Daniel Pink's TED Talk

Daniel Pink talked about many interesting topics and theories during his TED talk. The topic/ theory that I will take most away with me is The Candle Problem. The Candle Problem was an example of functional fixedness, which most people, including myself, suffer from. Functional fixedness is when you are looking at an something, and you automatically think of what it's use is, but don't think of other ways this could be used. Having functional fixedness or thinking in that way is bad because it narrows and limits your thinking. Being creative and clever are required traits to have in the working world these days, and you cannot have them with functional fixedness. The other interesting topic that Daniel Pink talked about was autonomy: "the urge to direct our own lives". This caught my attention because I truly believe that every person has this. I think that everyone in the world has the desire to be in control. If people who are working feel like they have some control over what they are doing, they are going to to better. This, in my opinion, is a brilliant idea and should be practiced in more jobs.

Mr. Pink had some effective speaking and presentation tecniques that he used during his TED talk. Firstly, he used humor to make his speech more enjoyable and entertaining. A second thing Daniel Pink used in his TED talk was a slide show with some visuals. I really liked this and thought it worked well with his speech, because a lot of the stuff eh was talking about would have been nearly impossible to understand without the visuals. Finally, Daniel looked very comfortable speaking on the stage and used a casual tone while speaking. This was important to me because lectures are so much easier to listen to when the speaker looks and sounds comfortable. By including humor, visuals, and being a comfortable presence, Daniel Pink presented a very good TED talk.

Overall, Daniel Pink gave a great TED talk, but I do have one complaint. He kept explaining the theories and topics, but he did not include a call to action. With the topic he is speaking on, I think a call to action should have been given sometime during his speech. His ideas and topics were great, but he never said that we should try to avoid functional fixedness or to try to bring creativity into our everyday lives. Once again, his TED talk was good, but I think that a call to action would have made it better.

Daniel Pink gave a great TED talk about how important thinking creatively is today. He used effective presentation skills and included lots of examples. I really enjoyed listening to his TED talk and have definitely taken away some interesting thoughts.