In teaching a college-level general education class called The History of Creativity in the Arts, Science and Technology, I required students to study the works of William Shakespeare. And every semester I can count on several of my business students to ask why.

The most obvious reason is to acquaint ourselves with, in my opinion, the greatest writer in the English language. Well-educated people all over the world are familiar with his works and discuss the concepts and plots from his plays as if everyone present were familiar with them. Hence, a basic understanding of Shakespeare is expected of all educated people.

But there is much more. Studying Shakespeare will help us think. Because we think in words, Shakespeare will help us improve our thinking by enriching our vocabulary. Shakespeare invented more than 2,000 words, such as these obviously business-related words: accommodation, frugal, excellent, monumental, reliance, summary. Most experts agree that his works, along with the King James Version of the Bible, were the most significant forces in defining modern English.

Another advantage to reading Shakespeare is learning from his ability to portray human emotions and problems in a variety of settings. In my class we read "Hamlet" in part because Hamlet was a college student, and I hope that the students can relate to him. Hamlet was troubled because he didn't trust the data he was given (in this way he was like a business professional who has been given data from operations and doesn't believe it). Hamlet decided to get an independent confirmation of the data. He was successful, but then was unsure about the proper action to take and the timing of that action. When he took the action, he found out that he made a critical mistake. The mistake changed the situation, and he had to rethink. Finally, after spending some time away from the problem, he realized the right course and returned to take the action he had newly defined. Sadly, the situation had again changed, and the action came too late. I believe that Hamlet's problems have relevance for us all, both personally and professionally.

Shakespeare helps us see relationships in strong dramatic terms, and, therefore directs us to better understand ourselves and those around us.

Imagine the understanding we can gain from Iago in "Othello" when we encounter an associate who lies to gain advantage. What about the lessons of marriage that are learned from "Othello" or, more happily, from "The Taming of the Shrew"? What about the recognition of higher values than mere competition from "Romeo and Juliet"? What about the lessons of contracts from "Merchant of Venice"? From that play we also learn that when we don't know as much about a situation as others, we are in danger of being taken advantage of.

My wife, Margaret, and I have just seen the last of our children leave the nest. We realized that we needed to develop areas of mutual interest other than our children. Of course, we already had some mutually shared areas, but we wanted more. We wanted to enrich our lives together. So Margaret has been attending my class on the history of creativity. Not only do we enjoy discussions of the subjects of the class, we also enjoy preparing the lectures together and traveling to the places in the world where famous historical events occurred. We love museums, concerts and plays and then the discussion afterward, often with increasing depth and understanding.

Even the preparing of this article was a joyful mutual discussion. Business executives might consider developing similar areas of interest and enjoyment with their spouses.