Never underestimate the Marine Corps. Here's one of their reading lists:
Yep. Ender's Game. One of the greatest pieces of science fiction ever written. On the US Marine Corps. reading list.
That is awesome.
The Marines do more with less than any other branch of the military. They do it, in part, by encouraging creativity from the rank-and-file up to the top brass. Apparently, that includes reading some top-rate science fiction. You can learn a lot from that.Learn from the Marines
There are great lessons in 'irrelevant' books if you take the time to look. Ender's Game has amazing learning about teamwork, the consequences of war, indoctrination, tactics and planning. It would get any military trainee thinking a bit outside the box in productive ways.
You should do the same with your team, and yourself. Read outside your profession.
Want to learn great people management skills? Read Pillars of the Earth. Phillip is a master.
Need lessons in running a shoestring operation? Read Zodiac, by Neal Stephenson. It's more about eco-terrorism, but man, they're creative with their budget!
Saturday, by Ian McCewan, is a great story. But the main character is also the poster child for meticulousness, and for doing his job when his patient (read client) isn't exactly his favorite person.
To excel in your specialty, get away from it
I've written about the dangers of overspecialization. Broaden your horizons and you avoid the trap. I have a 14-inch stack of books on my nightstand. They're all business books. Sometimes, though, I gotta take a break and read something else.
And wouldn't you know it? That's when I usually get inspired.
I got the idea for select, don't accumulate from Atlas Shrugged.
Lord of the Rings inspired me to start my company (loooong story).
I wrote 20 reasons you shouldn't listen to a word I say after watching the Hudsucker Proxy.
Portent's entire bonus system came to me after I read A Winter's Tale.
You get the idea.
Reading all those self-improvement and technical books is just foundation building. You're putting all the bricks in place. Getting away from that stuff is what will spark something really inspired. So be sure to do both.
Other stuff
- SEOMOZ Linkscape, in Google Spreadsheets
- Why all web developers should learn SEO
- Why SEOs should learn programming
- Dan Cobley: What Physics teaches about marketing
- Analytics plus SEO equals content
- The internet marketer’s guide to the apocalypse
- Follow me on Twitter
- The Real World Unscary Guide to SEO Copywriting
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/conversationmarketing/MRJI/~3/KH2bh_dyvQk/marines-enders-game.htm
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