The Thinker's Toolkit

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View books by Morgan Jones.

A definitive collection of analytical techniques - Rated
Whilst the title of this book is `Techniques for Problem Solving' it is more a mixture of problem solving and analytical techniques. These techniques will help you clearly define your problem and then assess the impact of any potential solution. The book is full of examples and worked exercises which allow the reader learn and apply the techniques first hand. The writing is very accessible and easy to follow allowing the book to be used as either a text or reference book.

Whilst the book helps you define the problem you still need to come up with potential solutions. A number of times in the text the read is asked to `think of as many solution to...'; little reference is made to techniques which could develop these potential solutions and so to help this creative process you make want to consider brainstorming, mind mapping or Lateral Thinking books in addition this one.

Good for analytic tools and many exercises - Rated
I marked this down as it breezes over creative tools, which to be fair isn't the main thrust of the book. It takes its time covering various forms of tree and matrix, and builds a whole set of these to get to the 14 tools mentioned on the cover.

Devil's advocacy is skimmed but the coverage of Hypothesis Testing is excellent. I also like the focus on definition.

The book was clearly put together for a US market and I found that many examples didn't work at all (political or US history not widely known outside of the US). I suspect the author didn't consider international publication.

Overall a good addition to the library and I will be re-visiting

must read book for everyone - Rated
You might be coming from any background like student, professional or retired, from any industry; this book is a must to read.

My parents call me 'Crap' and 'Stupid'. Well truly, I lack thinking on my own and can not take decisions. I found it very difficult to make decisions as part of my work.

But this book has changed my life completely. I have read book only once and its amazing. It can be used as a reference as well, if you are having problem with making a decision, just go through the book and you will definitely find one of the given techniques useful.

A nice reference book...a cookbook for decision making - Rated
This book is a nice reference that captures the majority of problem solving techniques: a cookbook for decision making. The analytical techniques range from problem restatement to constructing an advanced utility matrix. It's useful in both daily life, business, and science.

Thinker's Toolkit also contains very useful examples and exercises. They immediately demonstrate to the reader where common decision making falls short.

On the down side, the book is a 'dry' read at times.

Great Tool. - Rated
A book to keep at your desk to use when your brain shuts down and you think there is no hope.