Customer Reviews

Five Minds for the Future

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I have read and reviewed all of Howard Gardner's previous books and consider this, his latest, to be the most valuable thus far. In it, he identifies and explains five separate but related combinations of cognitive abilities that are needed to "thrive in the world during eras to come...[cognitive abilities] which we should develop in the future." Gardner refers to them as "minds" but they are really mindsets. Mastery of each enables a person:

1. to know how to work steadily over time to improve skill and understanding;

2. to take information from disparate sources and make sense of it by understanding and evaluating that information objectively;

3. by building on discipline and synthesis, to break new ground;

4. by "recognizing that nowadays one can no longer remain within one's shell or one's home territory," to note and welcome differences between human individuals and between human groups so as to understand them and work effectively with them;

5. and finally, "proceeding on a level more abstract than the respectful mind," to reflect on the nature of one's work and the needs and desires of the society in which one lives.

Gardner notes that the five "minds" he examines in this book are different from the eight or nine human intelligences that he examines in his earlier works. "Rather than being distinct computational capabilities, they are better thought of as broad uses of the mind that we can cultivate at school, in professions, or at the workplace."

The "future" to which the title of this book refers is the future that awaits each of us. That is, Gardner is not a futurist in the sense that others such as Ossip K. Flechteim, Bertrand de Jouvenel, Dennis Gabor, Alvin Toffler, and Peter Schwartz are. If I understand Gardner's ultimate objective (and I may not), his hope is to help as many people as possible -- regardless of their age, gender, and circumstances -- to cultivate their minds by taking full advantage of any and every opportunity available to them; moreover, to do all they can to enrich and then sustain the same process of cultivation initiated by others.

He concludes his book as follows: "Perhaps members of the human species will not be prescient enough to survive, or perhaps it will take far more immediate threats to our survival before we can make common with our fellow human beings. In any event the survival and thriving of our species will depend on our nurturing of potentials that are distinctly human." Some may view these comments as being naïve but I do not. On the contrary, I view them as an eloquent assertion of what is imperative, yes, but also as a sincere affirmation of what is possible.

In case you haven't noticed, the world is going through a seismic change. No one can say what the human experiment will look like on the other side, but I think we may reasonably conclude this --- the badly educated will suffer.

And by "suffer" I don't mean the old chart that shows you how much more a college graduate earns over the course of a lifetime than a high school grad.

In this new world, a college graduate who lacks what Howard Gardner calls "multiple intelligences" will be in the same boat as the high school dropout collecting an hourly wage at Jiffy Lube.

So a book that outlines the kind of smarts the future will require --- and reward --- automatically merits our attention. And we read more closely when the author is Howard Gardner, who has made a career of this subject at Harvard and collected a MacArthur Prize Fellowship along the way.

Who needs the "five minds" that Gardner discusses in this brief (167 pages), jargon-free book?

Well, you, for starters, because knowledge is expanding exponentially each year and if you are not actively engaged in some kind of lifelong learning, you are condemning yourself to the glue factory.

And, of course, your kids, because as sure as "the children are our future," they must learn to survive in a world far more demanding than ours.

So without conscious, continuing, multi-disciplinary education, it looks grim for you and your kids.

What "minds" does Gardner say you need to master?

1)The disciplined mind. Learn at least one discipline --- a ten-year process --- or you're "destined to march to someone else's tune."

2)The synthesizing mind. As information floods in, you need to connect, understand and evaluate information from disparate sources.

3)The creating mind. So you can break new ground.

4)The respectful mind. "Intolerance or disrespect is no longer an option."

5)The ethical mind. So you can work for more than self-interest and improve the quality of life for all.

Why these five and not others? Because, says Gardner, these minds are at a premium now. Their scarcity suggests they're likely to be even more highly prized in the future.

Wait a minute: Isn't our problem that we're falling behind in science and engineering? Shouldn't we be launching a national campaign in the province of hard data? Nope, Gardner says. That's "a trap into which many enthusiasts of globalization fall." And then --- how cool is this? --- he dismisses America's favorite guru, Thomas Friedman, in a phrase.

