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

This book should have been called, “How to Make Decisions,” as this is basically what it is – a series of frameworks for making decisions.

The first chapter has some business fiction – a company is arguing about whether or not to purchase a new delivery truck. I normally hate business fiction, and it’s cheesy and cringey to read, but this really rang true. I have sat through discussions just like that one.

The author points out that the argument presented – which, again, is quite realistic – is the absolute wrong way to go about a decision like this. What follows are 14 different techniques for breaking down decisions just like that one. Each technique is supported by examples, and there are numerous places where you’re supposed to stop and do some exercises (I never did this).

Some of the techniques are quite good, while others get really tedious. Lots of matrices and trees, for example. I got lost a few times.

It ends well, with an overview of how to apply all the techniques to a single decision – first do this, then do this, then do that, etc.