This document provides instructions and prompts for various creative exercises from Daniel Pink's book A Whole New Mind. It includes activities focused on design, storytelling, empathy, humor, finding meaning and work-life balance. Students are asked to summarize passages, come up with captions for cartoons, analyze jokes, interview others about their lives, reflect on gratitude and priorities, and incorporate mindfulness into daily routines. The overall goal is to encourage creative and empathetic thinking using ideas and exercises from Pink's book.

1. The Pink PortfolioIdeas stolen from Daniel H. Pink

2. PINK PORTFOLIODesignStorySymphonyEmpathyPlayMeaning

3. A Daniel Pink ExerciseChannel Your Annoyance

4. “To be a designer is to be an agent of change” – CHAD’s Barbara C. Allen“Design is a high-concept aptitude that is difficult to outsource or automate” – Daniel PinkDesign

5. Choose a household item that annoys you in some way.In a group of 2 or 3, decide which item is most annoyingFor duration of a class period, outline what’s annoying about it, and how you’d change itActivity

6. 2-3 sentences explaining what task(s) the product was intended to be used to complete3-5 sentences explaining your particular problem with the product4-6 sentences of how the product you’ve re-designed is better than the existing productWriting

7. A (set of) drawing(s) of your new productAdditional additions

8. A “Karimanifesto”

9. BasicsPick a profession that you’re interested in joining as an adultFind one or two members of the community in that profession, and ask them:What are 5 things that someone who’sinterested in becoming a(n) _____________should begin to do on daily, weekly, andmonthly bases to work their way into your field?

10. Compile list of pieces of adviceOrganize by Daily, Weekly, Monthly PiecesThen organize in order of perceived (by you) importanceYou should have 15 total (5 for each time frame)How it becomes a manifesto

11. Put It on the Table

12. Find an object that matters a lot to you or holds some special meaning AND find one that doesn’t matter a whole lotPut the item that matters on your desk and explore the following questions:Set-up

13. When you look at or use this object, what does it make you think of? The skill you need to use it? The person who made it? How does this object affect each of your five senses?How do you connect the sensory clues you get from the object to your thoughts about it? What connections have you made?Stuff to think about

14. Now complete the same task with the item that does not matterBIG QUESTION:WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?!?!?!Again

15. PINK PORTFOLIODesignStorySymphonyEmpathyPlayMeaning

16. Mini-sagas

17. A mini-saga is an extremely short storyYours should be exactly 50 words. 50. No more. No fewer.It should still have a beginning, middle, and endSimply write three (3)

18. Tape Recorded Story

19. The BasicsFind a relative, friend, teacher or other person you come in regular contact withTurn on a video or tape recorder and ask a series of questionsInterview should be around 30-45 minutes

20. Ask 10 questions5 from http://tinyurl.com/scquests5 of your own writingMake sure video captures both your question and their answersRequirements

21. Opening Lines

22. Go back through what you’ve read in the past yearIf you’ve owned the books, find the marked sentences that you want(ed) to rememberCompile a list of “great” sentences from the literature that you’ve readPut a star by one, and write one on an index cardWhat to do

23. Choose one of the sentences that you’ve listed and base a story on itStory should run a page or two typedYour story should bare as little resemblance as possible to story it was taken fromWhat else to do

24. You’ll write three stories:One based on the sentence you chose from your listOne based on the sentence you drew from the boxOne based on the sentence you picked from my listDon’t stress over length; stress over contentDon’t worry about perfection; you’ll never get there anywayYou’ll only put ONE into your final portfolioIn the end

25. PINK PORTFOLIODesignStorySymphonyEmpathyPlayMeaning

26. Beethoven’s 9thMozart’s No. 35Haydn’s No. 94 in G MajorListen to how everything works togetherListening to a Symphony

27. Self-portraitPortrait of a neighborPortrait of the fieldYou only get 5 lines5-line Drawing

28. Type a (school-appropriate) word that you find interesting into a search engineChoose one of the first five websites to clickSkim over the material on the initial link to learn about your topicSelect a link from that site, and a link from that site, and so on until you’ve clicked SIX links, making sure to read information on all of the pagesFollow the Links

29. Write a paragraph (6-8 sentences) summarizing the information that you learned about your initial topicsConsider:What you encountered doing this that you wouldn’t have encountered otherwiseIf any patterns or themes emergedWhat unusual connections (if any) you might have encounteredFollow the Links

30. Like “Follow the Links,” but in a dictionaryLook up any noun, and continue looking up words from definitions until you have 6 wordsRecord the train of words, and write a 1-page story using those wordsUnderline the words from your list in the storyFollow the Words

31. Choose a problem from the listIn a group of 5 people, do the following to brainstorm solutionsOne person in your group should be a scribe and the other a directorBrainstorming

32. Go for quantitySet a numerical goal (~30 would be great)Encourage wild ideasThe more outlandish, the betterBe visualSpend 5 minutes on a search engine looking up pictures on your topicDefer JudgmentNo idea is a bad idea, but there are such things as better ideas. Go creative, then get critical.One conversation at a timeRules

