Smart Thinking for Crazy Times: The Art of Solving the Right Problems

by Ian I. Mitroff

Book Overview

Managers, organizations, and even whole societies repeatedly get trapped into solving the wrong problems precisely. Ian Mitroff demonstrates that the majority of serious management errors can be... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1576750205
• ISBN13: 9781576750209
• Release Date: January 1998
• Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 7.7" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Asks the right questions

The book's impact was made at the end of the first chapter. There I read Critical Questions and tried to answer them. These weren't questions about the material I had just read, but questions about me and my organization and how we deal with problems. Subsequently, the end of each chapter brought more questions to work on.The book focuses on the problem solving process and the search for the real problem. Many management books solve predefined problems, which are good books, as long as you're sure you've picked the right problem.The book is a quick read, interspersed with graphics that illustrates the text. Part 3 of the three part book delves into systematic thinking and touches on Jungian analysis, personality types, 5 Ways of Thinking, and even 12-Step programs.As the saying goes, "Identifying a problem is half way to solving a problem." This book will help you find the right problem.

5 thinking strategies for group problem solving

Mitroff's book offers a refreshingly fast walkthrough of the complexity of problem-solving. Scorning the usual breathless introductions about how fast things change, Mitroff focuses hard on 5 ways we confound ourselves when trying to address problems with ourselves or with others. I found the first two sections, on how to formulate problems, and how we choose (the wrong) stakeholders highly illuminating. The exercises were significantly difficult and useful, because they required real-life application, they did not simulate it. A limited amount of philosophy on aspects of cognitive science and psychology made the work feel as grounded in academia as it feels in business and professional contexts.