The Value of Fiction as Management Training. Issue 3 (2nd April 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Holley, Robert P.
• Is Part Of: Journal of library administration. Volume 56:Issue 3(2016)
• Page Start: 335
• Page End: 343
• Publication Date: 2016-04-02
• Subjects: fiction -- management training -- critical thinking -- empathy -- problem solving; Library administration -- Periodicals; 025.1
• DOI: 10.1080/01930826.2016.1146539
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0193-0826

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Reading fiction can teach sophisticated management skills. The difference between paraliterary fiction that focuses on escaping reality and literary fiction that analyzes reality is important. All reading can help improve basic literacy including increased comprehension and reading speed. Intermediate skills provide the manager with specific lessons on how to manage. Advanced skills, obtained from reading literary fiction, include empathy, the ability to interpret and create sophisticated texts, and an increased possibility of recognizing the "truth" in any environment. Traditional business publications offer more direct training but often overlook the complexities that the experienced manager will encounter and overemphasize the possibilities for success. Column Editor's Note This JLA column will consider issues of education and training for management positions in libraries and other information organizations from the perspectives of both the provider and the recipient. The column will appear in odd-numbered issues of the journal and focus on management education/training at various stages of the individual's career including the effectiveness of these efforts, their content, and the specific challenges of teaching and learning within the field of librarianship. The column will address both theoretical and practical concerns. Prospective authors are invited to submit articles for this column to the editor at [e-mail].