Whether these books are old friends or new acquaintances, savor the ideas included in this book flight the way you might enjoy a flight of chocolate or fine cheese. How might slowing down and sampling a range of ideas in relation to one another reveal new insight?
SIX THINKING HATS
Edward De Bono
PAGE THROUGH FOR:
Practical Thinking Tools * Collaboration Strategies * Clarity
A LINGERING NOTE:
“The main difficulty of thinking is confusion. We try to do too much at once. Emotions, information, logic, hope, and creativity all crowd in on us. It is like juggling with too many balls.”
THE RIGHT WORD: ROGET AND HIS THESAURUS
Jen Bryant, illustrated by Melissa Sweet
PAGE THROUGH FOR:
Backstory on Roget * Inspiration * Word Play and Visual Delight
A LINGERING NOTE:
“But Peter’s word lists were not just scribbles. Words, Peter learned, were powerful things. And when he put them into long, neat rows, he felt as if the world itself clicked into order.”
DESIGNING YOUR LIFE
Bill Burnett & Dave Evans
PAGE THROUGH FOR:
Optimism * Design Thinking * Goal Setting and Problem-Solving Tools
A LINGERING NOTE:
“Our brains are so tightly wired to be critical, find problems, and leap to judgment that it’s a wonder any ideas ever make it out! We have to defer judgment and silence the inner critic if we want to get all our ideas out. If we don’t, we may have a few good ideas, but the majority will have been lost—silently imprisoned behind the wall of judgment our prefrontal cortex has erected to safeguard us from making mistakes or looking foolish.”
TOGETHER:
Fresh perspective on the value of thinking about our thinking, and tools for doing so effectively.
I’M LEFT CONSIDERING:
How might I sort out thinking tasks and develop personal, customized
thinking tools as an antidote to my inner critic? What tools might serve
as a flashlight to illuminate the dark corners of my mind where fear
lurks? How might I think about my thinking just enough to give
my subconscious structure and freedom within which to play?
