a simple fix for corporate training programs - professional reading list

Given the large sums spent each year by corporations to train their employees, you would think that the  professional reading list would be a universal fixture on the corporate training scene.  They're simple, proven to be effective and cost only the time required to type it out.  But for some inexplicable reason they're a rarity.  Buying the latest business best seller and distributing it to your staff doesn't count.  I'm not saying it's bad thing to give away good books, but one-off efforts miss the mark.
If you want an example of a professional reading program look no further than the Marine Corps program.  The Commandant's Reading List was started in the 1980's by General Al Gray and has continued to be a key component of every Marines' professional education.  You might not associate the terms "well read" with Marines, yet the best ones are dedicated students of their trade who read as much as any grad student in a given year.  Every rank, from Private to General, is required to read selections from the list.  No excuses.  Why does the Marine Corps make professional reading a requirement?  Here is what they have to say:

"In an era of constrained resources, our professional reading program is designed to provide Marines with an intellectual framework to study warfare and enhance their thinking and decision making skills. The mind, like the body, grows soft with inactivity. All Marines must understand that mental fitness is as demanding and as important as physical fitness, for both require commitment and perseverance. In a world characterized by rapid change and great uncertainty, our reading program will act as a combat multiplier by providing all Marines with a common frame of reference and historical perspective on warfare, human factors in combat and decision making. In so doing, the program will also strengthen the threads of cohesion that make our Marine Corps unique."

It's hard to argue with that logic.  In fact, it would be easy for your company to institute a reading program using the same argument.  Just take the text above, replace "Marines" with "employees" and references to warfare and combat with terms appropriate to your company's situation.  Take the recommendation to your manager and see what happens.  It's the kind to solution most managers love to see cross their desk; it cost nothing to implement, at worst it will be ignored causing harm to no one, and at best it will lead to the professional growth of employees.

How to read a book: the art of educating yourself

My sophomore year in college I took a required literature course.  I had a great teacher.  He was a new young professor that was passionate about conveying the meaning and importance of books like the Odessey, The Canterbury Tales, The Inferno...  Looking back it was one of my favorite classes, but it wasn't as good as it could have been.  What was missing?  The professor passed along his passion but didn't pass along his skills.  Every week I would struggle through the assigned reading, picking up plot but not much else.  Then the professor would unveil all the meaning that I had missed.  By the end of the class I was convinced that time spent trying to mine the wisdom from the classics was well worth the effort required.  My problem was that effort was getting me no where becuase I lacked the tools to fully appreciate these works on my own.


A few years after school I stumbled upon Mortimer Adler's How to Read a Book.  At first I was put off by the title but then I scanned the table of contents, thumbed through the book and my interest was piqued.  After reading the first two chapters it was apparent to me that I had found the tool box I had been looking for.   I felt like Mortimer had me in mind when he wrote this book.  He was actualy thinking of most of us.   As an educator he knew how sorely this information was needed.  Mortimer was a life long advocate of great literature and his observations will improve your reading skills no matter how experienced you may be.  Everything you need to tackle the greatest, most challenging books in the world can be found within the pages of this book.  


Reading this book is likely to bring up feelings of "why don't they teach this in school?"  The first time I read it that's exactly what I thought.   Legitimate as these questions may be, it's not useful to ponder what should have been.  I think it is best to be thankful that we have good books like How to Read a Book that can help us fill the gaps we feel our education missed.  

a life well read: Joseph Campbell

It is safe to say that Joseph Campbell was well read.  The story of his journey is almost as fascinating as the ancient myths he dedicated his life to studying.  If you are looking for a hero to measure your reading life against, you will be hard pressed to find someone who surpasses Campbell.


Campbell had been fascinated by mythology since he was a child.  His fascination continued during his formative years and led to a BA in English, an MA in Medieval literature and acceptance to a fellowship in Europe.  Upon returning, Campbell informed his PhD advisor that he was expanding the scope of his work to include the art and ideas he had been exposed to during his time overseas.  His advisor said no.  So what did Campbell do?  He walked away from his doctoral work and spent the next five years reading whatever his insatiable curiosity led him to.  His was no leisure stroll through the shelves of the library admiring the fine bindings of someones prized collection.  He spent five years dedicated to consuming the world's mythology as broadly and deeply as he could.  In his memoirs he described it like this:

"I would divide the day into four four-hour periods, of which I would be reading in three of the four hour periods, and free one of them... I would get nine hours of sheer reading done a day. And this went on for five years straight."

Once he emerged he found a teaching job at a small all girls college.  He never applied to another doctoral program and even at the end of his career he was never well respected in academia.  But Campbell stands out as the most influential figure the study of myth and story telling had ever seen.  Campbell's Hero with a Thousand Faces and The Power of Myth have influenced many of the most successful movies in the history of Hollywood.  George Lucas credits Campbell's description of the hero's journey as key to the success of the Star Wars series.  Not only does Campbell provide an example of extreme dedication to a life of reading, but his works will prove valuable to anyone undertaking their own journey of the written word. Upon striking out what advice would Campbell have to offer?  I'm sure he would reply with one of his favorite bits of simple but profound wisdom; Follow your bliss.

a well read life

What is a well read life?  Certainly much more than it used to be.  As the number of mediums that convey the written word increase, any definition of a well read life must grow too.  Blogs, twitter, ebooks, they all should be included.  Why? Because being well read shouldn't be measured by the number of books you've read, but by the growth it enables.  Being well read should be defined by your interest, curiosity, skills and your willingness to read works that challenge and stretch you.  


Being well read is not about plowing through a list of classics.  The classics that speak to you should certainly be included, but don't stop there.  A well read life is about spending the time necessary to find, consume, digest and come to make your own the written words that lift you up and bring clarity to the world in which you live.  Reading broadly, deeply, and with a purpose that you've defined puts the collective wisdom of the human race at your disposal.  All you have to do is choose to use it.