The well-rounded mind, the fully engaged life --- that's Gardner's grail. These are not new ideas. What's new is the notion that your personal survival depends on multi-disciplinary learning.

Gardner is a smart teacher. He tells stories, tosses off anecdotes, quotes Major Minds. He throws off ideas --- like, a society obsessed with creativity would be cutting its own throat: "History suggests that the 'hotter' the creative center, the more rapidly it is likely to spend or extinguish itself."

Gardner describes the contours of each mind, but there's a maddening quality to his book. You want it to be a "how to" guide. Instead, it's a call to action. I can easily understand why --- the country is in crisis, and a lot of that crisis has been deliberately manufactured by people motivated more by personal gain than societal good. You don't have to be a blogger to want to attack this culture; now we have an academic taking his turn.

If Gardner is short on specific answers, I do feel he's got the general picture: You need to know something about everything, the arts matter at least as much as the sciences, and doing right is a way to do well. To that, add one more idea: This broad, humanistic education is something you're going to have to do for yourself --- and something you're going to have to create for your kids.

Feel like taking a nap? Understandable. But consider what Gardner says is at stake.

Master only one discipline, and you and your kids "will not be able to succeed at any demanding workplace and will be restricted to menial tasks."

Don't learn to synthesize knowledge, and you and your kids will be "overwhelmed by information and unable to make judicious decisions about personal or professional matters."

Don't maximize your creative capabilities, and you and your kids will be "replaced by computers."

Don't learn respect for others, and you and your kids won't be worthy of others' respect --- in fact, you will "poison the workplace and the commons."

Don't live ethically, and you and your kids will help to create a planet you won't want to live on.

Okay, so Gardner's heavy-handed. Maybe that's what it takes to get Americans to understand that no one is going to rescue us, no public program will prepare our kids for life. You can do worse than read this book --- and then begin the process of saving your loved ones and yourself.

I will admit it; I chose this book by its title as I was looking for some insight into the types of skills required of the next generation. Five minds for the future (FMFTF) projects the observation that there are five types of intelligence or Minds out there. This observation and the classification of these types of intelligence is Gardner's claim to fame. The types are:

The Disciplined Mind - one that knows something and has mastery over a subject. Such mastery takes 10 years to develop. Here Gardner separates rote knowledge with being able to think deeply about what you are doing. This is a great point and one that more executives need to take into account as it is a major difference between people who are good individual contributors and those that make great managers. Gardner believes that the disciplines worth learning are by in large academic in nature, paying little attention to other disciplines or types of acquired knowledge.

The Synthesizing Mind -- one who knows how to sort through information, identify seminaries and trends and produce a big picture? Gardner points out that this skill is becoming more important given the flood of information and conflicting information that is the status quo of a modern connected society.

The Creating Mind -- one who is able to generate new things, see from new perspectives and formulation new ideas. Here represents a reversal and a revolution as creativity was often suppressed in the past and reinforced with rote learning etc. Now Gardner points out that creativity is key to individual and societal survival. He also points out that it is possible to create creativity in individual - this is a significant departure from other work that believes creativity is an inherent rather than learned trait.

The Respectful Mind -- one who is tolerant of differences and respects the ideas, opinions and values of others rather than thinking of them in terms of stereotypes etc. We need a mind that is able to get along with all of the diverse groups in global society. This mind should have been named the tolerant mind as that is the form of respect that Gardner discusses as being required because conflict now poses the possibility of destroying the planet.

The Ethical Mind -- one who views their role at work and as a citizen, acts consistently with that and strives toward good work and good citizenship. Here Gardner talks about his research into `good work' or those that do 'good' in difficult situations. It is interesting that this discussion recognizes but gives little credit to other institutions that support ethical behavior such as religion.

Gardner's contention is that the five minds are not mutually exclusive of each other and in fact one mind may be strengthened by the other. The book also goes into a light discussion of the genesis and development of each type of mind. While I have not issue with these different types of intelligence, this is where Gardner's book goes off the track for me.

