Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Can a Detective Novel Help Your Business Grow?

For a good number of years, I read mostly how to, non-fiction books, biographies, histories and so forth because a lot of it was business related. I would make time for a novel from time to time, but not usually the popular stuff like detective novels.

Then one day a few years ago, just for the pure fun of it, I decided to read a couple of them, just for a change. And I started to listen to more books on CD to make the long commutes less frustrating.

I was surprised. I liked the detective novels. For so much of my non-fiction reading, I was trying to go slow and absorb and remember the material. So to read a story just for the fun of the story, without trying to labor over it became a pleasure that I had known before but forgotten about for a long time.

In addition to simply enjoying the stories, I also notice that my reading speed picks up so that when I go back to reading other kinds of books, my speed is up when I tackle the other materials.

And there is another bonus. And there is another bonus. In these kinds of books, there is a focus to the story, also a puzzle to solve and the story encourages you to be more observant. Other kinds of books are more likely to go off on tangents than a detective novel. I find that this orientation helps me to think about my business creatively. Focusing and problem solving a skills we can always use, and these stories can train our mind to be alert to them and use them more sharply.

It has worked for me. Perhaps it will work for you. Try it and see for yourself.

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