Applied Organizational Studies—Gardner Exercise

 

For this unit, you are to have read Howard Gardner’s Five Minds for the Future (Cambridge, MA:  Harvard Business Press, 2008).  You could do this assignment by jumping to Chapter 7 at the back of the book and using the tables there to structure your answer.  But that would be a b-i-g mistake, because to really understand those tables you need to have read each of the chapters that explains them (and Gardner is an easy read—you can knock off a chapter in 45 minutes or less).  And you would be cheating yourself—this assignment is designed to help you think about your own self—your strengths, and your weaknesses, but above all your blind spots (those things you don’t even know enough to wonder whether they are weaknesses).   

 

So, here’s the assignment:

  • On five separate sheets of paper, consider where you are at in your development in each of the five minds.  List examples of performance/activity, both in the educational sphere and the workplace. Also, list instances (in your own life or in that of others around you) of  “psuedoforms” (as Gardner calls them—blind spots, I’d call them) of this kind of mindfulness.  Finally, write a “memoir” of key moments along the way in your development of this form of mindfulness.  .
  • On yet another sheet of paper, create a matrix which lists your KSAs down the left column and each of the five minds across the top row.  In each of the cells, write a brief statement of how the particular KSA and Mind relate to each other.  Make two copies of this matrix.  In the first, highlight (circle, mark in Bold or in colored typeface, etc.) the cells that you consider to be most important for your future success (one type of highlight for success in life, another for success in your career).  In the second, highlight (circle, mark in Bold or in colored typeface, etc.) the cells that you consider to be the most significant barriers to your future success (one type of highlight for success in life, another for success in your career). 
  • Finally, write a reflection on how you will use this information to prepare yourself for future success.