The business case for fiction

In a recent blog I passed on Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s praise of philosophy and other serious reading. I want to make the case for reading fiction.

There are good reasons for reading including novels of all kinds – basically it’s enjoyable.  More than that though, I suggest there is a business case for fiction. So much of business is about people – your colleagues, your customers, your business partners – and a good novel provides insight into their hearts.

So, when friend asked me recently what to read before she went to China, I lent her three novels. I could have recommended a textbook which explains what it means to live in a communist country with a rampant capitalist economy but stories make it much more real.

Do you aspire to have a strategy?

I listened to a piece on the radio earlier today about the UK’s electricity generation strategy, or lack of it. One expert’s view was that we had a strategy in the sense of an aspiration but we had no plan. Although I understand what she meant in relation to energy policy, we need to be much clearer in relation to strategy itself because we mustn’t think of it as “aspiration” at all if we want to come up something useful.

It’s hard teaching strategy, particularly to anyone without much work experience, because they generally have no conception of what it is and nothing much we can relate it to. One route is to consider what strategy is not and “aspiration” is one of the things on the “not” list.

Why are you reading this?

I’m gradually working my way through a reading list from Ha-Joon Chang, reader in Economics at Cambridge, which was promoted by Heffers bookshop last summer. It’s an odd time to take up reading about economics as it is a discipline under some pressure at the moment. Behavioural economics has for a while been eating away at the rationalist principles underlying much of micro-economics. More recently the financial crash and subsequent recession continue to challenge macro-economics. I decided it was time to explore how thinkers in this field are responding to the challenges and remedy my own ignorance at the same time.

Dressing for success

Never mind "The Artist" what about the BAFTA frocks? Vivienne Westwood, Sybil Connolly, Armani and a Valentino “Eco-gown”. Much as I’d like to have the figure to wear one, I’m really glad I don’t have to bother quite that much about what I wear to work.

I did have a little flurry of bothering about it just before Christmas. I smartened up. I was meeting a potential external partner in some new MBA developments and decided that I needed a “customer facing” outfit. I dug around in the back of the cupboard and found things that I haven’t worn for ages. Straight black skirt, white top and short grey jacket. Cool new shoes. It felt good to be sharp. I felt I was standing up straighter and was more alert, potentially more impactful.

Is there any strategy?

It was amazing, when I read the news in November last year that Emirates have placed an order for an additional 50 Boeing 777-300 ER" planes, in addition to 20 Boeing 777-300ER as an option. This order was the single largest dollar-value order in Boeing's history.

According to emirates Group chairman ‘Emirates is financially strong enough to fund the purchase of new aircraft as part of ongoing expansion plans by one of the world’s fastest growing airlines. Emirates made net profits of Dh827 million in the first half of 2011, confirming its status as ‘one of the fastest growing carriers’.

In the current recession scenario when many airline companies are in either loss or debt what’s made Emirates so different from other airlines?

People in Beijing - richer or poorer?

I chose to fly back home during the Christmas period mainly because of my mother's severe back pain. It is an old problem that has bothered her for a few years, yet it gets worsen recently. My mother is a tenacious woman. She does not believe in surgery. A friend of our family recommended traditional Chinese massage as an alternative and thus we found her a reputable hospital in Beijing, well-known for its massage techniques and recovery treatments.

For this reason, I need to go to the hospital every Monday and Friday to make an appointment for her. Guess when I woke up? 4.30 am! The hospital sells "numbers" to patients on a first come first serve basis. Its official opening time is 8am. Since there are so many patients and limited medical resources, most "ordinary people" - if you are not as ‘important’ as those government officials or as rich as those celebrities - would have to join a long queue, about 200 people, in the cold winter mornings enduring the temperature hitting below -10 degree Celsius. Believe or not, online booking and telephone booking are totally out of question.

The glass ceiling and MBA’s

During my time working for the Centre for Women’s Enterprise (CWE) at the University of Bedfordshire I frequently had to consider whether the services we provided were accessible to women with childcare responsibilities. This included ensuring that the CWE services were offered during school hours to ensure women with children were able to participate and on occasions, providing a crèche to enable mothers with pre-school children to benefit from business support services.