Why Every MBA Should Read More Literature

Mark Suster recently wrote about the need to broaden one's experiences to improve intuition and decision-making. He recalls an Enterprise 2.0 panel he participated in with Esther Dyson, Om Malik, and Shel Israel, saying "In retrospect it was quite an established, senior and worldly panel."

Worldly. Henry Mintzberg and Karl Moore have said that "managers should be urged to become more worldly, not more global." The Oxford Dictionary defines worldly as "experienced in life, sophisticated, practical." The worldly person seeks out diversity as a way to enhance his understanding of other cultures while adding nuance and appreciation to his inherited background.

The global person, on the other hand, conforms to an emerging singular culture. Suster says, "I don't profess to have all the answers or to always be right. But I do make sure that I have a broad horizon from which to make decisions. My intuition is not born of monoculture."

Read full article: Forbes, October 19, 2011