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Daniel PinkContributing columnistJanuary 29, 2024 at 6:00 a.m. EST(Washington Post staff)Listen5 minShareComment on this storyCommentAdd to your saved storiesSaveHuman read|Listen5 min
Here’s a novel response to our uneasy moment: Let’s spend less time opining about who’s right and who’s wrong and more time imagining what’s possible.
Over the next year, in a column for Post Opinions we’re calling “Why Not?,” I will try to do just that. In each installment, I’ll offer a single idea — bold, surprising, maybe a bit jarring — for improving our country, our organizations or our lives.
WpGet the full experience.Choose your planArrowRightFor example, why not pay public school teachers a minimum salary of $100,000? Why not relocate the U.S. House and Senate to a different city every few years? In our companies, why not create a new job category for people over 65 as mentors to young employees to ease the transition to retirement and prepare the next generation of workers? In our families, why not give presents on our birthdays rather than receive them?
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During these blinkered, polarized times, my aim is to jolt us into widening our view and raising our sights.
This will not be a softhearted exercise. For each idea, I’ll run the numbers and analyze cost and feasibility. I’ll interview scholars, public officials and front-line workers to surface counterarguments and anticipate pitfalls. Sometimes, I’ll visit people and places where versions of an idea might have been tried, to learn from their experiences.
In many cases, you won’t agree with what I’m proposing. That’s okay. In fact, that’s part of our mission.
At the core of the project are three values that have become increasingly scarce — and therefore ever more valuable.
Curiosity over certainty. If you’re seeking uncompromising positions or definitive doctrines, look elsewhere. Here at Why Not? we approach our job differently from the screamers on cable news or even some other columnists. In this corner, you’ll hear a lot more “I wonder …” than “I’m sure …” The world is uncertain. Curiosity and intellectual humility are the most effective solvents for unsticking society’s gears.
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Openness over cynicism. Social psychologists have long found that people who are critical and cynical are perceived to be more intelligent. They impress their peers by announcing why something won’t work. But scientists have also shown that this perception is dead wrong — the cynical genius illusion, it’s called. The more accurate predictor of intelligence and achievement is the trait of openness — being receptive to new experiences and ideas. Cynicism is easy but hollow; openness is difficult but rich.
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Conversation over conversion. When you finish a column, our goal isn’t for you to slam down your phone (or newspaper) and declare, “Pink is right!” The hope instead is that you’ll text a friend or turn to a colleague and ask, “Is Pink right?” And then talk about it. The ultimate dream? That you’ll read what I’ve written and say, “Wait, I’ve got an even better idea,” and then share it.
The column itself is the catalyst, not the culmination, of this project. I’ll offer the first word, not the last one. Our team will encourage you to debate the ideas in our comments section and on social media, of course. But we’ll also invite you to pitch your own Why Not? I’ll even select a few of your ideas and work with you to explore them in print and on video — a genuine collaboration between writer and reader.
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Finally, a few words about me. I grew up in the American Midwest, which means this column will be unfailingly polite. I have a degree in linguistics as well as a law degree, though I’ve never practiced law or worked as a lawyer. Early in my professional life, I worked in politics — mostly as a speechwriter. Over the past two decades, I’ve written seven books about science, creativity and business, which have taken me to dozens of countries and inside hundreds of organizations, laboratories and universities. I’m the father of three, the husband of one and a proud, longtime citizen of the non-state of the District of Columbia. (Wait until you hear my proposal for revolutionizing D.C. traffic flow!)
I’ll draw on this background during the next 12 months as we work together to deliver an adrenaline shot to America’s sedated imagination.
Along the way, maybe we’ll shake up the media business itself. The Post is justifiably renowned for its opinion journalism, explanatory journalism, investigative journalism and more. But we’re inventing a new category. Call it “possibility journalism.”
Why not?
Skip to end of carouselThe Why Not? Project
Help us deliver a jolt of adrenaline to the American imagination!
Share your bold, unexpected idea for improving our country, our organizations or our lives. We read every submission and will select the most intriguing ideas to explore in future columns.
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Here’s a novel response to our uneasy moment: Let’s spend less time opining about who’s right and who’s wrong and more time imagining what’s possible.
Over the next year, in a column for Post Opinions we’re calling “Why Not?,” I will try to do just that. In each installment, I’ll offer a single idea — bold, surprising, maybe a bit jarring — for improving our country, our organizations or our lives.
For example, why not pay public school teachers a minimum salary of $100,000? Why not relocate the U.S. House and Senate to a different city every few years? In our companies, why not create a new job category for people over 65 as mentors to young employees to ease the transition to retirement and prepare the next generation of workers? In our families, why not give presents on our birthdays rather than receive them?
During these blinkered, polarized times, my aim is to jolt us into widening our view and raising our sights.
This will not be a softhearted exercise. For each idea, I’ll run the numbers and analyze cost and feasibility. I’ll interview scholars, public officials and front-line workers to surface counterarguments and anticipate pitfalls. Sometimes, I’ll visit people and places where versions of an idea might have been tried, to learn from their experiences.
In many cases, you won’t agree with what I’m proposing. That’s okay. In fact, that’s part of our mission.
At the core of the project are three values that have become increasingly scarce — and therefore ever more valuable.
Curiosity over certainty. If you’re seeking uncompromising positions or definitive doctrines, look elsewhere. Here at Why Not? we approach our job differently from the screamers on cable news or even some other columnists. In this corner, you’ll hear a lot more “I wonder …” than “I’m sure …” The world is uncertain. Curiosity and intellectual humility are the most effective solvents for unsticking society’s gears.
Openness over cynicism. Social psychologists have long found that people who are critical and cynical are perceived to be more intelligent. They impress their peers by announcing why something won’t work. But scientists have also shown that this perception is dead wrong — the cynical genius illusion, it’s called. The more accurate predictor of intelligence and achievement is the trait of openness — being receptive to new experiences and ideas. Cynicism is easy but hollow; openness is difficult but rich.
Conversation over conversion. When you finish a column, our goal isn’t for you to slam down your phone (or newspaper) and declare, “Pink is right!” The hope instead is that you’ll text a friend or turn to a colleague and ask, “Is Pink right?” And then talk about it. The ultimate dream? That you’ll read what I’ve written and say, “Wait, I’ve got an even better idea,” and then share it.
The column itself is the catalyst, not the culmination, of this project. I’ll offer the first word, not the last one. Our team will encourage you to debate the ideas in our comments section and on social media, of course. But we’ll also invite you to pitch your own Why Not? I’ll even select a few of your ideas and work with you to explore them in print and on video — a genuine collaboration between writer and reader.
Finally, a few words about me. I grew up in the American Midwest, which means this column will be unfailingly polite. I have a degree in linguistics as well as a law degree, though I’ve never practiced law or worked as a lawyer. Early in my professional life, I worked in politics — mostly as a speechwriter. Over the past two decades, I’ve written seven books about science, creativity and business, which have taken me to dozens of countries and inside hundreds of organizations, laboratories and universities. I’m the father of three, the husband of one and a proud, longtime citizen of the non-state of the District of Columbia. (Wait until you hear my proposal for revolutionizing D.C. traffic flow!)
I’ll draw on this background during the next 12 months as we work together to deliver an adrenaline shot to America’s sedated imagination.
Along the way, maybe we’ll shake up the media business itself. The Post is justifiably renowned for its opinion journalism, explanatory journalism, investigative journalism and more. But we’re inventing a new category. Call it “possibility journalism.”
Why not?
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