Jack's Notebook: A Business Novel about Creative Problem Solving

Earlier today I was reading some book reviews written by others regarding some of the books I have recently reviewed myself. I was looking at some of the reviews for Smart Women and Small Business (ISBN: 0471778680) and one of the reviewers wrote: "Honestly, I have yet to read a book that truly has creative ideas on how to make the leap from a salaried job to the right small business with as little risk as possible, which I feel holds many back." Well, I suspect the instant book, Jack's Notebook, is probably a book she has missed, because it does go into depth explaining how its star character Jack used the Creative Problem Solving (CPS) process to make the leap from a salaried job to the right small business. The author explains how the CPS process involves three phases: (1) Problem Exploration, (2) Brainstorming, and (3) Getting into Action. And the six steps of CPS were identified as follows: 1. ID the Challenge 2. Facts and Feelings Exploration 3. Problem Framing and Reframing 4. Idea Generation 5. Solution Development 6. Action Planning It's just a rehash of the same old story my father used to tell me until it sunk in. He'd say: "Son, you've got a problem. You first have to understand your problem. Then you think up the various alternatives to solving your problem (and you can because you understand it). And then pick one of those alternatives and do it." The author even says somewhere in the book: If you really understand a problem, solutions come easily. So if you want to jump out of the corporate rat-race and start your own business, and you are procrastinating the move, then I recommend you read this book. I seriously believe it will help you take the necessary steps to follow your dreams. 5 stars!

I first discovered Gregg Fraley's new book Jack's Notebook: A business novel about creative problem solving on InBubbleWrap.com. Gregg's diverse background, founding and managing high-flying technology companies to working as a television producer, captured my imagination. I thought, "a man with such an interesting career path must have something compelling share." I was right. Gregg shares the Creative Problem Solving (CPS) process in Jack's Notebook that's an essential tool that knowledge workers should learn.

Jack has climbed beanstalks, sold cows, beaten giants and entertained readers and storylisteners from more than 150 years. Now he has done saved the damsel, solved a business problem and beaten yet another horrible giant (business), while teaching the reader principles about creative thinking and introducing the most famous CREATIVE SOLVING PROCESS, the Osborn-Parnes Creative Problem Solving Process. "Jack's Notebook" is a fun read, A page turner throughout from when Jack first meets his mentor on a rainy night to when he meets the damsel Molly and finally teams up with many creative people to save two damsels. I highly recommend Gregg's book for people to learn more about creative thinking and creative problem solving and to people who enjoy reading a "page turner" mystery novel.

As most people know, this book uses a fictional story to relate the concepts of creativity and how to use brainstorming, lists, reframing and other methods for creative thinking. The book has an interesting plot that should keep the reader turning the pages through the book, especially through the first 100 pages. The last half of the book veers slightly off track from the Creative Problem Solving (CPS) process that Fraley is trying to describe, but it is still an interesting read. The story follows the main character named "Jack" (surprised?) as he realizes that there is something more to life. Jack meets a mentor who explains the concepts of brainstorming and other creative thinking methods and helps Jack understand what it is that he wants to do in life. The major portion of the book follows a few different stories with the major plot finding Jack falling in love and then having to find ways to keep his new-found love alive (literally). I would recommend the book to anyone new to the creative thinking world since it brings the concepts of brainstorming and Creative Problem Solving to the reader in a manner that is easy to read and understand. I would tell people that have had some training in creative thinking to pass on the book if they were looking for deeper understanding of concepts. That said, even if you are knowledgeable in this area, you might still enjoy this book....it does provide a good fictional story that has some intelligence built in.

A very successful/creative attempt to demonstrate a theoretical process for thinking creatively in novel form. Using two fictional examples -- the first explores the career wishes of Jack, the second explores solutions to finding Jack's suspiciously missing girl friend -- an approach to solving problems that is not popularly understood is explicated and demonstrated in an intriguing and fun way. Supplemented with a Quick Reference Guide to the process and tips from the author, Gregg Fraley has presented a very approachable guide to creative problem solving that anyone looking for more creative approaches to everyday personal and business challenges should read.