Many of the prior reviews give great praise to the book in terms of its basis for education. This makes sense as Gardner is an educator and education, development specialist. Unfortunately from this reader's perspective one of the more elitist people I have read in a long time. Gardner's book is rooted in the Western tradition of secular humanism that pays limited attention to skills and knowledge not developed in the western tradition, nor gives credit to other institutions besides educational ones.

Overall I walked away informed but disappointed. As a business reader looking to understand the types of intelligence we need to build on our teams, Gardner's work on discipline, synthesis and creativity were most helpful. In discussion the other two minds, Gardner seems more preachy, less accurate and narrow in his thinking and definitions that I expected from picking the book up. I was looking for tools I could use and found none.

He has recommendations, particularly in terms of recommendations for the education system. For example, create respect by putting students into different groups, foster creativity through supporting exploration and allowing discussion, etc. His business based references are particularly thin, offering the names of companies or individuals as proof of his point (e.g.: talk about creativity and mention Jack Welch) I had expected more since the book was published by Harvard Business School Press. I was looking for a business book, not one predominantly about education policy and approach.

This is not a business book but can be helpful to leaders looking to understand the mosaic of minds required to be successful. This is an education policy book which is fine, but the book provides limited bridging to be of great value to business organizations. One can see how educators would be drawn to its messages as the education system is hailed as the bastion and protector of society and culture. However, Gardner's scant attention to other institutions such as business, the corporation, religion, etc weakens his arguments.

Gardner points out that the current education system is failing and the world is changing so fast as to require a radical revolution. I believe that this is true but there is more to society than one institution (academia) and there was more I was looking for in this book that I did not find.

After reading an excellent review prior to purchase the book disappoints as it is written at a level that would appeal mainly to academics. One needs to sift through a heap of difficult reading to get to the few gems that the author reveals. It is clearly obvious that the author is an incredibly gifted researcher but the material doesn't 'reach' the average reader who I believe should be the target for the book. Academically excellent but fails to meet the target audience

Howard Gardner, Hobbs Professor of Cognition and Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, is a psychologist and author known for his theory of multiple intelligences. Application of his theory, especially for education, has been controversial. But I think his latest book, Five Minds for the Future, is a must read for technology professionals.

His thesis is that, "...vast changes that include accelerating globalization, mounting quantities of information, the growing hegemony of science and technology, and the clash of civilizations," requires, "capabilities that, until now, have been mere options." He describes "Five Minds," or cognitive abilities that will command a premium in the years ahead:

1. The Disciplinary Mind -- the mastery of major schools of thought (including science, mathematics, and history) and of at least one professional craft.

2. The Synthesizing Mind -- the ability to integrate ideas from different disciplines or spheres into a coherent whole and to communicate that integration to others.

3. The Creating Mind -- the capacity to uncover and clarify new problems, questions and phenomena.

4. The Respectful Mind -- awareness of and appreciation for differences among human beings and human groups.

5. The Ethical Mind -- fulfillment of one's responsibilities as a worker and as a citizen.

While the book is not directed specifically at technology professionals, I found much of what he said echoed characteristics of the most effective people I know: deep domain expertise, intellectual curiosity, creativity, global perspective, knowledge of and respect for diverse cultures, and teamwork. It is and will continue to be possible for anyone with a few of these characteristics to succeed in technology, but I believe those who excel and assume positions of leadership will exhibit all of these abilities.

The learned ancient Greeks were fascinated by what an ideal education would involve. Why? They hoped to apply that education to the kings of the era and to create a better society through the leadership of the kings. That ambition came closest to being fulfilled through Alexander the Great, who became a highly effective conqueror and spreader of Greek ideas and values.

Professor Gardner takes up this challenge once again in perceiving new challenges for modern people that will be more difficult to meet in the future. I suspect that his vision is, in part, aimed at the same goal as the ancient Greeks except as executed through the leaders and most prominent citizens of a republic employing democratic principles.

