What a Horror Book Club Taught Me About Workplace Collaboration
Over the past month, I’ve been participating in a unique collective reading horror book club at Ours where a group of us gather weekly to read one chapter of a novel aloud to each other. In the modern world (post-printing press?), where an increased emphasis on silent reading & individual educational experiences has become the norm, distancing us more from oral storytelling and into a more introspective relationship with reading, this group felt like a breath of fresh air. It’s a book club without the urgency to read ahead or have a deadline, and also a bookclub that maybe frees us from some of our only universal experiences of reading aloud like being a child learning to read with a parent, or as a student nervously reading a textbook inside of a classroom. It has been a space to slow down our reading, feel comfortable to stumble over words or phrases we are still unfamiliar with, and have fun while reading whether it be through laughter or expression.
“The process of collective reading is a stark contrast to how we often conceive of reading as a solitary act.” - Georgia Mantle
The first novel on the docket has been The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. While I had already seen film and TV adaptations over the years prior to reading, this book club provided a whole new experience of the story through our collective commentary, reactions, and even tones while reading. The discussions that unfolded — spontaneous, layered, and often surprising — revealed just how many interpretations a single story can hold when filtered through our different perspectives. What I found most intriguing was how people’s opinions shifted over time, new theories emerged, and we collectively deepened our understanding of the text. It was a reminder that sometimes some of the best insights come not from solitude, but from shared experience.
Reflecting on this, I started seeing clear parallels with workplace collaboration. Too often, work can be approached with an independent mindset — I’m certainly someone who thrives on independence; task lists, personal deadlines, solo problem-solving. But just like with our group reading, when people come together to engage with the same material or problem, fresh perspectives arise. Something as simple as talking through a project or idea aloud, much like reading a chapter aloud, can uncover blind spots, spark creativity, or prompt someone to see things differently. It’s in the back-and-forth, the organic, sometimes messy conversation where deeper solutions and innovations begin to form.
This book club wasn’t about consensus; it was about connection and curiosity. Not everyone aligned every time, but everyone listened. Translating that into the workplace means creating environments where diverse perspectives are not just tolerated but encouraged, where there’s room for people to challenge, explore, and evolve their thinking together. When we break away from the “I’ll just figure it out myself” approach and embrace collective interpretation and collaboration, the result is often richer, more resilient outcomes.
Ultimately, the experience has allowed me to reframe my current relationship to reading — and by extension, working — as something that doesn’t have to be solitary or deemed superior in its independence. There’s power in slowing down, sharing space, and thinking out loud. Whether it’s a haunted house or a strategic challenge (😉), engaging with others sometimes transforms the experience into something far greater than what we could arrive at alone.
