The Thinker's Toolkit: 14 Powerful Techniques for Problem Solving

by Morgan D. Jones (Crown Business). Rating: 4.0/5.

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Reviews from Amazon

Nuts and Bolts. Not theory and platitudes.

I have read several problem solving / intelligence analysis books, but this is one of the best, if the most tedious. They all have the same basic message, although they may use very different terminology. The basic message is - break it down, and then break it down some more, and then a little more (in other words "Analyze" it) - until you get it down to bottom line questions or issues that can be answered or decided. Separate the components and subcomponents of a problem and study them closely looking for clues and answers. You may have to do some research to get these answers, but when you get the answers, plug them in to your "model" or "structure" or "equation", then crank it up, and your answer pops out. This is an over-simplification of course, but this is the basic message.

This book is the best of the bunch when it comes to showing you "How" to break it down, or in other words, how to "analyze" the problem. Some of the books speak very generally about these concepts and principles and the need for them, others may give a vague example or show an illustration or two, but nothing real specific. The strength of this book is that it gets down to specifics, showing how the techniques are structured and implemented; so specific that it feels like drudgery at times, yet this is the essential, necessary hard work involved in real problem solving. The more complex the problem, the more necessary these techniques are, and the difficult work associated with them.

In the end this is probably the most practical problem solving book I have read, even if it is tedious at times. I don't expect any of us will be using these techniques to choose our next car or refrigerator (but you would be better off if you did), but if you work in an environment that deals with complex problems of any sort, this book will show you a better way to approach them.

Well worth the $12 is currently costs, and a lot more.

Rating: 5

Good Stuff, If You Want to Plow Through It

Like a good tool kit, this book has a tool for almost every situation. In a nutshell, the message here is that before you make any decisions -- tough or easy -- you need to give a lot of thought to how you're going to give it a lot of thought. In other words, you need to "structure" your thinking to get the best result(s), and the author gives you 14 "powerful" techniques for doing so. There's a lot of good stuff in this book. Unfortunately, some of it's very simple and readable while the rest is complex and turgid. I can see this book being handed out at a management training seminar. But it's far too weighty for most of the decisions you'll make in a day. Glad I read it, but I probably won't use most of the techniques in my daily life.

Rating: 3

The Thiinker's Toolkit

I use this book when I teach intelligence analysis. It covers a good variety of techniques that can be used for analysis purposes. It has a good balance between essay type text and examples. It's humorous.

Rating: 5

Good condition, and very timely arrival

This product was in great condition, and it was sent to me in a timely manner. Thanks.

Rating: 4

Great Starter

I was first exposed to The Thinkers Toolkit during a basis critical thinking course I took a few years ago. I found it to be a good start on understanding the issues of critical thinking and it provided some excellent tools for the reader to understand. While it is not the end all for the exploration of critical thinking it provides an excellent start for the novice and a good review for someone who is rusty in the process. I currently use the book as a basic read for new analysts I'm working with. I've read the previous complaints about the difficulties with some of the examples in the book but have to admit I've found the same issue in most of the books I've read on the subject. This is a solid book that can be of true assistance to the novice in particular.

Rating: 4

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