Karl Albrecht

This book is a good summary of various thinking strategies aimed at solving business and engineering problems. The neuro-science is very out-dated. If you're not up on current theories, you should look into them before investing time in implementing suggestions based on "how the brain works." However, this is a very small part of the book. The book is very well set up to skim, so you can pull out ideas that are relevant to things you are working on currently and leave the rest for another time.

While there are some irritations with Albrecht’s book – he quotes himself rather too often and his self-designed psychometric is too simplistic - it is nevertheless a valuable read largely because of its pragmatic approach. Albrecht lists five categories of SI that individuals need to constantly monitor and improve in – situational awareness, presence, authenticity, clarity and empathy. This is a book for practioners rather than academics, and so for each of these categories he show more provides insightful stories and helpful tips as to how a person might develop their capacity to influence others effectively. show less

Albrecht brings together into one volume, simply titled yet not simply addressed, per his own list, a treating of:
1. Fact finding
2. Crap detecting
3. Thinking on your feet
4. Idea production
5. Problem solving and decision making
6. Happying.

You gather knowledge, filter the pseudo-facts, use the knowledge for everyday living, creativity, making the right decisions and the author links the intellectual and emotional components of the mind.

An excellent read.

Informational without being inspirational. That's a good thing.