Unlike themes at some conferences, the second ABA Winter Institute's theme--how to differentiate independent stores from the competition--ran authentically through most presentations, discussions and events held during the meeting. Noting that books are sold in more places than ever and that even the most loyal indie customers buy on average only eight out of 20 books at independent stores, ABA CEO Avin Domnitz articulated the importance of the focus. Differentiation, he said, allows independent booksellers to "create added value so that transactions take place in your store and not online or somewhere else."

For many of the 500 booksellers in attendance, the highlight of the Winter Institute programming was the plenary session featuring Daniel H. Pink, a contributing editor at Wired, chief speech writer for Al Gore for several years and author of A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the World (Riverhead, $15, 9781594481710/1594481717), who offered a broad context for how booksellers might differentiate themselves. With the humor and timing of a standup comedian, Pink discussed the serious ideas at the core of his book--that the future belongs to "a different kind of person with a different kind of mind: designers, inventors, teachers, storytellers--creative and empathic 'right-brain' thinkers." His message was that booksellers, the best of whom we think combine left- and right-brain qualities, might well rule if not inherit the world. Addressing a ballroom full of ABA members, he said, "A lot of you already do these kinds of things. The world is slowly tilting in your direction."

Until recently, he said, professions like law, business, engineering and accounting provided economic stability and at least "a smidgeon of respectability." But for several reasons, the logical, linear, sequential thinking and analysis required by those professions, while still "absolutely 100% necessary," is no longer sufficient. For one, work that is "routine" and can be done faster, cheaper and better by computer or in other parts of the world is disappearing from the U.S. One example: "except for Sarbanes-Oxley [which mandated new accounting standards], accountants are this generation's blue color workers," Pink said. Indian CPAs make $500 a month and have taken on some accounting work that used to be done here, but more critical is the software alternative. "TurboTax is the accountant killer," he calculated. Last year some 21 million people did their taxes on the program.

At the same time, despite "disgraceful" levels of poverty in the U.S., the current "middle-class standard of living is breathtaking by historical and global standards." Yet while prosperity has increased dramatically in the past 50 years, levels of satisfaction and feelings of well-being have "barely budged," surveys have shown. Pink called this "the satisfaction gap" and said it is "the biggest thing going on in this country today.

"A huge number of people, the kind who go into your stores, have been liberated by prosperity but are not satisfied and are using money and time to seek satisfaction, purpose and significance," he continued. This explains why "the biggest-selling book of the last 10 years" is The Purpose-Driven Life by Rick Warren, and why Oprah is so popular. ("Oprah is about living the best life.") This is also why 15 million people practice yoga and 10 million meditate--things that were "on the fringe" in the 1950s. "We are witnessing the democratization of the search for meaning," Pink went on.

Baby boomers, who last year started turning 60, are feeling this yearning acutely. Pink emphasized that these baby boomers' needs represent "perhaps the largest business opportunity of the next few decades."

The growth of wealth also has led companies to offer products that are more than merely functional. "Even the more mundane, utilitarian objects are turned into esthetic objects," Pink said. Because many products cannot be distinguished technologically and can't compete on price ("a downward death spiral," as Pink called it), they distinguish themselves by their look and feel. As an example, he brandished a $14 flyswatter designed by Philippe Starck. "Every offering in the marketplace is a combination of utility and significance in different portions," Pink stated, swatting for emphasis.

More and more companies are recognizing the importance of right-brain values, Pink said. Some medical schools are teaching empathy and encouraging students to look at patients "in the way a painter or sculptor would." (Sometimes training for the latter includes actually looking at works of art in museums.) Bob Lutz, the head of General Motors, who is "not a touchy-feely dude," has said that GM is in "the arts and entertainment business" and that cars are "essentially mobile sculptures." When hiring employees, Steve Jobs, founder of Apple, looks for "social skills and a good drawing portfolio." Procter & Gamble's head, A.G. Lafley, said that the huge consumer goods company is "in the design business." Today big companies recruit at art and design schools. "The MFA is the new MBA," Pink stated.

The search for meaning has also led to "a proliferation of organizations that are not only-for-profit enterprises," he said. They want to "help the world and make money." Examples include energy and social entrepreneurs. "You can position bookselling like this," Pink continued. "People will pay a premium for this."

Other qualities that are becoming ever more important: the abilities to see the big picture, to recognize patterns and to draw. Booksellers can use "your stores as platforms to liberate these abilities," Pink advised. One option is literally to learn to draw, which enables people to "learn to see." He recommended Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards.

"Story" is another area for opportunity in the new economy. "Facts are ubiquitous and free," Pink said, but "putting facts in context and delivering them with emotional impact" is becoming a major way of differentiating companies and products in the marketplace, particularly when the product or service is a commodity. He praised Two Brothers Winery's Big Tattoo Red wine, whose label has a story about how the two Batholomaus brothers who sell the wine are donating 50 cents from the sale of each bottle in honor of their mother, who died of cancer. "It's a perfectly fine wine, and I buy it again and again," Pink said.

Commodity sellers like Jet Blue and American Express have collected stories from customers, which have proven very popular. "If those kind of products elicit stories from customers, I think books can do that, too," Pink advised. Bookstore customers can "tell stores of finding perfect gifts and books that changed their lives. These are things that the chains and Amazon are not doing."

Empathy has become more important, too. The computer chip company Altera has spent $11 million on empathy consultants to help its sales force "to empathize with customers and their problems." More and more companies want their employees "to see the world from the customers' point of view, to see their issues, to see how they see the world." Booksellers are naturals at this.

Playfulness, laughter and humanity are also prized in the new economic world. Pink emphasized that what people are doing for meaning are "things people want to do." For example, a lawyer may spend the weekend trying to write a screenplay or novel or an engineer or accountant will do volunteer work but "you won't find someone whose day job is a sculptor doing other people's taxes for fun."

Speaking from the left side of his brain, Pink concluded that the shift toward right-brain qualities has huge implications "in your businesses and in your customers' lives."--John Mutter