Why Didn't I Think of That? Think the Unthinkable and Achieve Creative Greatness (Hardcover)

~ Charles W. McCoy Jr. (Author) "I watched from my seat on the bench as Tucker, leaning heavily on his crutches, hobbled awkwardly across the courtroom floor and allowed the bailiff..." (more)
Key Phrases: United States, Light Brigade, Gene Kranz (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

McCoy, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge and professor at Pepperdine, isn't afraid to admit his mistakes. He opens this book by discussing one of his first cases: the plaintiff had what appeared to be significant brain damage following an accident. It seemed that he would get a sizable judgment until opposing counsel produced a videotape of the man exercising. He had fooled his attorneys as well as McCoy, who learned a valuable lesson: no one judge, attorney or businessperson can afford to make haphazard and lazy judgments without examining all the facts. In this guide to achieving professional success via creative methods, McCoy prescribes various exercises, including some in hypothetical situations, to show how readers can enhance their powers of observation and perception. For example, McCoy suggests that readers "[o]btain a clear view of reality," "[d]oublecheck observations" and "[s]tudy both the forest and the trees." While McCoy's advice is solid, the book is so busy that readers will probably have difficulty absorbing its practical content. He intersperses mental exercises between straight text and chapter summaries. Adding to the confusion is McCoy's overly energetic use of business, historical and political case studies, which end up obscuring the useful content.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

McCoy, a California judge and adjunct law-school professor, aims to empower by teaching readers how to think more clearly, creatively, and comprehensively. His eight chapters deal with perception, concentration, high-level thinking, a systematic approach, imagination, intuition, empathy, and anticipation. McCoy's approach is lively: he blends anecdotes from his experiences on the bench; tales of smart (and not-so-smart) decisions in business, politics, science, and other fields; brief but systematic outlines of the elements of each of his main subjects; and classic brainteasers. McCoy's book is no guarantee that readers will qualify for Mensa, but it should make most of them more aware of careless mental habits and overly narrow mental processes that they'd like to improve. Mary Carroll
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall Press; 1st edition (January 15, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0735202575
• ISBN-13: 978-0735202573
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #151,379 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Improve Your Thinking, March 23, 2003

By	Robert M. Krone "Bob Krone" (Fallbrook, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF THAT: THINK THE UNTHINKABLE AND ACHIEVE CREATIVE GREATNESS by Charles W. McCoy, Jr.

Reviewer: Dr. Bob Krone, Emeritus Professor, University of Southern
California, USA.

In drafting an essay for the American society for Quality on "Quality Thinking," Judge Charles W. McCoy, Jr.'s 2002 book title captured my attention. It turned a Los Angeles to Frankfurt flight into extremely valuable "Thinking Lessons."

The major problem with thinking in today's world of complexity, uncertainty, adversity and 15-second information media-bits is that we lose the ability to think rationally about thinking. Those of us in education leadership positions have the advantage of being continually challenged to think about the theories, concepts, judgments, assertions and ideas of our colleagues and students. Even with that requirement the dynamics of living and working force us to shortcut the "evidence-to-conclusions-and- recommendations" cycle we traverse frequently every day. Sometimes those shortcuts lead to "costly errors" as Judge McCoy points out in his Imtroduction (p. x).

Here's is why I recommend Why didn't I think of that ... to you, whatever your professional and personal roles involve:

* We all must solve problems daily .. whether it is freeway driving or
a decision on a heart surgery .... We cannot avoid the requirement
To think.
* Judge McCoy leads us to a systems approach to thinking that takes
inputs from all our senses: seeing, concentrating, asking penetrating questions,
using logic, analysis and imagination, listening, double-checking facts, and considering intuition, but cross-checking first impressions and feelings.
* And he does it with an impressive array of illustrative examples from his
own experience and his research.
* He advises us to "lead with your mind, follow with your heart" (p.33).
* He cautions us to "understand before judging" (53). ... that sounds
very logical but most of us fail to fully understand at some critical
decision points in our lives.
* Asking the right questions is a very special skill. Judge McCoy ends
each section with a set of critical questions to help you improve the
quality of your thinking.
* Being also a university professor he includes "learning from failures"
in our thinking. It's a fact that we think more about failures than
successes.
* Study the thinking processes of others and how they react to you
and thinking the unthinkable are valuable inclusions.

Having had considerable experience with book reviews I will end with a comment about the Frank LaForge review of this book also here in Amazon.com. The purposes of a book review are to accurately summarize what the author has done to help prospective readers make their own decisions about the book purchase and to help the author with constructive criticism. LaForge's personal attack on Charles McCoy and the other reviewers of his book fails to meet either of those purposes. I recommend discounting his review.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Nice title, but..., December 19, 2004

By	Franco Arda (London UK) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase

...falls short of delivering. First, the book does not cover creative thinking, or creative greatness. You better look for other great books on building creative thinking like "Cracking Creativity". Second, every page confirms the writer's background of a lawyer. While thinking, especially the unthinkable is undeniably very important in the court, the writer is kind of trapped in a "black/white" world. True vs. lie with topics such as "concentrate on crucial facts" or "always make sure..". Well, that might work in the court, but helps one little in thinking out of the box / thinking creatively. Thus, worst rating possible.

43 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Critical Thinking For the Sheer Pleasure of It, January 22, 2002

By	F. LaGard Smith (Nashville, TN USA) - See all my reviews

Page after page in this book bristles with anecdotal evidence of the obvious: that critical thinking pays, while uncritical thinking bodes disaster. But who ever would have guessed that a book on critical thinking could be, not just cerebrally challenging, but pleasurable as well? From law to business, from the Bible to the checkered history of war, there is sheer joy in eavesdropping on the best and worst of human thinking. I confess I found myself too mentally lazy and impatient to solve the scores of brain-twisters and visual conundrums generously provided throughout the book (lending embarrassing support to McCoy's basic thesis), but I was clearly inspired to use my mental capabilities and intuition in far more productive ways than in the past. The key word being inspired. McCoy has that gift. Which is why he wrote the book, and-ruefully-I didn't. As an author myself, page after page I kept saying to myself enviously, "This book was a great idea. Why didn't I think of that!"

F. LaGard Smith
Scholar in Residence for Christian Studies
Lipscomb University, Nashville, TN