Reading Outside of the Box
We all understand that siloed thinking is bad. That organizations and individuals do best when they take in a multitude of points of view. At the beginning of our careers, we must focus on the topic we are trying to learn because to start in a new field requires taking in a mountain of new information. To do this, you need to focus solely on your new path and avoid distractors. However, this focus can remain long after it is necessary or beneficial. Before you know it, you are attending only industry events, industry conferences, reading industry newsletters, and your friend group has whittled down to those in your industry.
So how do we escape this silo when so much of life reinforces it? One answer is reading.
The problems we all face do not happen in a vacuum. Often the structure of a problem seen in one area is similar to the problems in another. The economic problems of a farmer are not so far off from those of a product manufacturer. The managerial problems of a high school teacher are not so far off from the struggles of an adult vocational trainer in Lesotho. The personal problems of a homeless person are not so far off from the personal problems of an immigrant. Reading the stories of others gives us a different perspective and provides us with a different set of tools in order to tackle the issues we all face.
Books from other disciplines and perspectives also widen our world. Is it better to have a diverse group of friends with different backgrounds, experiences, skills, and beliefs? Absolutely. But the segregation inherent to our society makes that difficult. Therefore, books provide a window into another world, including worlds that we shake our heads at and make us falsely believe that we could never possibly understand them — but we can. There is little risk that a book will alter your worldview, but there is a high probability that it will expand your understanding and weaken your prejudices.
Despite the divisions in our bookstores between fiction and non, I assure you that reading fiction is just as valuable as reading nonfiction. I know plenty of business leaders who only read business books and view fiction as the cognitive equivalent of a Snickers bar. Not so. Fiction serves as a case study. It is a look at a situation and what one person did or did not do. This is then a situational judgment test for you. Take that same situation and ask what you would feel, what you would like to do, and what you would actually do. This is self-awareness training, exposure training, allowing you to experience and feel situations that you may encounter someday, and giving you insight into yourself. Fiction is also a great way to take in uncomfortable subjects (racism, immigration, health issues, poverty, etc.) from a different perspective without feeling lectured to.
So how do you find books to read that can expand your view?
- Look for popular books in a tangential field. Are you in the military? Read about martial arts development. Are you in construction? Read about product design. Think about the essential parts of your field and then search for fields that have those same parts.
- Look for the unsung heroes of the literary industry. Lists of brilliant fiction books you’ve never heard of or underrated non-fiction books can be found all over the internet if you dig a little. Reading what few others have read is a surefire way to see the world in a more unique way.
- Find a way to read what you hate. Overcome your personal limitations. Don’t like fiction books? Find a list of fiction books for lovers of nonfiction. Of course, you can also find lists of nonfiction books that read like fiction. And there’s no shame in using stories to help you take down uncomfortable subjects.
