Thinkertoys: A Handbook of Creative-Thinking Techniques

By Michael Michalko

Rethink the Way You Think
 
In hindsight, every great idea seems obvious. But how can you be the person who comes up with those ideas?
In this revised and expanded edition of his groundbreaking Thinkertoys, creativity expert Michael Michalko reveals life-changing tools that will help you think like a genius. From the linear to the intuitive, this comprehensive handbook details ingenious creative-thinking techniques for approaching problems in unconventional ways. Through fun and thought-provoking exercises, you’ll learn how to create original ideas that will improve your personal life and your business life. Michalko’s techniques show you how to look at the same information as everyone else and see something different.
 
With hundreds of hints, tricks, tips, tales, and puzzles, Thinkertoys will open your mind to a world of innovative solutions to everyday and not-so-everyday problems.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Dec 1, 2010
• ISBN: 9780307757906

Michael Michalko

Michael Michalko is one of the most highly acclaimed creativity experts in the world. He has given speeches, workshops, and seminars on fostering creative thinking for clients ranging from Fortune 500 corporations — such as DuPont, Kellogg’s, General Electric, Kodak, Microsoft, Exxon, General Motors, Ford, AT&T, Wal-Mart, Gillette, and Hallmark — to associations and government agencies. As an officer in the U.S. Army, he organized a team of NATO intelligence specialists and international academics in Frankfurt, Germany, to research, collect, and categorize all known inventive-thinking methods. His team then applied these methods to various new and old NATO military, political, and economic problems and produced an assortment of breakthrough ideas and creative solutions. Michael later applied these creative-thinking techniques to problems in the corporate world with outstanding success. The companies he worked with were thrilled with the breakthrough results they achieved, and Michael has since been in the business of developing and teaching creative-thinking workshops and seminars for corporate clients around the world. His website is www.creativethinking.net.

Reviews for Thinkertoys

[emresevinc · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

We are all born as talented artists but what do we forget as we grow? Michael Michalko helps us remember what we already unconsciously knew or simply did as we were creative kids. But make no mistakes, this book is not the silver bullet for all of your problems. You must be patient, very open-minded, not slave to the habit or discipline (just for the sake of discipline) and move along your way to being much more creative. I really liked the structure of the book and I think I can use it as a creativity and problem solving reference, a kind of handbook. I have already read 'Mind Performance Hacks' and 'Pragmatic Thinking & Learning' which referred to some famous techniques and examples in this solid book. Be warned: some of you may find the overuse of anecdotes disturbing or not very theoretical but grasping the essence of some of them will be very helpful.

[tahanix_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I decided to buy this (piece of art) book just by skimming the Table-Of-Contents.When i started reading, i was really stunned by the classification and thoughts flow through the book. Now, i'm holding the MindMap i've generated for this book on my mobilephone wherever i go, been using it for a while and the resulting thoughts are really more than spectacular. I think i can find another solution for every problem i try to solve just by applying ideas from this book.I really recommend this book to anyone who's, like me, always seeking a new point-of-view.

[markdeo · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Great in tandem with "Cracking Creativity". I respect Mr. Michalko's work. I was flooded with ideas. I refer to these books all the time. I highly recommend.