University of Minnesota - UMN Executive Leadership Insights
Think Better
Book

Think Better

An Innovator's Guide to Productive Thinking

Tim Hurson
McGraw-Hill, 2007
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Editorial Rating

7

Qualities

  • Well Structured
  • For Beginners

Recommendation

Tim Hurson begins with a simple premise: Anyone can learn to “think better” – in other words, more creatively and productively. He says that by applying his methods, anyone can reliably come up with fresh ideas and solutions. If you’ve dipped into the fields of creativity, innovation or brainstorming before, you may find yourself nodding along, since his initial ideas are not surprising. Similarly, some of the techniques Hurson offers and the examples he shares to illustrate them will be familiar to anyone who has even a passing acquaintance with the field. However, others of his techniques are new. Hurson supplies prompts, basic diagrams, questions and examples. He adores mnemonics, formulas and acronyms. The book is written clearly and simply enough to appeal to inexperienced readers. However, getAbstract especially recommends it to managers and trainers with knowledge of the field; you’ll be more able to quickly see the distinctions between Hurson’s techniques and other brainstorming methods and appreciate the value he is offering.

Summary

Thinking About Thinking

Many people believe that thinking ability is innate – but that’s not true. Anyone can – and should – learn to think better than he or she does right now. The economy is shifting: No longer based on things, it’s now based on information. Thus, your company’s greatest asset is its ability to understand and manipulate information and ideas.

As the first step in improving your thinking, you must face the unpleasant reality that you don’t think as much as you assume you do. No one does. Instead, most people avoid thinking whenever possible; indeed, avoidance is so common that you can categorize the techniques for doing so.

These are the main types:

  1. “Monkey mind” – This is how Buddhists describe mental distraction. The mind wanders and jumps from thought to thought like an agitated monkey in a tree.
  2. “Gator brain” – This is the brain’s most primitive part – its reptilian core. Its main concern is survival. The alligator has only a small repertoire of responses to new stimuli: Eat them, have sex with them, fight them, run away from them or freeze and hope they will go away. When threatened, ...

About the Author

Tim Hurson is a founding director of Facilitators Without Borders and a founding partner of thinkx, a firm providing training in productive thinking and innovation.

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