Donald J. Noone

I'm always a sucker for short books that promise to educate you in complex subjects in about an hour. This is one of these books; A Barrons business success guide. But it's always mystified me that the business section in bookshops should be so large. Surely there was a finite amount one could say about basic 9or even complex) economics etc. And this book just tackles one aspect of Business:....Problem solving.
In fact, of course, problem solving is not restricted to business. It is equally of concern to artists and to Doctors. And the techniques set out here can be applied to pretty much any field.
I was first introduced to the idea that creativity could be learned and taught by finding one of the first books by Edward De Bono. I think it was called "lateral thinking". and I notice many of the same techniques re-occurring in the current book under review. (As an aside, I noticed most of the same techniques being regurgitated in various guises by Edward de Bono himself in all his subsequent books. It seems there is something of a ceiling on creative thinking).
What I did find interesting in this book by Donald Noone was that he actually starts out with defining a "problem" and makes the rather profound observation that John Smith arriving at 9.15am for work when everybody else arrives at 9am is not necessarily a problem for others......so you don't have to elevate it into a problem and start "solving" it.
Noone has most of the standard sorts of problem solving (but also suggest that you keep fit and exercise...which I found interesting but not sure how relevant it is). So he covers; question everything....how, who, where, why, when etc., mind mapping/brain storming.....quite a good idea here to link mind map with a time chart for the day, random word association......eg yoghurt paper, quantum leap thinking (eg lift your goal from $1 million to $1 billion). Once you have some ideas Noone suggests techniques for prioritising; Basically ranking, pros and cons, and selecting actionable ideas. He also has a section on dealing with stress ...or when problems are overwhelming. A few good suggestions here; do something positive....however small. make a list of things you are grateful for. And right at the end he has a set of rules for creative thinking. It reads a bit like the "Meditations of Marcus Aurelius" but really it's pretty good and more or less a summary of the whole book.
Quite a nice little book which does what it promises to do. In fact, I'm not sure if one needs 300 books in the business section of a bookshop dealing with creative thinking etc. if you have this single little book. I think it's maybe better than de Bono's because it's not filled with the self-promotion of de Bono's work. Happy to give it 5 stars.… (mer)