The Unbounded Mind: Breaking the Chains of Traditional Business Thinking

I enjoyed reading this a year ago, and recently bought a copy as a gift. I remembered it as a "light" read, but it's really fairly long. The authors give you a memorable perspective on how there are completely different ways of viewing decisions - appeal to consensus; appeal to facts; appeal to authority, etc. You may take that for grant, but the book really brings this perspective alive and points out that modern-world decision making requires more complex approaches that ever before.

This book examines the difficult task of formulating the structure of particularly complex, or wicked, problems. Wicked problems often do not have "right" or "wrong" solutions, and progress on one aspect of such a problem often leads to new problems on another aspect. By defining the multiple perspectives of stakeholders in these problem "messes", Mitroff and Linstone illustrate how one can begin to approach "solving" them in a reasonable fashion.

While this is not a book to be read for entertainment, it will certainly surprise and excite those who wish to better understand our every day decision making processes. I highly recommend it for those who need to think quickly and efficiently in business, or even for anyone who just wants to better understand their own decision making patterns for better or for worse. You'll need at least a couple of weeks to get through this one, and I would recommend reading it with a friend so you can discuss each chapter as you progress throuh the book.