In a break from his prior focus on multiple intelligences, Five Minds for the Future emphasizes five methods of thinking that he hopes to see integrated into individuals. These methods of thinking are based on:

1. Mastering an important subject matter (such as history, math, or science) and staying up to date through application of the discipline's method of thinking. This is quite different from knowing the facts of the discipline.

2. Being able to integrate large quantities multidisciplinary facts and apply them into one's work.

3. Posing new questions, developing new solutions to existing questions, stretching disciplines and genres in new directions, or building new disciplines.

4. Being open to understanding and appreciating the perspectives and experiences of those who are different from the individual.

5. Doing one's work in an ethical way that reflects responsibilities to others and society.

What does this boil down to as a problem? Basically, most people never get as far as mastering one important discipline. They just memorize whatever is needed to pass tests. Professor Gardner's own work documents this problem. As a result, we face a hollowing out of our civilization as most people lack the ability, education, or interest to do more than function in an everyday living fashion. Beyond that, some of those who can perform a discipline are tempted by treasure or fame to stretch the rules and not honestly perform.

If we step back another few feet, there's an implicit vision of a future that's led by a smaller and smaller number of people as a percentage of the world's population. It will be easier for rot to set in at the top. In addition, the rewards for those people will grow exponentially . . . tempting those of limited ethics to falter.

I think the risk is a genuine one, and I applaud Professor Gardner for penning this book. I hope he will follow it with more books that spell out more about how to educate others and ourselves (after we leave school as students) so that these goals are achieved.

I have a few quibbles that I mention only in the spirit of sparking an awareness of what's needed. Peter Drucker taught me that the educated person should learn enough about a new subject each year to appreciate and be able the discipline involved. I found that suggestion missing from this book. Without that bridging method, I suspect we'll just end up compartmentalized from one another.

In addition, I think that some areas of public responsibility lend themselves to combined perspectives that encompass these minds more efficiently than by keeping them separate. For example, the advanced leader who is good at accomplishing continuing business model innovation will be able to cross these five boundaries and many others . . . simply by knowing one discipline. I suspect that other fields also lend themselves to such new integrating disciplines.

I also found that Professor Gardner mischaracterized the meanings of many of the business examples he cited. He does, however, do a fine job of summarizing what academics have written about business. I suggest that he have someone who is more familiar with business than he is help with checking such examples in future books. I realize that this book is published by Harvard Business School Press, but editors of books don't necessary have mastery of the facts within the subjects they edit.

Bravo, Professor Gardner!

I am deeply impressed by this book, not least because it is presented in a very clean and easy to read and absorb form. My first note on this book says "Ref A: VITAL to the 'long war.' He NAILS it. THIS is the future if we can simply absorb his wisdom."

I especially appreciate the author's early emphasis on how this book, his work, is a "values enterprise." He pays dues regard to E. O. Wilson, whose book Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge answered the question "why do the sciences need the humanities," and whose later work, The Future of Life helped me conceptualize the need for an Earth Intelligence Network, a non-profit that will create both the EarthGame (trademarked by Medard Gabel) and the World Brain online.

This book focuses on five different uses of the mind, not different minds. It is an interdisciplinary work, bridging across the sciences and the humanities--indeed, multidisciplinary might be a better term

The five minds, with a few notes (there is NO substitute for reading the book in full) are:

1. Disciplined Mind. Incremental mastery over time, at least ten years, of a proven process for discovery and analysis.

2. Synethsizing Mind. Handles information overload. No standards yet, a DNA spiral of multi-disciplinary perspectives whose diversity is accepted and then integrated. Includes narratives, taxonomies, complex concepts, rules & aphorisms (I had to look the later up: distinctions concisely stated), metaphores, images, and themes, as well as embodiment without words, theories, and metatheories.

3. Creating Mind. Breaks new ground ahead of the artificial intelligence of automation. Influences both individuals and groups, stems from both individuals and groups.

4. Respectful Mind. Brokers differences, applies primarily to the arts and group interaction. This is best manifest in the Native American tradition of passing the talking stick and not ending a dialogue until *everyone* agreed with the outcome.

