Does Poetry Make You a Better Entrepreneur?
By: Jason Mcbride
Tags: Business, Problem Solving, Poetry, Entrepreneurship, Self Improvement

Poetry and the hustle of culture of entrepreneurship seem to be diametrically opposed. Startups, bootstrappers, and hustlers spend every spare moment doing. Poets and poetry readers spend hours in quiet contemplation, ostentatiously not doing.

But, what if the poets hold a secret that could make you a better entrepreneur? What if poetry could make you not only a better business person but also a better person?

How Poetry Affects Your Brain

In 2013, researchers conducted a series of experiments using fMRI scans. They had people read different texts and observed what areas of the brain were activated.

The researchers had subjects read a piece of prose, a piece of poetry the experiments had selected, and a piece of poetry the test subject had selected. Stephanie Denning described the results of the study in Forbes.

When people read their self-selected poetry pieces, the areas of the brain responsible for solving complex problems lit up far beyond anything triggered by the other types of texts.

The link between reading poetry and solving complex business problems was also highlighted in a 2012 Harvard Business Review article.

Any successful entrepreneur will tell you that if you want to make it in business, you need to solve complex problems. While many Silicon Valley acolytes muse about a pill that would make you smarter or dabble in hallucinogenics, reading poetry is the low-tech boost many need to solve complex high-tech problems.

How Poetry Affects Your Soul

The most incredible thing about humans is that we are more than our bodies and brains. There is something else inside of us. Whether it is a spirit or a deeper consciousness hidden between our gut and mind, we all have a soul.

Poetry does more than help us solve technical problems at work. It helps us unknot difficult emotional issues.

Several studies have found that reading fiction builds empathy. Christine Seifert noted in her Harvard Business Review article, The Case for Fiction, that the variety of the vocabulary and emotional depth of fiction compared to non-fiction, is why it builds empathy.

Poetry is more emotionally dense and has a richer vocabulary than fiction. Poetry is like fiction on steroids for your soul. It allows you to see the world through another’s eyes. It takes you to places and through experiences that are otherwise inaccessible to you.

Reading poetry does more than just help you become a smarter person; it helps you become a kinder person.

The Benefits of Slowing Down

One of the biggest dangers of hustle culture is the belief that everyone needs to “go fast and break stuff.” Poetry is the anthesis of this idea.

Poetry is about slowing down. It is about noticing details and forming connections. Poetry inspires contemplation.

But, does contemplation have a place in the modern business world?

When asked about his business routine, Warren Buffett replied, “I just sit in my office and read all day.”

Buffett has told several audiences that he spends most of his time thinking and learning the facts so that when he is ready to make a decision, he is confident he made the best decision he could.

Slowing down allows you to consider the long-term effects of your decisions. It allows you to better understand risks. If you are concerned with making the world a better place through your entrepreneurship, you owe it to yourself, and to the rest of us, to slow down and think through the consequences of your business model.

Three Simple Ways to Start Engaging with Poetry

Where should you start if you want to get the benefits of poetry? The fMRI study discussed earlier makes it clear that you need to read poetry you select to get the most benefits. Most of us loved poetry as children. We read Dr. Seuss and Shel Silverstein.

But, over time, the education system made it clear that poetry was not practical, and they made poetry boring by cramming verses written in archaic language hundreds of years ago down our throats. (Looking at every high school English teacher who failed to explain that Shakespeare is filled with sex and dick jokes.)

Here are three simple ways you can engage with poetry that you will enjoy.

One, read different types of poetry. Poetry comes in all kinds of forms. You don’t need to read long, confusing poems. Haiku are only three lines, quintets are five lines, even sonnets are only fourteen lines. You can also read free verse poetry. Experiment with reading different forms and see what type most resonates with you.

Two, read contemporary poetry. There is more to poetry than the handful of dead white guys and one dead white woman you learn about in school. The English language is always changing. Poems written one hundred years ago will be harder to understand than poems written about the world you and I actually live in. Look for poetry written in the past twenty years.

Three, don’t stress about understanding what you are reading. Poetry is different than prose. It communicates a feeling. I read poetry every day, and I encounter poems I do not understand every day. That’s okay! You don’t need to understand everything. Focus on how a poem makes you feel. If you like puzzling out the meaning of a poem, do it. Read the poem over and over again. If you hate that, if discovering the meaning of a poem makes you feel like you’re back in school, don’t worry about it. Read a poem and move on.

There are no pop quizzes. There is no teacher making sure you read every word and every line. Skip the stuff you don’t like.

Poetry is like any other type of art. There is something for everyone, but not everything is going to be for you. It’s okay to skip the poems that don’t light you up.

We all want to be better at our jobs. We also all want to be better people. Reading poetry is one way you can both become a smarter entrepreneur and a better person. That alone makes it worth your time to read a little poetry today.