Accountants, lawyers, computer programmers and lab technicians are losing work overseas to cheap labour.

And those jobs are gone for good, says Daniel Pink, author of A Whole New Mind: Moving from the Information Age to the Conceptual Age.

In recent weeks, Pink has been hop-scotching North America promoting his book and a theory that is part promising and part frightening (depending on which side of the brain you prefer to use.)

Those cheering his ideas are the "right-brain" thinkers, people with an artistic and empathetic bent. Those shaking in their cubicles may be the very same accountants and programmers losing work, typically "left-brain" logical and linear folks who could become this generation's factory workers.

Photo courtesy of Daniel Pink
Author Daniel Pink says linear-thinking tasks are ripe for outsourcing to cheap overseas labour.

Pink, who speaks in Toronto in June, also penned the bestseller Free Agent Nation. A public speaker and a freelance writer whose work appears in numerous U.S. publications, he also was the chief speech writer at the White House for former U.S. vice-president Al Gore from 1995-97.

These days, Pink makes his own speeches, talking up the three forces that he believes are tipping the scales in favour of right-brain individuals: People such as artists, inventors, designers, caregivers and "big picture" thinkers.

Those key forces are what he calls the "three As": Asia, Automation and Abundance.

In a telephone interview from his Washington, D.C., home, Pink says his books are intended as advice for the individual.

But companies that "get it," he adds, are the ones likely to survive and thrive in a changing world.

"If organizations rely entirely on the sorts of abilities that are easy to outsource, that are easy to automate ... then they are going to be in big trouble."

He presents an interesting case with Asia. White-collar work that can be reduced to a basic formula or routine will eventually be done outside North America, he predicts.

It may take time, but it will happen.

Already, large numbers of U.S. tax returns, certain kinds of legal research, even the reading of CAT scans and X-rays for North American hospitals are being done overseas. In 2003, he saw first-hand how Indian programmers made $12,000 a year for work that routinely earns a Canadian or American $75,000 a year.

Then there's automation. If an Asian accountant or lawyer doesn't steal your job, automation will, he says. Accountants' jobs are being done by speedy software programs such as TurboTax, websites can automate some legal functions at a fraction of the cost, and even certain kinds of diagnostic software are automating the practice of medical diagnosis.

The third factor favouring right-brain thinking is abundance. North Americans are extremely well off, in material terms. In the U.S., self-storage is a $12-billion business because people don't have enough room to house their extra belongings, Pink notes.

We live in a society where many people have all the money they need. Because of that, they are looking for commodities and services that aren't just functional, but rather beautiful, unique and meaningful.

That's where the right-brain thinker comes in. Pink argues the people and companies who create success will use six senses or abilities: The ability to design; to create a narrative; see the big picture; read emotions and empathize with people; bring a spirit of joyfulness to the workplace; and provide a sense of meaning.

Instead of manipulating information, these people spot trends and opportunities. They design artistic and emotionally appealing services and products.

A good business example is the story of the thriving U.S. Whole Foods grocery chain. (Whole Foods operates two stores in southern Ontario and one in West Vancouver.)

In March, Whole Foods opened its new flagship store in Austin, Tex., an 80,000-sq.-ft. all-organic food store that was described by USA Today as a fun, pulsating place where pleasure is woven into every crevice.

The store includes a vendor selling fresh hot doughnuts (with no artificial ingredients), a walk-in beer cooler with 800 kinds of beer and an all'-organic clothing section for adults and kids. Even the store signs are made from an eco-friendly wood-like product made from wheat straw, the newspapers reported.

"The products they sell are carefully screened for environmental sensibilities, which gives some amount of meaning," Pink says.

The company (its website boasts that its employees are well-rounded human beings) takes a holistic approach, sees the big picture and is a big proponent of telling a story to differentiate its product - you'll read about the family farm where the honeynut rice cake ingredients originated, for example.

Another business case cited by Pink is Vista Care Hospices, a publicly traded U.S. company that tends to the needs of the dying.

While it obviously employs doctors, its backbone is its nurses and grief and spiritual counsellors who help the patient and families deal with the process of dying.

Because we live in a rich society, people want more meaning in the course of their life and also in how it ends, Pink says. "It's a company that is being powered by abundance, by this rising affluence, but relies very heavily on empathy."

Google, too, embraces right-brain theory, particularly the importance of what he calls "symphony," or seeing the big picture by combining disparate things into a novel invention.

"They put a big premium on that. Even in work that might be more classically left-brain in engineering and math and so forth, they are encouraging their scientists to take time to explore any project that interests them ... to use their skills of symphony to follow their noses and come up with really cool things."

On an individual level, Pink says that professionals such as accountants have learned, or must learn, that basic accounting is a non-starter.

In order to survive, they need to provide a service that someone overseas cannot do more cheaply, that a computer cannot do any faster and that satisfies some of those "non-material yearnings" in this abundant age.

Successful accountants now offer broader services such as becoming financial planners for a family, business or individual. And they connect emotionally.

"They get a feeling for these people's dreams, get the bigger picture and offer more strategic advice than just crunching numbers."

It's their home-field edge - something a CA in India just can't offer.

Web Watch: www.danpink.com (Mike Dempster can be reached at miked@businessedge.ca)