Fortune: Books That Changed My Mind This Year - CEO Selections
By Fortune Editors
Fortune asked 18 business leaders, including ReD’s US Director Christian Madsbjerg, to write about their favorite titles. Their request was simple: “name the one book you read this year that altered your perspective on life or business.”
Christian Madsbjerg's choice was 'The Man Without Qualities' by Robert Musil:
"Musil’s book is about many different things. The difference between Germany and Austria, Idealism and pragmatism, for example. But for me there was one huge takeaway: It explains why the lives of humans can only be partially studied in natural science. Counting people and their response to questions is less efficient than reading our poetry and listening to music if you want to understand the world we live in. When he writes “It was a fine spring day in Vienna,” we understand exactly and in great detail what that feels like. You can measure temperature, pressure and wind as much as you like, but sometimes science only muddies our understanding of each other."
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