5. Ethical Mind. Beyond the self, understands the value to the group of ethical behavior (a Nobel Prize was awarded in the 1990's for a person who demonstrated that trust lowers the cost of doing business; now we are finding that ethical revelation of the "true cost" of goods and services against the Earth will allow us to create infinite wealth and sustainable peace by eliminating the fraud, waste, and abuse characteristic of many governments and corporations.

The author offers across the book a clear link between these five uses of the mind, and the need to revisit education in the large (see also online, Derek Bok on "Reinventing Education" and Robert Steele on "Reinventing Intelligence," in Forbes ASAP. He states that we MUST revitalize education because:

01 What we are doing now is not working.
02 World conditions are changing fast (I forget which book, but was most impressed to learn that changes to the Earth that uses to take ten thousand years now take three--we need real-time science IMMEDIATELY, because the UN now says we have only seven years in which to stop the growth of emissions).
03 Science converted into tecehnology without values is dangerous.
04 Desperate need for continuing education. I totally agree, and go further; we need to end competitive rote education, teach team learning, and test all professions at least every two years, with continuing education being mandatory.

The author, although he presented the five minds in a different order, concludes that they should be taught from infancy in this order:

01 Respectful Mind.
02 Disciplined Mind.
03 Synthesizing Mind.
04 Ethical Mind.

I am inclined to believe that Ethical Mind needs to be second. If people can see the value of team learning and the greater value of the commons when shared, then their displined mind will take a different path.

I like this book so much I am adding it to my CEO reading list (on Amazon, the list is called Collective and Commercial Intelligence).

None of us can read all books, but this is one book that I am also inclined to add to my "Top Ten Books of All Time." This book is the roadmap for saving the planet by recognizing, as Thomas Jefferson did, that "A Nation's best defense is an educated citizenry," and that in this day of extremism and fundamentalism, we have our work cut out for us. It will be easier if our next President has adopted this book as part of our roadmap back to civilization, morality, and sanity.

Some other books I noted in relation to this one:
Orbiting the Giant Hairball: A Corporate Fool's Guide to Surviving with Grace
Group Genius: The Creative Power of Collaboration
Out of Control: The New Biology of Machines, Social Systems, & the Economic World
Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution
Global Brain: The Evolution of Mass Mind from the Big Bang to the 21st Century
Revolutionary Wealth: How it will be created and how it will change our lives
The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty Through Profits (Wharton School Publishing Paperbacks)

Howard Gardner is well known for his development of a theory of multiple intelligences (in contrast to the simplistic notion of a single intelligence measurable by something like IQ). In this book, he goes a step further by describing five "minds" which he believes will need to be cultivated in order for individuals and groups to flourish in the future. This cultivation will require substantial reform of our educational systems, will need to continue for each individual as a lifelong pursuit, and will need to be balanced (in the best liberal arts tradition) in a way that encompasses the arts and humanities along with the usual mathematics, science, and technology.

In my opinion, Gardner's proposed five minds pass the basic test of being reasonably distinct from each other. It could be debated whether additional minds need to be added, but I think that they cover plenty of ground, and are at least an excellent starting point. The five minds can be summarized as follows:

1. The Disciplined Mind has mastered the distinctive ways of thinking associated with a scholarly discipline, craft, profession, or other practice. The resulting expertise goes well beyond the erroneous or inadequate approaches laypeople would employ, and often involves the ability to conceptualize problems in multiple ways. Such mastery doesn't generally come naturally and therefore typically takes about a decade of steady effort to develop, followed by continued education and practice to maintain it; coaching and mentoring can be a big help in this regard.

2. The Synthesizing Mind is skilled in drawing information from various sources and organizing it in sensible ways, making useful connections while avoiding false or unproductive ones. Since we tend to operate in domain-specific ways and are driven toward specialization, synthesis doesn't come naturally, but we yearn for it. We often achieve it in the form of narratives, taxonomies, complex concepts, rules, aphorisms, metaphors, themes, theories, metatheories, works of art, etc. Interdisciplinary work explicitly aims for synthesis.

