Interview with Daniel Pink

Dan’s New Book

If you haven’t read Daniel Pink’s first book called A Whole New Mind I recommend it. He talks all about ‘us’ – arts educators and the value of learning arts education. I also recommend another book he has written called Drive.

His most recent book is called To Sell is Human: The Surprising Truth About Reading Others. In April Dan will be leading a webinar on Education Week and the topic is “How Teachers Can ‘Sell’ More to Students.” (cost)

The first question and answer in the interview with Larry Ferlazzo for his blog Classroom Q & A:

In your new book, you write that if we’re not actually selling a product in the traditional sense, then we are involved in non-sales selling — persuading, convincing, influencing.

You suggest that teaching has much in common with this kind of selling. You write:

“To sell well is to convince someone else to part with resources — not to deprive that person, but to leave him better off in the end. That is also what, say, a good algebra teacher does. At the beginning of a term, students don’t know much about the subject. But the teacher works to convince his class to part with resources — time, attention, effort — and if they do, they will be better off when the term ends than they were when it began.”

How would you say this perspective fits in with the premise of your last book, Drive, and its emphasis on the importance of helping people develop intrinsic motivation?

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