The Goal by Goldratt helped me think about optimizing for the end outcome versus sub-optimizing for process steps. (Measure but don’t sub-optimize)
The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement https://a.co/d/iQGmd23
Ask HN: Which books have made you a better thinker and problem solver?
111–120 of 248 posts
Re: Ask HN: Which books have made you a better thinker and problem solver?
#112>>> problem solver
“Applied Engineering Analysis” by Tai‐Ran Hsu, published by John Wiley & Sons, 2018 (ISBN 9781110071204)
Recent discovery. Complete reference in a single textbook. Applicable to any scale: from industrial automation to lunchtable experiments ;)
>>> better thinker
Wolfgang Engel. Decades of books from shaderx to gpuzen. Plus The Forge renderer!
>>> holiday fun
Flea | Acid for the Children (if you enjoy Just Kids, Chronicles: Vol 1, etc)
Re: Ask HN: Which books have made you a better thinker and problem solver?
#113It’s not a book, but I revisit Munger’s Psychology of Human Misjudgment nearly every year to remind me of the various biases that we are all susceptible to and to hopefully keep them at bay as much as possible. Link: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5ca3e714d74562b554c38...
I recently got hooked onto Munger and his thoughts. Fascinating.
Read this and heard his speeches, took detailed notes and am going through berkshire's annual meeting recordings since 1994 and it's surprising how many of these concepts reflect in warren and charlie's decisions, answers and thought processes.
I'm going to be spending more time on this.
Re: Ask HN: Which books have made you a better thinker and problem solver?
#114Graded Go Problems for Beginners
A bit of a cheat answer. The book here represents the game of Go. I found getting into this hobby helped in problem solving other areas of my life since it exercises analyzing many branching paths.
There are often too many possibilities to try every one, so it requires intuition to narrow down the good options, and then you can visualize how it might play out.
Re: Ask HN: Which books have made you a better thinker and problem solver?
#115Trigger warning: This is a self-help thread. It may expose you to suggestions of self-help books and pop-sci of dubious quality.
Life hack: choose to read books written by researchers about their field of study, rather than by non-experts dabbling in social science / psychology.
Positive Psychology is a great example -- rather than reading one of the dozens of books written by non-experts, why not go with something like The How of Happiness or Stumbling on Happiness - by people who actually study and run experiments they write about.
Re: Ask HN: Which books have made you a better thinker and problem solver?
#116A book that made me see how carefully and how well we can ascertain a nebulous concept in social science:
Culture Of Honor: The Psychology Of Violence In The South by Richard Nisbett and Dov Cohen
https://www.amazon.com/Culture-Honor-Psychology-Violence-Dir...
The authors use a variety of independent evidence (historic, lab experiments, etc) to show that a culture of honor exists, what it is, how it is perpetuated, and how we can make predictions based on it. This book is superb!
Re: Ask HN: Which books have made you a better thinker and problem solver?
#117For many years I recommended everyone on my team (that was interested in retooling their brain in a more functional way) read "The Little Schemer". My only caveat is that they read it without touching a computer. Like... read it on an airplane. While I had no interest in using Scheme/Racket/Lisp for actual work, I found that it brought so much simplicity to my thinking.
Came here to say the same thing. The other books in the series are pretty good too. E.g. The Little Prover https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262527958/the-little-prover/ and The Little Typer https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262536431/the-little-typer/
I've always wanted to look into these other books! (I even purchased The Reasoned Schemer - but failed to start reading it). Someday... probably when I retire.
Re: Ask HN: Which books have made you a better thinker and problem solver?
#118Engineering a Safer World: Systems Thinking Applied to Safety
by Nancy Leveson
Definitely one of better books that makes you think outside the box.
Re: Ask HN: Which books have made you a better thinker and problem solver?
#119Bit of a generic answer. Doing the problem sets from a good university course. Some problems might take you hours to solve, but it will develop your stamina for thinking hard.
Any particular set of courses you have in mind?
Re: Ask HN: Which books have made you a better thinker and problem solver?
#120Why Buddhism Is True: The Science and Philosophy of Meditation and Enlightenment by Robert Wright
The Art of Living: Vipassana Meditation as Taught by S.N. Goenka by William Hart