, read Mark Treadwell’s “Whatever! The Conceptual Era & the Evolution of School v2.0″. It will help you tremendously.)
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