On a Tuesday afternoon in Mumbai, I tell a class full of management students that reading science fiction will make them better leaders.
They greet this thesis with polite skepticism, at which point I put aside my PowerPoint presentation. I have an article from Harvard Business Review featuring Eliot Pepper on why business leaders should read more science fiction, and Gary Wolfe’s How great science fiction worksbut abandons both.
Instead, I choose to allow the class decides for itself.
“All the lines to my right speak in support of science fiction for leadership. And the lines on the left contradict this claim, – I said.
Students are quick to take up the challenge.
“Leaders better read the actual science,” notes a young leftist. The students around him nod in agreement.
“And there’s so much to read and so little time, leaders have to be selective,” says a curly-haired young woman sitting next to him. More people are nodding.
The right side of the classroom is silent. Then, suddenly, a bearded banker, a student who has never spoken in class, now begins to speak, hurriedly, almost unable to keep quiet.
“If you read Asimov, there are so many inventions that he talks about, things like video conferencing and space travel, that were just figments of the imagination at the time. As leaders we must read this, go beyond the science we know, dream about the science we don’t yet know,” he says.
The people in front of him are now paying attention, bowing their heads to the bench.
“Like cryptocurrency in Neal Stephenson’s novels, communication and conflict in The three-body problem” he adds.
A student in the front row raises his hand to speak – “And to think, what are the qualities that people look for in a leader? We need more than technical knowledge – we need courage, vision and imagination.”
People talk about Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk and their favorite science fiction novels. We’re all leaders in our own little ways — whether it’s leading a marketing club or a study group, they say.
The mood of the class has changed – their skepticism has been replaced by an openness to reading science fiction. From there, it’s a short distance to a book list of these three books for beginners.
Book 1 of 3: Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card: Three siblings compete in this page-turning novel—Peter wants to be a ruler, Valentine influences people’s belief systems with her writing, and Ender, the youngest, has been training to be a general since he was six. years old. . This is extremely important because Earth is at war with the Buggers, an alien race that lives in space. Read this book to better understand the types of power and conflict.
Book 2 of 3: Agent of Chaos by Mark Greaney: The fans of The gray man The thrillers will have seen the Court Gentry fighting terrorists and rogue intelligence agencies in Afghanistan, Syria, Pakistan and even India. In this, he becomes involved in a conspiracy where someone is killing the world’s leading robotics experts. Is it a technology company that eliminates competition, a country aiming for military superiority, or something else? Read this book to understand the world’s military landscape, with a look at how weapons manufacturers and their buyers interact, and how AI offers fearsome anonymity and efficiency.
Book 3 of 3: The Hidden Girl and Other Stories by Ken Liu: If I were stranded on a desert island, I would carry everything Ken Liu has written, he is so compelling. I love the amazing way Liu brings the peculiarities of Chinese history, culture and art into a Western context, and how he presents everything on a galactic level as well. Many of his protagonists are young – he shows how subtly racism affects them and weaves these into larger stories of human consciousness and identity. My favorite stories in this book are Singularity and Staying Behind, both on the subject of digitizing human minds and no longer requiring physical bodies. Read these stories to understand advances in the biological sciences and how they can affect our psyche, our emotions, and our world.
Other than that, I’ve been reading a lot of science fiction this year. It has helped me understand the science of communication, learn about the human body and brain, and review social systems and structures. And also venture into the fourth dimension of time. But that’s a whole other story, which I’ll save for another day.
Until next week, happy reading.
Sonya Dutta Choudhury is a Mumbai-based journalist and founder of Sonya’s Book Box, a bespoke book service. Every week, she brings you specially curated books to give you a comprehensive understanding of people and places. If you have any reading recommendations or suggestions, email her at sonyasbookbox@gmail.com
The views expressed are personal
Books mentioned in this edition of Book Box
How great science fiction works by Gary K Wolfe
The three-body problem by Cixin Liu translated by Ken Liu
Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
Agent of Chaos by Mark Greaney
The Hidden Girl and Other Stories by Ken Liu