Pragmatic Thinking and Learning: Refactor Your Wetware

I had this book on my Wish List for a long time before I decided to buy it. Why? I figured that yet another book on mind mapping and other brain train techniques would not add an awful lot what I already knew. Boy was I wrong. Yes, brain training is a good part of this book but it offers far more than that. The Dreyfus model does not only help you to place yourself on your own journey to being an expert (if that is what you want) but it also provides invaluable insights into how to work with others, keeping their strengths and weaknesses in clear sight. Next, getting in the right 'brain mode' will help you to apply those brain train methods far more effectively than you'll have done until now. At least it did for me. Andy explains just how to tune your mind to the right frequency to pick up all those little nuggets of gold that would normally get lost in the static. I could go on like this for a while, mentioning 'brain debugging', personal investment plans or how I actually started applying the deliberate learning techniques outlined in this book while reading it and came out with a far more ready recollection of its content, even weeks later. But in short, you should get this book. The information in this book will apply to you whether you are a computer scientist, work in sales or manage your local cooking club as a hobby.

I told my co-workers they should only bother with this book if they were interested in programming or thinking. :-) Like almost all of the books in the Pragmatic series this book pays for itself in the first few pages. The simple assertion that you write code in your brain not in an editor was worth the price of admission. Besides being a software developer I'm also a Tai Chi instructor and I was struck by how applicable the book is to both endevours. This book is what the military calls a force multiplier...rather than just teaching you a new fact/skill/technology it helps teach you how to learn, and that can be applied across the board. Its also a fun read.

I enjoying learning and thinking, they are some of the activities that lead me into software development in the first place. I was very interested to find this book on two of my favorite subjects and gave it a try. Not all of the ideas are new. I do a few things that are mentioned and have done some others in the past. The real value to me was the new idea juxtaposed with the things I'm familiar with and a better overall perspective of the thinking and learning process. Some of the more interesting bits, to me, were how to engage more of the non logical parts of my brain in my thinking, debugging the mind, the use of the Dreyfus Model of skills, the use of mind maps and some of the general organizational tools. I encourage everyone in the software industry to pick the book up and give it a try. There is one small problem with the book, if you could call it that. Following the principle of writing what you know about, the book includes many examples geared enough towards software engineering that I'm can't recommend my parents should buy a copy. Though, I might loan them mine for a little while and see if my work will buy me another copy.

I tend to gravitate towards books that explore how the mind works, and how you might be able to manipulate it into better performance. Naturally, when I saw that Andy Hunt's Pragmatic Thinking and Learning: Refactor Your Wetware had been released, it went up on my to-be-reviewed list. Hunt does a great job in exploring your "wetware", and there were some chapters that squarely addressed certain issues I'm currently dealing with. Content: Journey from Novice to Expert: Novices vs. Experts; The Five Dreyfus Model Stages; Dreyfus at Work - Herding Racehorses and Racing Sheep; Using the Dreyfus Model Effectively; Beware the Tool Trap; Consider the Context, Again; Day-to-Day Dreyfus This Is Your Brain: Your Dual-CPU Modes; Capture Insight 24x7; Linear and Rich Characteristics; Rise of the R-mode; R-mode Sees Forest, L-mode Sees Trees; DIY Brain Surgery and Neuroplasticity; How Do You Get There? Get in Your Right Mind: Turn Up the Sensory Input; Draw on the Right Side; Engage an R-mode to L-mode Flow; Harvest R-mode Cues; Harvesting Patterns; Get It Right Debug Your Mind: Meet Your Cognitive Biases; Recognize Your Generational Affinity; Codifying Your Personality Tendencies; Exposing Hardware Bugs; Now I Don't Know What to Think Learn Deliberatively: What Learning Is... and Isn't; Target SMART Objectives; Create a Pragmatic Investment Plan; Use Your Primary Learning Mode; Work Together, Study Together; Used Enhanced Learning Techniques; Read Deliberately with SQ3R; Visualize Insight with Mind Maps; Harness the Real Power of Documenting; Learn by Teaching; Take It to the Streets Gain Experience: Play in Order to Learn; Leverage Existing Knowledge; Embed Failing in Practice; Learn About the Inner Game; Pressure Kills Cognition; Imagination Overrides Senses; Learn It like an Expert Manage Focus: Increase Focus and Attention; Defocus to Focus; Manage Your Knowledge; Optimize Your Current Context; Manage Interruptions Deliberately; Keep a Big Enough Context; How to Stay Sharp Beyond Expertise: Effective Change; What to Do Tomorrow Morning; Beyond Expertise Photo Credits; Bibliography; Index Hunt starts with something called the Dreyfus model, which is a way to look at how people learn and acquire new skills. You start as a Novice, someone who has little to no experience. You can follow a "recipe" to get a result, but you don't know the reasons behind much of what is being done. You're just accomplishing a task. Next comes Advanced Beginner. You can break out of the step-by-step mode a bit, but troubleshooting is still a major obstacle. Think of it as having no "big picture" of the overall subject. Stage 3 is Competent. You can start to apply your knowledge to problems you haven't encountered before, and you can figure out the context behind what you're facing. This is where the largest group of people end up. Stage 4 is Proficient, which means you need the details AND the overall picture. You can learn from the mistakes of others, and

If you have read and loved any of Andy's books like the foundational book "The Pragmatic Programmer", you will not be disappointed here. Those of us that are constantly chasing the changing technologies and despite our best efforts continue to fall behind, this book gives some amazing insight into learning more effectively. I must admit I have not completed the book yet. But even with less than half of the book behind me, I feel empowered to begin approaching my career development (programmer) with new found optimism and enthusiasm. Put down (temporarily) whatever "must learn" tech book you are stumbling through right now and pick this one up. When Andy is finished with you, I guarantee you will be able to "pick up" that new technology more quickly. I don't know how many new technologies I've waded into and felt discouraged because despite my best efforts, it was taking too long for me to 'get it'. On another note, if you have been a fan of GTD (Getting Things Done) and still feel something was missing, I sincerely think Andy's helpful hints will give you the skills you need to get the most out of your brain.