As an undergraduate, I took as many classes as possible. Each course refracted the world back differently to me, shaping my perception and teaching me the value of nuance and depth. But I found myself fascinated by the professors themselves even more than I was interested in the course material. Most of all, I was taken with their curiosity. Though they taught courses that spanned centuries of history and knowledge, each professor approached his or her subject from a highly-refined specialty. Professors were experts in a small, specific area. They were deeply as well as broadly curious – about their subject matter, about their students. Their curiosity was contagious.
Read MoreReading Mindfully: Chekhov’s “The Princess”
March 11, 2016 | Cecily Erin Hill
Based on the success of our eighteen-day initiative earlier this year, we launch our monthly mindful reading series as a springboard to think about, and to practice, compassion, empathy, and awareness—of ourselves and of the world we live in. Reading mindfully allows us a few quiet minutes in the day to focus on something different, something literary or artful. Won’t you join us this week, and share your thoughts and reactions to Anton Chekhov’s short story, “The Princess”?
Read MoreFriendships at Work: Building Connected Organizations
March 8, 2016 | Cecily Erin Hill, Jessica Isaac
How well do you know the person who sits next to you at work? What about the woman on the next floor, or down the hall? We are busy, and it’s all too easy to bring only a portion of ourselves to work, and to expect no more than a limited view into the lives of others.
And that’s a problem because, when we fail to recognize people in all their complexity or be recognized in turn, we create openings for misunderstanding and stress.
Read MoreLooking for something to read? We’ve got a Harvard Business Review essay on the benefits of a book club, The New Yorker and T.S. Eliot on why we love mystery novels and a provocative essay that explores empathy and morality in literature and at work—”MFA vs. CIA.”
Read MoreBeautiful Ideas: The Serious Pleasures of Suspense
February 16, 2016 | Cecily Erin Hill
In each of our programs, we survey participants to find out what genres they like to read. In those surveys and in interactions we have throughout the program, we often discover that people like to read mysteries and suspense stories. Our forays into this genre have surprised and delighted us—these books make for a marvelous Books@Work experience. In fact, one group recently shared that they made a pact not to read ahead and they solved the mystery together, intensifying their connection as a group.
Read MoreWhy We Are Still Reading Mindfully
February 12, 2016 | Cecily Erin Hill
In January, we experimented with something new. We at Books@Work and a number of volunteers who subscribed for this special series undertook to read a story, an essay or a poem every day for about three weeks. Intended as a springboard to think about mindfulness and to practice compassion, empathy and awareness (of ourselves and of the world we live in) the readings enabled—if nothing else—a few quiet minutes in the day to focus on something different, something literary or artful. Reading mindfully, we hypothesized, might be a way to decompress and engage our minds, with thought and deliberation. Here are our observations, plus a sampling of what we read.
Read MoreHow Reading Fiction Increases Our Capacity for Empathy
February 2, 2016 | Cecily Erin Hill
A 2013 study from the New School concludes that “reading literature improves theory of mind”—“the capacity to identify and understand others’ subjective states.” As the authors note, theory of mind is critically linked to empathy, that all-important ability to intuit and experience the feelings of another. Together with the cognitive component of theory of mind (“the inference and representation of others’ beliefs and intentions”), empathy is a crucial element of “positive interpersonal and intergroup relations.” We need to practice it, in other words, to be effective and considerate people at home, at work and throughout our lives.
Reading fiction had previously been shown to increase empathy by “[expanding] our knowledge of others’ lives, helping us to recognize our similarity to them.” But in this study, authors David Comer Kidd and Emanuele Castono argue that literary fiction helps people practice empathy because of its complexity, too.
Read MoreLooking for something to read this weekend? Our suggestions on the history and analysis of the Book-of-the-Month Club, a new (and healthier) kind of vending machine, a walk along the Thames, the mathematics of the modernist novel, the key to creative success, and more.
Read MoreCreativity and Social Skills: What Machines Can’t Do
January 26, 2016 | Cecily Erin Hill
In a rapidly changing world, many low-skilled jobs have given way to automation, replacing individual workers with machines and reducing workforces considerably. But are high-skilled jobs immune to such automation? No, says Ji Shisan, a media executive with deep background in neurobiology, in a recent and provocative piece in the New York Times. In fact, computers and artificial intelligence are replacing human engagement in a wide variety of contexts. These include the Associated Press’ Automated Insights software, which “[produces] thousands of articles about corporate earnings each year,” Facebook’s “virtual assistant,” which “uses artificial intelligence (AI) to answer user questions” and “IBM’s Watson,” which “[determines] the best course of treatment for individual cancer patients.” All the programs require human supervision, but as Shisan notes, “white-collar workers are understandably starting to worry about the day when AI can go it alone.” But rather than underscore this worry, Jisan reassures us: “The future’s still bright,” he says, “thanks to our creativity – our unique trait.”
Read MoreConversation Starters: 3 Books@Work Books You’ll Want to Read and Discuss
January 19, 2016 | Cecily Erin Hill
Last week, we explored how Books@Work chooses books for our programs: we begin from the philosophy that narratives are fundamental to human inquiry and communication; we look for books that portray deeply resonant stories, knowing that our participants will both learn from them and be inspired to share their own; and we work with faculty members and participants in all of our book selections.
To date, we’ve taught more than 200 books, and we’ve found that every book inspires unique insights into each other and the human condition—and of course the book itself.
Read More