Problem Solving 101: A Simple Book for Smart People

This is a short book that you can, even with note-taking, read within a couple hours. (Without note-taking--not recommended!--you could finish the book in about half the time.) If I recall correctly, the book was originally written for children and, while the language isn't juvenile, it's still simple and snappy. Not a difficult read, yet bursting with good advice. Watanabe lays out numerous simple strategies you can use to solve problems. These range from interviewing a select number of people to create logic trees. He cautions us to think beyond our regular thinking processes, beyond our typical conclusions and our preconceptions. If you read the book and take notes, you'll leave with a wealth of advice that's so simple! If you're used to doing problem-solving in your daily life because of your job or schooling (for example, I'm a software engineer), some of this advice will seem familiar. That's probably because it is! And it never hurts to review. For the length of the book, it's a bit expensive. For the usefulness of the content? Nearly priceless.

Watanabe wrote this book as an introduction to practical critical thinking designed especially for the Japanese educational system, which faces some of the same challenges that the Chinese system faces when it comes to critical thought processes. The book is targeted at middle school students, but can be profitably read by anyone. The primary value of the book is that it deals with practical critical thinking (that is, problem solving) as opposed to information-analysis critical thinking, which is used primarily to decide whether or not we ought to agree with propositions or actions that are being urged on us and is taken up with logical structures and standards of evidence. The latter type of critical thinking is, of course, quite necessary, but it is almost the only thing that one generally sees in critical thinking textbooks. The book has four sections: a description of the dispositions of effective problem solvers (invaluable and a nice addition to my current dispositions lecture), finding root causes, setting and pursuing goals, and making decisions. Each of them explains how things are done using an extended illustration of a particular school kid drawn as a cute little cartoon animal. It would be a phenomenal basis for an upper elementary or middle school CT class, along with a similar volume on info-analysis critical thinking.

I like the thinking process of the Miss Mushroom example, which effectively demonstrates the application of the logical thinking process. However, it's worth noting that this book doesn't provide an in-depth theoretical foundation for the logical thinking process. If you're inclined to delve into comprehensive theory, consider searching the logical thinking process and use this book as its companion example.

A surprising simple and useful reference book for decision making. Although Ken Watanabe was a consultant dealing with business decision makers, he showed his incisive self by illustrating decision tools using 3 intriguing stories. 5 decision making tools were introduced: logic tree, Yes/No tree, problem solving design plan, hypothesis pyramid, and pros and cons evaluation table. Some salient points: 1. Problem solving isn't a talent. It's a habit. By developing the right skills and adopting the right attitude, anyone can become a problems solving kid. 2. Problem solving is a process that can be broken down into four steps: (a) understand the current situation; (b) identify the root cause of the problem; (c) develop an effective action plan; and (d) execute until the problem is solved. making modifications as necessary. 3. You have to keep asking the "why" and "how" to develop a custom made action plane. 4. On problem solving design plan, if you start collecting and analysing data without first clarifying the question you are trying to answer, you're probably doing yourself more harm than good, and realise later that most of the research was a waste of time. To avoid this problem, you should develop a problem-solving design plan before you start chasing after information. In the design plan, you clarify the issues you are trying to solve, state your current hypotheses and rationale, and list the analyses, actions, and information required to prove or disprove those hypotheses, drastically increase your problem-solving productivity. Additionally, putting your plan down on paper will not only clarify your thoughts. If you are working in a group, this plan will also help your team to focus on what needs to be done and provide the jumping-off point for your group brainstorming. You will be able to focus on only what you really need to know to make a decision. 5. The 5 columns for a problem-solving design plan are issue, hypothesis, rationale, analysis/activities and information source. 6. When you set a goal get into the habit of asking yourself, "What specifically do I want to achieve? When do I want to achieve it? What specific conditions do I have?" 7. There are 2 forms of hypothesis, an argument structure and grouping structure. Unlike the grouping structure, with an argument structure, if one of the statements is untrue, the main conclusion is automatically false. 8. Impact = plan effectiveness x quality of execution 9. Once you have a concrete plan of action to achieve your goal, don't forget to create a concrete schedule. Write down everything you are going to do, and when you plan to do it. 10. We tend to be swayed by our first impressions. If we first think something is attractive, we tend to try to collect evidence that supports that idea. On the other hand, if we think something is unattractive, we tend to highlight only its negative points. It is critical to avoid this tendency in order to make a sound decision. 11. These are more than just tools for organising your thoughts. They help point out information you might be missing and bring up questions you may need to ask yourself along the way about what you really think is important. 12. We often make important decisions without taking enough time to think through the options and to track down accurate information. 13. The most important thing for you is to be surrounded by great players that you get to both play with and compete against on a daily basis. Also get as much playing time as possible by playing real games under pressure. 14. Luck is what happens wen preparation meets opportunity. 15. Spend less time worrying about things and more time thinking about actions you can take to get closer to your goals, then actually take action. 16. Problem solving is easy when you now how to set a clear goal, figure out how to reach it, and follow through while reviewing your progress and making changes to your plan as necessary.

This book amazes me in how to illustrate an ideal problem solver in simple and straigt to the point explanation. Basically, all we are kids, who are eager to learn everything in fun way. This book teachs us in such way. It can be improve, though. It will be better if the author give last chapter that summarize all critical points and stories througout the book. Therefore, the readers can internalize the content in their memory. It also helps readers to revisit the book to refer any lesson they find useful in their real life problems. I recommend this book to 7 up to 77 years old "kids" who want having their life within their own control to reach goals which lead to happiness. :)

This is unexpected such a great and useful book. It offers a problem solving methods given in a simple example that mostly student or people faced in life to make a fairly executed decision. This book is a must read for all especially those whom always have problem with problem solving.

Es un libro estupendo, muy ameno y que enseña lo que promete. Lo aconsejo sin duda.

This book helped me make up my mind about pursuing a career in management consulting, an easy 5 stars!

I decided to read this book after a training course at my company. The training itself wasn’t as good as I expected, but the topic sounded interesting to me. So I bought the book — and it was an amazing surprise. In a structured and easy-to-follow way, the book shows us how to solve any kind of problem. It explains the process through simple and funny stories. I highly recommend this book to anyone who, like me, spends a lot of time thinking about the problem instead of taking action in a systematic way to reach their goals.

Easy to understand