Why Not? How to Use Everyday Ingenuity to Solve Problems Big and Small

This book was required for a class, but it was the best required reading I've ever had. I would read it if it were not required if I had known how good it was. I'm terrible at judging books by covers, and don't do a lot of reading, but this was definitely a great book. It does what it says it will do - teaches skills and different ways of thinking to solve any kind of problem.

I just bought this because I loaned my copy and the person moved and never returned it. Changed my way of looking at possibilities.

Why Not? called out to me from the bookshelf. This was odd because I'd not enjoyed reading in years. In the end I picked it up. This was three years ago. Why Not? ignited a passion that still fuels my love for books. Right now I am reading Super Crunchers by Ian Ayers.

Below are five key lessons from the book, in the form of excerpts:1- "Some people have the notion that coming up with concrete solutions for real-world problems is somehow reserved for the experts - that the techniques for innovation are beyond the capacity of the typical person. Baloney. Innovation is a skill that can be taught. And what's more, the potential for innovation is all around us. The problem is that the sense of innovation as everyday ingenuity often gets lost in our high-tech world. That is a problem we aim to fix with this book."2- "Most "original" ideas aren't completely original, but instead are the result of two basic methods for generating ideas: problems in search of solutions and solutions in search of problems. People usually think of problem solving as a search for solutions. But in everything we do, we look for symmetries. Thus, we also see that problem solving can be a search for problems once you've found a good solution. Both approaches have their advantages."3- "What would Croesus do? Why Don't you feel my pain? Where else would it work? Would flipping it work?...We have now introduced four central idea-generating tools: WWCD, internalization, translation, and symmetry...Now, you might be asking, are these the only tools out there for generating ideas? The answer is clearly no. There are rich theories of how scientific discoveries play out over time - incrementally adding to our knowledge through systematic and painstaking experimentation. But our why-not tools are geared toward discovering solutions that in a sense already exist but have just bot been put into effect...You need to learn different tools because some solutions can best be found with particular tools."4- "Principled problem solving means that you take into account the principles that any solution must satisfy. The more of these principles you can identify, the closer you are to the solution. There may be fewer options to explore, but those are the right ones to focus on...While we typically think of filters as constraints, we want to convince you that identifying the underlying attributes of any solution can be liberating and can actually help you generate ideas."5- "Coming up with a great idea is only the beginning of the battle. If you really want to change your company or the world, you need to sell the idea and you need others to buy in. The art of persuasion is particularly important because, and we've repeatedly emphasized, many ideas for great new products or services are not great ideas to start new businesses. Sometimes - usually, in fact - the best entity to put the idea into practice will be an existing firm. Even if your idea is, objectively speaking, brilliant, you won't necessarily have an easy time selling others on it. Be prepared to encounter remarkable levels of resistance and prejudice along the way."

Couldn’t even get around to reading it bc the print quality was like looking at fuzzy print and was uncomfortable

Not so many new or interesting ideas

There's nothing I like better than ideas, and this book is full of them. Better yet, this book offers a road map for discovering new and better ideas. These ideas can help you solve vexing problems, build a business, invent a new product or service, or simply help mankind. The authors have a down-to-earth attitude and an easy writing style.Charles L. Hooper, coauthor Making Great Decisions in Business and Life

A recommended read for those who need structure in conjuring up the creative forces of their intellect. The book is punctuated with tons of relevant examples to illustrate each method. A great resource for existing and would be entrepreneurs.

Super bouquin et livraison rapide (il est arrivé 8 jours avant sa date prévue).

The book that I received seemed to be very old, looked like a used one. The cover was not clean and had black stains. The pages had turned yellowish. Hope to see better products from Amazon.

1) 金持ちになったつもりで考える(リソースの制限を無視する)2) 問題を内部化させてインテンションを同一化させる3) 本質を引き出し、応用を考える4) 本質を論理的に記述した上で、各部分を逆転させて見るの4つがこの本に書かれている問題解決法。1, 3, 4 は純粋に技術的な発想法で、殆ど古典に近いのですが、本当に役に立ちます。あらためてこうして見直しても、なるほど、と納得する事が多い。2 は純技術ではなく、人間の集団の対立を緩和する手法、として優れていると思います。このように捕らえた事はなかったので心がけてみよう、と思いました。全体として、万人、誰もが読んでおいて損のない本だと思います。なお「発想法の説明」なので、読みながら手近な問題に適用して見た方が、理解はしやすいかと思います。

A la recherche de schémas d'innovation ? D'angle de réflexion différent ? Ou simplement de façons iconoclastes d'aborder des problèmes économiques ou de la vie courante ? Ce livre est fait pour vous.