33. from:Pink, Daniel. A Whole New Mind. New York: Riverhead, 2005.All ideas stolen

34. PINK PORTFOLIODesignStorySymphonyEmpathyPlayMeaning

35. Tests used to measure empathy and related qualitiesTo serve as an introduction to thinking about your own empathy levelMales tend to systematically go about their lives, whereas women tend to empathetically go about their livesTest Yourself

36. “Male” vs. “Female” brainsFrom Simon Baron-Cohen, 60-question instruments to determine the “gender” of your brainEmpathy Quotient (girls)http://tinyurl.com/dbsd8Systemizing Quotient (boys)http://tinyurl.com/7taj8“Spot the Fake Smile”Ten-minute, 20-question test to see how good you are at differentiating between fake and real smileshttp://tinyurl.com/2u7shTest Yourself cont’d.

37. Pick a place to sit and listen to others’ conversationse.g. Starbucks, Target, the library, your classroom, the lunch roomListen carefully, but don’t intrude on the conversationImagine yourself as one of the participants, and consider:What are you (meaning him or her) thinking and feeling at that moment?What emotions, if any, are coursing through your body?How did you get at this spot at this particular time?Eavesdropping

38. Eavesdropping cont’d.Write date, time frame, and location in your SpirallyNote your considerations in your SpirallyWrite 4-6 sentences about your experienceIn addition to your considerations about the person:What did this experience teach you?How many conversations did you have to listen to before finding the one you wrote about?What if someone were doing this to you?

39. Whose Life?

40. Pair up with another classmate that you DON’T KNOW very wellAsk them about their lives and how they got to Honors World Literature at West Hall High School in whatever grade they areListen to and take notes on story, be ready to tell story to the classPick one of your teachers and ask them the sameHow Did I Get Here?

41. PINK PORTFOLIODesignStorySymphonyEmpathyPlayMeaning

42. Choose two or three of the cartoons from the setWrite a humorous caption about what’s going on in the cartoonAccording to the Cartoon Editor at The New Yorker, captions take “rhythm, brevity, and surprise,” and that:“Most cartoons or funny ideas have this weird combining aspect. It is a conceptual blending and overlapping of categories that the conscious mind resists, but that is absolutely necessary to create new ideas” (Pink 210).Cartoon Captions

43. Write a (school-appropriate) joke in your SpirallyPartner up with someone you don’t know well, and tell them the jokeYour partner should then analyze the joke to discern why it’s funnyAnswer in 1-2 sentences:What makes this joke funny?? What could make it funnier?Dissect a Joke

44. PINK PORTFOLIODesignStorySymphonyEmpathyPlayMeaning

45. Think of someone at West Hall who has been kind, generous, or helpful in a significant wayStudent, teacher, support staff, librarian, etc.In your Spirally, brainstorm some of the ways that person support youAt your computer, type a one-page letter to that person explaining how grateful you areBe specific about what you’re thankful forThe Gratitude Visit

46. In your Spirally, draw a T-ChartHead one side “Wanted Life Changes” and the other side “Obstacles to Change”At the bottom of the chart, connect the two sides with a comma and the word “but”But Out

47. “Exchanging and for but can move you out of excuse-making mode and into problem-solving mode. It’s grammar’s way of saying ‘deal with this’” (Pink 238).Pink also writes that if the technique fails, “you can always say ‘I wanted to make changes in my life, but that exercise in Pink’s book didn’t help me enough’” (238).On the next sheet in your Spirally, go back to each item and replace the word “but” with the word “and”But Out cont’d.

48. Sabbath: a time of rest (m-w.com)Select one day a week and remove yourself from the average busyness Like the “This I Believe” essay, this does not need to be religious, on Sunday, etc.Try this for two weeksWrite a paragraph or two about your experience the day after each sabbath takenTake a Sabbath

49. The mini-sabbathChoose one common act that you commit every dayWalking into 5th period, going to lunch, waking up, etc.Take a “Sabbath pause” and “simply stop, take three mindful breaths, and then go about the activity”Try for a week or so when doing the same thingSabbath alternative

50. In your Spirally, make a list of what is most important to youThink about people, activities, values, etc.Narrow the list to about 5 itemsTrace 2 weeks from the Unit 5 calendar (or some other) into your SpirallyWrite into your traced calendar the days and times that you spent on these itemsCheck Your Time

51. Once you’ve moved your priorities from the list to the calendars, CONSIDER:How many hours can you assign to each of the life priorities?Where have you successfully aligned your values with your time?Where do you find gaps between wants and actions?Always be honest about your assessment, as that will help the mostCheck Your Time cont’d.

52. Choose someone that matters a lot to youDecide what kind of work they would want you to do, accomplishBegin to think of your work as a giftIn 3-4 sentences, write who you’re planning to dedicate this portfolio to, and why.Dedicate Your Work

53. “Live life now as if you’re living for the second time andhad acted wrongly the first time” (Pink, 244).Think of yourself as being 90 years old, and consider:What does your life look like from this point of view?What have you accomplished in your life?What have you contributed to the world in which you’ve lived?Do you have any regrets?Picture Yourself at Ninety