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Abstract thinking leads to greater creativity... But in our businesses and our lives, we often do the opposite. We intensify our focus rather than widen our view.

Daniel H. Pink

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Daniel H. Pink
Age: 60
Born: 1964
Born: January 1
Author
Journalist
Writer
Daniel Pink
Dan Pink
Thinking
Creativity
View
Widen
Views
Intensify
Focus
Businesses
Greater
Abstract
Rather
Opposite
Lives
Leads
Often
Opposites

More quotes by Daniel H. Pink

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Financial firms are sending their back-office jobs overseas. But what do fine artists do? They create something new, unexpected, and delightful that changes the world. MFA abilities are harder to outsource and more important in an abundant world.
Daniel H. Pink
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Typically, if you reward something, you get more of it. You punish something, you get less of it. And our businesses have been built for the last 150 years very much on that kind of motivational scheme.
Daniel H. Pink
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We have this myth that extroverts are better salespeople. As a result, extroverts are more likely to enter sales extroverts are more likely to get promoted in sales jobs. But if you look at the correlation between extroversion and actual sales performance - that is, how many times the cash register actually rings - the correlation's almost zero.
Daniel H. Pink
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A lot of times when you have very short-term goals with a high payoff, nasty things can happen. In particular, a lot of people will take the low road there. They'll become myopic. They'll crowd out the longer-term interests of the organization or even of themselves.
Daniel H. Pink
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I think the more important task for a young person than developing a personal brand is figuring out what she's great at, what she loves to do, and how she can use that to leave an imprint in the world. Those are tough questions, but essential ones. Answer those - and the personal brand follows.
Daniel H. Pink
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In economic terms, we've always thought of work as a disutility - as something you do to get something else. Now it's increasingly a utility - something that's valuable and worthy in its own right.
Daniel H. Pink
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In many professions, what used to matter most were abilities associated with the left side of the brain: linear, sequential, spreadsheet kind of faculties. Those still matter, but they're not enough.
Daniel H. Pink
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As Carol Dweck says, “Effort is one of the things that gives meaning to life. Effort means you care about something, that something is important to you and you are willing to work for it. It would be an impoverished existence if you were not willing to value things and commit yourself to working toward them.
Daniel H. Pink
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Empathy is about standing in someone else's shoes, feeling with his or her heart, seeing with his or her eyes. Not only is empathy hard to outsource and automate, but it makes the world a better place.
Daniel H. Pink
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The future belongs to a very different kind of person with a very different kind of mind - creators and empathizers, pattern recognizers and meaning makers.
Daniel H. Pink
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It's a question we all ask ourselves. What have we done lately? It rattles us each birthday.
Daniel H. Pink
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For artists, scientists, inventors, schoolchildren, and the rest of us, intrinsic motivation-the drive to do something because it is interesting, challenging, and absorbing-is essential for high levels of creativity.
Daniel H. Pink
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The monkeys solved the puzzle simply because they found it gratifying to solve puzzles. They enjoyed it. The joy of the task was its own reward.
Daniel H. Pink
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The misuse of extrinsic rewards, so common in business, impedes creativity, stifles personal satisfaction and turns play into work.
Daniel H. Pink
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The billable hours is a classic case of restricted autonomy. I mean, you're working on - I mean, sometimes on these six-minute increments. So you're not focused on doing a good job. You're focused on hitting your numbers. It's one reason why lawyers typically are so unhappy. And I want a world of happy lawyers.
Daniel H. Pink
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Today it’s economically crucial and personally rewarding to create something that is also beautiful, whimsical, or emotionally engaging.
Daniel H. Pink
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All of us want to be part of something bigger than ourselves, something that matters.
Daniel H. Pink
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Goals may cause systematic problems for organizations due to narrowed focus, unethical behavior, increased risk taking, decreased cooperation, and decreased intrinsic motivation. Use care when applying goals in your organization.
Daniel H. Pink
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I happen to be extremely left-brained my instinct is to draw a chart rather than a picture. I'm trying to get my right-brain muscles into shape. I actually think this shift toward right-brain abilities has the potential to make us both better off and better in a deeper sense.
Daniel H. Pink
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If you want people to perform better, you reward them, right? Bonuses, commissions, their own reality show. Incentivize them. [...] But that's not happening here. You've got an incentive designed to sharpen thinking and accelerate creativity, and it does just the opposite. It dulls thinking and blocks creativity.
Daniel H. Pink