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1. 

   Abey John November 9, 2010, 3:08 pm

   Fiction is just as important if not more. It frames the context of entrepreneurial pursuits in a much broader setting than what business and management books handle which actually helps us understand the context of what we are doing better and also helps in decision making.

   In my view management & self help books are the nuts & bolts tools of execution. While fiction is the idea mill which creates worlds and possibilities from which these tools emerge. Case in point the clam shell, flip phone that Star Trek popularized. This was at a time when we did not even have a conceptual feasibility of shrinking electronics to the size of a walnut.

   Books that I love:

   1. Zen & The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (& its follow up Lila) – handles western thought at its point of origin and provides a bridge to eastern philosophies
   2. The Ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – I do a yearly pilgrimage through this sci-fi satire and every time I find gems of wisdom “people (beings) congregate at boundary conditions – which is why people rush to the shoreline when they go to the beach, why prisoners crowd the fences, why dog’s will be at the gate while they have an entire play yard around them”
   3. Peter Drucker – Good for snacking. Read a bit at random every now and then. (Blush: Last was more than a year ago).
   4. Maybe the Art of War but I think its overrated
   5. Doris Lessing’s Canopus in Argos series of Five books – more space fiction than sci fi. Provides suggestions on directions the human race can head in.
   6. Night Dawn Trilogy – Peter Hamilton. If you want a peek into the technological possibilities that await us in the next few hundred years this book will get your goat. All this stuff about Facebook & Twitter will slip into a corner of your perspective once you see that synaptically interconnected world.

2. 

   Himanshu Mody December 30, 2010, 9:03 am

   Yes. In fact in my life the difference between why my company was not making money and the growth we have achieved is the knowledge I acquired from various books. It helped me to understand my own self and others and take some important decisions with conviction.

   I expect everyone in my core team to read.

   We never say no to book requests in my company and also we have subscribed to Safari account and other online resources for everyone to learn and upgrade their skills. Not everyone makes the most of it , but I am doing my bit , even if couple of them use the resources, its worth the money spent.

3. 

   Koshy T January 18, 2011, 7:35 am

   I agree totally. Even my passion is reading. I read all kinds though I tend to read more non fiction. In fact I recently wrote a blog post on this titled “my first love” https://rollingstone-revelations.blogspot.com/2010/12/my-first-love.html 

   take a look when u have time

4. 

   pankaj khandelwal January 18, 2011, 6:53 pm

   I think its the loneliness that pushes anyone to read.Leaders are readers because theyre mostly quite lonely people …..

5. 

   Aji (Digital Marketing) January 18, 2011, 6:57 pm

   Sir I will disagree that loneliness is the reason. For me I read as I want to learn things from people who have been there, their experiences etc

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