‘At Battle School Fighting Is Compulsory’ says the banner over the title of Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game.  This has the reputation of a sci-fi classic and I was prompted to read it when Thiagi mentioned it in his presentation at the Applied Improvisation Network conference in Chicago.

My context for reading it is that most of the books I read are non-fiction, and I enjoy peppering these with the occasional luxurious dip into a fictional universe.

Ender’s Game is an easy, enjoyable read, grabbing you from the first paragraph – ‘I’ve watched through his eyes, I’ve listened through his ears, and I tell you he’s the one.  Or at least as close as we’re going to get.’

And this comes from 1985, predating The One popularised by Keanu Reeves in The Matrix, to which there are several intriguing parallels.

Anyway, it’s a good yarn about the education of young Ender, who may be able to prove through a series of computer and video simulations that he is the best equipped to command Earth’s forces against an intergalactic foe.

What’s it have to say about improvisation?  Here are some quotes from the book.

“More Launchies were joining them now, not on a lark but because they could see results – they were getting better and better. Ender and Alai stayed ahead of them, though.  In part it was because they kept making stupid mistakes, which suggested things to do that no self-respecting, well-trained soldier would even have tried.  Many of the things they attempted turned out to be useless.  But it was always fun, always exciting, and enough things worked that they knew it was helping them.”

A great description of improv, and I love the note that it’s leading to improvement.

“You mean the computer’s making this up as it goes along?”

“You might put it that way.”

“Well, that does make me feel a little better.  I thought I was the only one.”

It’s an emergent, unpredictable world – and we can all feel a little better about that.

‘He trained his … leaders to use their small units effectively in achieving limited goals… on their own initiative.’

Small steps, emergent tactics, turn-taking, taking responsibility.

“They have influence, but no power.”

“In my experience, influence is power.”

Quite.  I shall now pass the book to my 14-year-old son, and see what he gets out of it.

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