Customer Reviews

The Problem Solving Journey: Your Guide for Making Decisions and Getting Results

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As an unsigned supporter of the Cluetrain Manifesto I am enthusiastic and amazed at the power of the internet to open the conversation which is our human condition. Somehow, though, anonymity undermines the verisimilitude of opinions expressed. I feel this is the case in some of the reviews of this fine book. I can understand a reader not 'getting' the message because it is a difficult one. If someone picks this book up expecting to be given a recipe to achieve an immediate, concrete solution they will be unsatisfied just as someone looking for God will be disappointed not to find Him/Her in church. What Chris Hoenig has labored so successfully to accomplish is to to draft a process by which a person can develop the insight and awareness to use all the tools and resources available to bring to bear on obstacles (problems). A powerful and energized imagination is critical to this path. Were you really expecting a map?

What a terrific read! Unlike so many "business" books, The Problem Solving Journey offers detailed and inspiring examples that make the author's approach really come alive. Hoenig's breakdown of the problem-solving personalities and their corresponding problem-solving essentials are easy to grasp. I couldn't help but think about the various colleagues I've teamed with while reading the descriptions. Hoenig nails them. And the book offers clear insights into why some teams aren't so productive or successful, despite the good people involved -- too many Discoverers, not any Performers or Playmakers, etc. Read this book. But, also, go to the author's company Web site and take the online problem-solving personality assessment. Great stuff. I look forward to running into Chris Hoening on my personal problem-solving journey.

Not many authors take the trouble to look at the best problem solving approaches from business, science, art, government, engineering, medicine and other disciplines -- exploring the commonalities and distilling the common elements in how great problem solvers think, work and communicate. The key principles are illustrated with brief, compelling stories, which give the reader not only practical advice but an enjoyable way to think about how to apply it. This is one for the bookshelf of anyone who is interested in improving the way they get things done.

The Problem Solving Journey is truly an outstanding piece of literature - fascinating to read, and despite other reviewers' criticisms it is in fact very useful if you are in a profession that requires consistent, successful problem solving to not just survive, but to thrive professionally. The detailed case studies alone are well worth the price of the book, but the interpretation and edification of these cases by the author is invaluable.

Ultimately, the fact that other reviewers criticized the book for its level of generality goes a long way in validating the central concept of the book: to succeed in problem solving on a large scale, one needs to adhere and not compromise on basic ongoing problem solving principals that are more or less unchanging. In this era of highly detailed, cookbook style, self help management books and ever advancing technology, managers have lost the ability to see the forest for the trees and are mired in the details of one shot fixes to their problems. Consequently, most managers move through their days just checking completed items off their "to do" lists and never getting where they really want to, which is the big prize, but instead just adding more items to their "to do" lists of little or no strategic importance to their business. In my opinion, this book goes a long way in creating a dialog to break that culture of "just get it done" and in turn create a new mindset that will focus managers on high quality solutions that not only solve their current problems, but also open the doors to other opportunities.

This is one of those books that every entrepreneur, business manager or anyone making high-stakes decisions should read.

I have to admit that it sat on my shelf for quite some time before I picked it up. But, when my curiosity was sparked by Enron, Tyco and other tales of implosion that made me wonder "What were they thinking?" I wanted to know what comprises smart decisions and why so many fail to do it. That's when I picked up this book. And, if you really do want to take The Problem Solving Journey, this is the definitive guide.

Having studied quantitative decision-making, I wasn't sure I would walk away with anything new. But, pleasantly, this book inspired a shift in my own thinking. It was very affirming to have models that showed that decision-making is dynamic, a process not only in pursuit of information, but responsivly reformative to quality information.

I don't believe that anyone has done such a probing and thorough job of identifying the steps, procedures, impediments and skills involved in smart decisions as Hoenig has done. The beauty of this book, and what makes it slog-through worthy, is it's analytical approach. While such an approach may not make for the highest form of entertainment, it does provide the utmost in useability. Instead of decision-makers being defensive or cavalier about their own decisions (which, of course, "bad" decision-makers can be), they can better accept frameworks, concepts, maxims and attributes. This book delivers that...and a promise of transformation.

Great book with excellent theory...you'll wish you'd picked it up sooner

The Problem Solving Journey is terrific -- packed with subtantive ideas, interesting stories of great problem solvers and useful "how to" guidance material. Must have for senior managers looking to improve organizational performance. Great resource for personal improvement. Mr. Hoenig has started an important inquiry into a topic with profound implications for people and business: Can we define world-class problem solving? Can we learn how to be better problem solvers? Can the organizations to which we belong improve their collective problem solving capacity?

The book's main thesis is that problem-solving should involve a multifaceted team. Yet surprisingly, every case study (filling about 3/4 of the pages) describes an individual who was successful by excelling in ONE of these facets. Not a single case study describes problem-solving by a team of individuals with different problem-solving skills, which is what the author recommends. The book might be useful for people who could benefit by thinking more about the problem-solving process; there are constant generalities describing this process. Also, I frankly disagree that problem-solving is more important in the "information age". Why? This thesis is also not well defended.

This book will not help you solve business problems. The author outlines his way of thinking about problem solving. But an outline about something as general as problem solving is simply not useful.

The case studies in this book are interesting. Stories about successful people such as Colin Powell, IBM CEO Lou Gerstner, Franklin Roosevelt, and Ralph Nader are told from the perspective of problem solving.

I eagerly awaited the final chapter, "The Guide to the Guide". I hoped this chapter would explain practical ways I could use the information presented earlier. I was disappointed. The final chapter has many charts that give overviews of the author's opinions. But the author offers little more than common sense insight. As the author states, the book "simply presents two working hypotheses that I hope will generate discussion, debate, and a more formal research agenda". Without anything more than common sense advice, the book is interesting, but not worth the time.