3. The Creating Mind breaks new ground by putting forth new ideas, new ways of thinking, unfamiliar questions, and unexpected answers, and then ideally also gaining their acceptance by others. Not surprisingly, creators are much rarer than "mere" experts and have traits like willingness to deviate from the crowd, perseverance in the face of difficulties and failures, comfort with turbulence, and eagerness to continue pushing boundaries (even after achieving success). But creativity isn't simply a result of individual "genius," since sociocultural context can also play a large role.

4. The Respectful Mind recognizes and accepts the diversity among individuals and groups and thereby shows tolerance and the ability to collaborate effectively with others. Ever-intensifying globalization makes development of the respectful mind an imperative.

5. The Ethical Mind ponders one's work and society's needs at a more abstract level than the respectful mind, and then finds ways to go beyond self-interest and instead also serve others. Ethical work is "good work" in the senses of being of excellent quality, responsible to the community, and engaging in a way that provides meaning.

Gardner does an excellent job in this book of fleshing out the five minds and illustrating their importance. He does this by drawing on his formidable erudition and giving a wonderfully diverse range of great examples. His writing is also exceptionally clear and the book is very well organized. As a result, I found it very easy and enjoyable to read.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in their own personal development and continuing education, the education and development of their children, service to society, and the welfare of the world. This book has made me an appreciative fan of Gardner and I look forward to reading his other books. Also, readers who like this book may also want to check out Secrets of a Buccaneer-Scholar: How Self-Education and the Pursuit of Passion Can Lead to a Lifetime of Success by James Marcus Bach.

Howard Gardner is a man of many minds. The Harvard psychologist, MacArthur "genius grant" recipient and prolific author started a revolution when he claimed that human capability couldn't be reduced to a single metric. Rather than accepting IQ as the whole story of cognitive capacity, Gardner said people have "multiple intelligences," a notion he popularized in his 1983 book Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligence. Twenty-five years later, Gardner is still producing influential work on human mental skills and capabilities. In this clear, eminently useful book, Gardner describes five cognitive capacities that he predicts will be in most demand in the future and which everyone should practice. While he describes them metaphorically as "minds," these forms of thought are neither wholly innate nor immutable. All people can, through diligent practice, cultivate their disciplined mind, their synthesizing mind, their creative mind, their respectful mind and their ethical mind - and they should. Given accelerating technological change and vast increases in the flow of information and the necessity of working closely with many different kinds of people worldwide, getAbstract is of a mind to recommend this book to managers who are trying to think ahead.

There is no doubt that Howard Gardner is highly intelligent and a deep thinker. He has done a considerable amount of research, study, contemplation and reflection on what sort of thinking will be necessary for the future of man. It does not take much study or research to come to the conclusion that our current lifestyle is not sustainable. But as noble an effort as Gardner has undertaken, he did not write this book for the average reader. In fact, his style of writing almost guarantees that the average reader will not put it on their reading list.

I picked one page at random and typed it into a word processing program and then had the program measure the readability using the Flesch readability scale. That page scored a 29%. For the average reader to comprehend what they are reading, it should score above 60%. This style of writing, with the long and often complex sentence structure makes for slow reading.

Gardner, like most highly educated professors, writes in the language that his peers will understand and accept. Unfortunately, the average person will spend too much time looking up obscure words or simply give up.

I believe Gardner is correct in that our educational policy is doing a poor job at present and unless some changes are made will fall farther behind in the task of developing students who are capable of developing the five minds of the future.

The five minds which Gardner advances are: the disciplined mind, the synthesizing mind, the creative mind, the respectful mind and the ethical mind. He does a good job of pointing out the recent cost to society of failure to develop and maintain disciplined and ethical mind in business. He cites the examples of Enron and Arthur Andersen.

There is no doubt that the message is vitally important. My problem with the book is not the value of the content but what I see as the failure to communicate in a way that will make the ideas and information useful to a larger audience.