Pragmatic Thinking and Learning: Refactor Your Wetware

I must admit that while I am pretty wary when it comes to self-help stuff, I am also very tempted by the whole concept.
Wouldn't it be great if GTD really made me a superhuman? Wouldn't it be great if "The Zone Diet" transformed me in a Charlie Atlas? Wouldn't it be great if Agile Methodologies really cured my baldness?

Most of the time I resist, and combat my urges by reading articles about the XP, and book reviews on Amazon to get a vague idea of what the latest fad is.

Considering I found The Pragmatic Programmer really good, I decided to see if the no-nonsense (but at the same time optimistic) spirit of the original work could make the difference.

I am happy to report that yes, the book is written in the same style, and most of it is show more interesting, well thought-out, and clearly and concisely explained. Even if you - like me - have already read a bit about most of the "tricks" (or tools) like Mind Maps, GTD, etc. the book as a whole still has merits. In fact, even if you already knew everything it will still prove valuable, because you can lend it to some colleague, or friend, and give them a glimpse to things they may be interested in learning.

I think this is the crux of the matter: this is not a book that everybody should buy. But I think that everyone should read it. So buy a copy, and lend it around... show less

If you poke around the internet, there probably isn't much new in this book for you. However, I'm very happy it is all in one place. There are good tidbits in there, and I will give the whole thing another quick skim. It is sort of dated in places, like focusing on a personal Wiki, since there are no doubt lots of other choices (maybe Evernote, for example?).

In any case, I'm happy I bought and read this. It has encouraged and guided me into what actions I need to take on my future goals and learning explorations.

Integrates a lot of bits and pieces from a wide variety of sources, which makes it a great one-stop compilation. I enjoyed the cross-pollination between nursing, software engineering, De Bono, writing, mind mapping, neuroscience, Getting Things Done, HR, etc. Lots of helpful ideas for keeping the brain stimulated in good ways and minimizing the less helpful ways we tend to use them.

I'm an educator, not a programmer, but I found all kinds of practical techniques for thinking and learning in this book that I'm already applying with great success! You'll think about learning and productivity in a whole new way after reading this book.

Pleasant, easy to read.

An interesting journey throughout Dreyfus Model, Sperry's Split-Brain Model, Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, Lizard Logic and others social, psychological and neuro-linguistic studies.

During the various topics an enjoyable mix of mind maps, writing, SQ3R, planning and even meditating, offers us hints and advices to stimulate curiosity, awareness and our mind.

I liked it! I would recommend it! It's got lots of good mental models and actionable advice for getting started, staying strong, and doing great work. There's nothing original or breathtaking here, but it's a good compendium of pop-psych.

Easy read. Valuable insight into the larger picture of career development.