Thinkertoys: A Handbook of Creative-Thinking Techniques (2nd Edition)

The first time I encountered 'Thinkertoys' it was actually the first edition released during the early 90's, when it was also about the time I began to explore the various options with regard to my mid-life transition. In fact, I had initially spotted an interesting review in the Entrepreneur magazine. I managed to trace the publisher & had immediately ordered the first 100 copies for my debut bookstore. It became the best seller in my store for many years. Then came 'Cracking Creativity' a few years later as well as the accompanying brainstorming card deck, Thinkpak, to 'Thinkertoys'. What impressed me most is not so much the creativity tools outlined in both books. In fact, the most productive learning experiences I got out of both books are a few very important things, which I would like to share with readers. Let's take a look at Thinkertoys. In the Introduction, the author started off with a visual puzzle: 'Can you identify the figure below?' Only by shifting your focus, you can then see the hidden word within the figure. In the author's own words, "...by changing your perspectives, you can expand your possibilities..." Let's move to 'Cracking Creativity'. In the Introduction, the author introduced a simple arithmetic equation: What is half of thirteen? The subsequent passages as outlined in Part I: Seeing What No One else in Seeing, & Strategy I: Knowing How to See, by the author revealed the secrets to getting many possible answers (or perspectives) to the above equation. No creativity tool outlined in the above two books (or elsewhere in the world, for that matter) can help you to become more creative until you fully understand - & appreciate - what the author is trying to drive home in his two books. In a nut shell, it basically boils down to one important thing: Use - & enhance - your power of vision! or power of observation! The author may not be the first person to postulate this crucial aspect of creativity. I would consider Leonardo da Vinci to be the first person to have understood & practised it religiously. He said, among a few other things, LEARN TO SEE THE WORLD. In fact, he put a lot of emphasis on using your senses, especially your sense of sight. Edward de Bono had also broached this valuable concept in his groundbreaking series of lateral thinking books, starting with 'Mechanism of Mind' in the 70's. I have always believed that you can't do things differently until you can see things differently. Learning to see the world anew & from different perspectives is imperative if one wants to be more creative. According to de Bono, creativity starts at the perceptual stage of thinking. He terms it, First Order Thinking. He added very beautifully: "This is where our perceptions & concepts are formed, & this is where they have to be changed. Most of the mistakes in thinking are inadequacies of perception rather than mistakes of logic." The creativity tools, whether they are from the author's books

Cracking Creativity was the first book I read, and reviewed from Michael Michalko, and what a book! Thinkertoys is Michael's first book and my second read. I also own Thinkpack, a creative card deck. All spectacular!In general, I would say that Thinkertoys is similar to Cracking Creativity, but Thinkertoys offers varied and many different creative techniques, "business creativity for the 90's." Michael explores artists, scientists, and numerous other creative thinkers to which seems the basis of his work. It's amazing the amount of material that was put into this book. Numerous quotes by Sun Tzu, there are also numerous diagrams and puzzles throughout this book. These mindbenders always seem to be related to the chapter, or the discussion at the time. These drawings, puzzles, and brainteasers really convey the message of what this whole book is about. That is what I like about this book is because it shows you, and you have to figure some things out. The book is set up into 4 different parts. Part One: Linear Thinkertoys, Part Two: Intuitive Thinkertoys, Part three: Group Thinkertoys, Part Four: Endtoys. And in these areas there are numerous techniques, storylines, brainteasers, and flaming hot ideas. It's not hard to try most of the techniques. Most of them merely require a pencil, a piece of paper, a problem or an idea. Michael gives a "Blueprint" (i.e. summary) of every major technique that he covers in the chapters.I have read other creativity books but Thinkertoys is very exceptional because it seems to me to be more proactive, I see the techniques and I immediately want to try them for myself. Thinkertoys is not just some dry language with endless paragraphs of explanation, as with some creativity books I have read. None of these other books will be mentioned here.As I have used many of the techniques, I personally like SCAMPER. In addition, I also use "6 Questions" with SCAMPER, and I also use "In what ways might I?" I have set it up and I use like this: For example, I use SCAMPER first on a problem. If I'm stuck on SCAMPER, or the problem, I move to the "6 Questions." If I am still stuck, I then move and use "In what ways might I?" They are all interchangeable, and can be moved or reversed. See,SCAMPER > 6 Questions > "In what ways might I?"<p>A powerful combination: SCAMPER<br>S = Substitute?<br>C = Create?<br>A = Add?<br>M = Modify<br>P = Put to other uses?<br>E = Eliminate?<br>R = Rearrange or Reverse?<p>6 Questions<br>Who? What? Where? When? Why? How?<p>In what ways might I?<p>This is my own little way to use some of the techniques. There is a large amount of techniques in Thinkertoys and some critical analysis may be in order when reading this book for deciding on which techniques to use. Simply, I use what I like most.<p>Michael Michalko was interviewed one time and asked about the vast amount of techniques available, his response was: "What's important, I feel, is that readers and clients should not try to memorize specific techniq

I coach an innovation workshop and provide each participant a copy of this book. The chapter on SCAMPER is worth the price alone. You will find each tool well explained with examples. The "Ideabox" is one of the best tools you can use which also has a section with good examples. The author's second book Cracking Creativity repeats most of the tools with less examples and more theory. I highly recommend this book as a reference for innovation tools.

As a learning solutions designer and trainer and as a targeted innovation facilitator, I have found this book of immense value for almost a decade. It provides step-by-step instructions for linear, lateral, and more intuitive thinking techniques--the closest thing to a step-by-step no-fail cookbook approach. The techniques are even organized (transparent to the non-professional user) to correspond with the KAI style-of-creativity scale. In other words, if you are left-brained OR if creativity means "make the thing BETTER", you will like the techniques at the front of the book. The more naturally "right-brained" you are (i.e. Improve = make it DIFFERENT), the farther toward the back of the book you might want to go. There are also great business examples in this book--they illustrate applied creativity to create value in business...no taint of tutus and crayons and "far out" ideas here...the stuff that alienates some business folk from valuing the relevance of creativity in the workplace.

I picked up a copy of Thinkertoys over a year ago; since then, I've recommended it to many people. The exercises contained within the book are easy to follow, and often make believers out of those who consider themselves 'not the creative type.' I used the 'circle of opportunity' exercise when brainstorming with coworkers in my office...interestingly enough, the coworker who was most resistant to doing the exercise (she considers herself a very analytical, logical sort of thinker) came up with the best idea. As a marketing/public relations consultant, Thinkertoys sits on my bookshelf right next to my thesaurus. It is an invaluable, easy to understand and enlightening tool.