iTranslated by AI
Books I Read in 2023 and How My Perspective Shifted
This is a reflection and record for myself.
Introduction
Since I started working as an engineer, the only books I read were technical books. However, this year, after becoming the lead for a diversity promotion project at my company, I've had more opportunities to read books of a different nature.
I used to be under a spell, believing, "Before saying anything, I must first gain technical skills. Without technical skills, nothing I say carries weight." So, it might be fair to say that I intentionally didn't pick up anything other than technical books.
Now, as a mother of three and with my role shifting significantly toward management, I find myself needing to sync with management and society from a high-level perspective of corporate diversity promotion. In addition, I have taken on roles where I am expected to exert a positive influence on the next generation, such as being a Women Techmakers Ambassador. Because of this, reading self-help or macro-sociological books has, in my opinion, broadened my perspective many times over compared to the era when I only read technical books. (Though that time was necessary for acquiring core technical skills.)
Furthermore, 2023 was undoubtedly the "Generative AI Year." The emergence of generative AI has added fuel to the fire, causing people to ask, "What exactly makes an excellent engineer?"
My introduction has gone on too long.
Let's move on to the recommendations.
SDGs and ESG Management Essential! What is Diversity? An Introduction to D&I and Gender Equality
I think I read this between the end of 2022 and the beginning of 2023. Although it was decided that a diversity promotion project for our development organization would start from the beginning of the year, I had never led a company-wide project before and was looking for some kind of guide. I felt a fated connection when I saw the sub-heading, "Chapter 2: My company, where should we start?" and picked up this newly released book, even though no one had recommended it to me.
Regarding diversity, there is a wide range of literature—from academic and social perspectives to human rights issues—but this book focused on corporate diversity promotion, exactly what I was looking for. I gained many hints for launching the project as a company.
The Science of Diversity
A bible for me. To be precise, I might not have read it only this year, but I include it here because I open it frequently as a dictionary.
One of the things I am careful about in promoting diversity is being "scientific and data-driven." Because it contains abundant examples, experiments, and considerations, I use it for evidence reference.
It is interesting as a story that the book attributes the 9/11 attacks to a lack of diversity (a homogeneous organization) at the beginning. While I was impressed by such a perspective, it is also a chilling thought that an imbalance in attributes could lead to a global catastrophe on the scale of 9/11.
Google Style Diversity & Inclusion: Methods and Practices for Inclusive Product Development
While it is not strictly from this year, this is also a book I occasionally refer to when promoting diversity. When people talk about diversity, the focus is often on the organization or individuals, but this book focuses on perspectives that we, as internet service providers, should keep in mind when developing products. While many books on diversity promotion preach moral perspectives, this one includes profitable arguments, such as "if you don't create inclusive products, you will lose this much." I realized that this is actually an important perspective for promoting diversity in a for-profit company, and not a strange thing to say at all.
However, aiming for D&I solely for the company's own profit is also a mistake (as it compromises the moral perspective), and it has taken me a full year of practice to finally grasp the balance here.
Me x IT = Strongest Theory: A Guide for Girls & Gender Minorities to Excel in IT
It goes without saying that I was interviewed for the role model chapter, but the book breaks down what looks like difficult IT into simple Japanese, and it's a finish I would genuinely recommend to my daughter.
In fact, a mother friend whose daughter goes to an all-girls school and wants to study science mentioned, "My daughter wants to go into a science track but isn't familiar with IT," so I lent it to her. This is a book meant to support as many girls and gender minority students as possible.
Is Large Language Model a New Intelligence?
In a word, this was interesting.
I read it all at once during a period where people were saying things like "I tried using ChatGPT" -> "Sometimes it tells lies" -> "No, your prompts are just bad," so it really resonated with me.
Personally, no matter how many times I hear about or research neural networks, I feel like I understand it at the moment but never learn it systematically, so it never really clicked. I think my resolution on that front has improved significantly. The golden rule of "providing lots of context" is explained in terms of why it's necessary. It's easy to read because it's written in terms that are even broken down for beginners. This was actually recommended by fellow engineers, and I'm glad I chose it. In a nascent period like this, it's hard to know which source to choose out of all the options out there.
Junior High School Entrance Exams in the Reiwa Era
My oldest child is in the 3rd grade of elementary school, so I was taking it easy, thinking I would start gathering information soon. Since I attended Yotsuya Otsuka in Machida a few decades ago, I thought I understood the customs somewhat. But...
When I talked to a mother friend who has a child already attending a major cram school at the same nursery school (which is a common case around here), I found out that whether due to the times or the area, things are actually much harder than I thought.
With tons of books on junior high school entrance exams available, I picked this one up as it was a best-seller and catchy, just to get some basic knowledge. Upon reading it, I realized that "it's not a problem of the times or the area, but rather my case that is quite special (the theory that I was not participating in the deviation score race because I only had one school I wanted to go to from the start)." Since the whole concept of choosing a school based on deviation scores didn't quite click for me, I think I was able to learn the old common sense vs. new common sense from a relatively neutral standpoint.
Since the entrance exam industry is a battle of information, I intend to use this for future dialogues about whether or not to take the exams, after first studying as a parent and grasping the pros and cons, aptitude, and whether it will lead to happiness in the long run.
By the way, it's not a book, but I heard about this manga often and read it too. It was as easy to read as the reputation suggested.
Closing
I have many other books that I've started reading, but I've only included those I finished.
In fact, while I had some hefty technical books that I was in the middle of reading, the hype around generative AI became too much to ignore, so I ended up spending my time catching up on that.
Looking back, it was indeed a year with many books related to DE&I.
Discussion