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Gerald M. Weinberg

Are Your Lights On?: How to Figure Out What the Problem Really Is Paperback – March 1, 1990

by Donald C. Gause (Author), Gerald M. Weinberg (Author)

74 ratings

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1990 DORSET HOUSE PUBLISHING SOFTCOVER

Print length

176 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Dorset House Publishing Company, Incorporated
Publication date

March 1, 1990
Dimensions

6 x 0.5 x 9 inches
ISBN-10

9780932633163
ISBN-13

978-0932633163
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Editorial Reviews

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"It is a down-to-earth approach to the managerial problems of the '90's." -- Jim Van Speybroeck, Data Processing Digest

"another wonderful and whimsical book from Gerald Weinberg and Donald Gause." -- Barry Kornfeld, Sound Bytes

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0932633161
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Dorset House Publishing Company, Incorporated; Reprint. edition (March 1, 1990)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 176 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780932633163
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0932633163
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10.6 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.5 x 9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #347,253 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #609 in Business Decision Making
- #898 in Decision-Making & Problem Solving
- #1,255 in Communication Skills

Customer Reviews:
74 ratings

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Gerald M. Weinberg
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I've always been interested in helping smart people be happy and productive. To that end, I've published books on human behavior, including Weinberg on Writing: The Fieldstone Method, The Psychology of Computer Programming, Perfect Software and Other Fallacies, and an Introduction to General Systems Thinking. I've also written books on leadership including Becoming a Technical Leader, The Secrets of Consulting (Foreword by Virginia Satir), More Secrets of Consulting, and the nine-volume Quality Software series.
I try to incorporate my knowledge of science, engineering, and human behavior into all of my writing and consulting work (with writers, hi-tech researchers, software engineers, and people whose life-situation could require the use of a service dog). I write novels about such people, including The Aremac Project, Aremac Power, Jigglers, First Stringers, Second Stringers, The Hands of God, Freshman Murders, Earth's Endless Effort, Mistress of Molecules, Where There’s a Will There’s a Murder, The Death Lottery—all about how my brilliant protagonists produce quality work and learn to be happy. My books may be found linked from my website: geraldmweinberg.com.
I’ve won many awards for my writing but the "award" I'm most proud of is the book, The Gift of Time (Fiona Charles, ed.) written by my student and readers for my 75th birthday. Their stories make me feel that I've been at least partially successful at helping smart people be happy.
- Gerald M. (Jerry) Weinberg
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Gerald M. Weinberg
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Donald C. Gause
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Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5

74 global ratings

5 star		59%
4 star		16%
3 star		13%
2 star		6%
1 star		6%

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Neori

Good questions to ask yourself in solving real life problems

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 16, 2014

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This book is good at reminding us not just to solve the problem logically, but to put it into a context of an organization (any interrelation with people). Who has the problem? Does he want the problem to be solved? What is the problem (as in example with toy factory)? If you are not you, but someone else, what would you do? These questions are, although common sense, were not at all obvious to me before reading this book.

I give 3 stars for 2 reasons:
1) The problems in the book could be stated in a more realistic fashion, so that one would have a solid interest in giving it a try to solve on his own
2) Make main statements less ambiguous

I give one additional star for the fact that I haven't seen any other book of this kind.

George Polya wrote a wonderful book on problem-solving. His focus is on mathematics, but can be applied as a guide to any thought process. He also stresses the need to clearly understand the problem by asking yourself questions, like: "What is the unknown?, "What are the data?", "What is the condition?". He goes further into showing methods of finding a solution, devising a plan and drawing lessons from solved problems. This book also gives a chance to practice with easy mathematically, but nevertheless not standard puzzles in the end of the book.

8 people found this helpful

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Jim Muccio

Are YOUR lights on?

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 25, 2009

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Are Your Light's On? How to Figure Out What the Problem Really Is. By Donald C. Gause and Gerald M. Weinberg has been a favorite of mine since I first ripped through a copy I found on my father's book shelf in early 80's. I subsequently reattacked it late one evening in the early 90's. Over the past 20 years I have returned to it over and over again and have provided many copies along with its powerful yet exceedingly simple message to the members of the analytic teams I have had the privilege to assemble and lead. The message...Are your light's on? Are you awake? Are you able to use your brain before you engage your gears? Or as Tom Watson the founder of IBM has beckoned us to do, THINK!

There are six chapters in this book. Each chapter takes between 15 and 20 minutes to read. An average reader should be finished in less than two hours. For the cost of a movie, perhaps $8 bucks, and a similar time commitment I suggest that the lessons within this book are more powerful per dollar than anything I have ever read. For me the revelations are almost spiritual in nature. I've had mixed reactions from team members to whom I have shared its message. Some think it's cute-- it is. Some believe it's a book about problem solving-- it's not. Some are insulted by the implication--they should be, and alas some have never found the time to actually read it--that's a crying shame. Those who have seen the light share in a new found wealth. Those who have not will remain in the dark. ARE your lights on? Are your LIGHTS on? Are your lights ON? Are YOUR lights on?

13 people found this helpful

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Armando L. Franco Carrillo

Here's lean thinking, from 30 years ago.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 4, 2011

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This book provides a wealth of advise in a comical novelization. You can look at the table of contents and grasp what it is about, yet the detail is fun and illustrative.

Some of the techniques, such as asking "why" are the basis of lean. The chapter about the nails is an example of poka-yoke. It explains why people get confused in a style that seems taken out of "Crucial Conversations". And yet, its descriptions are Dilbert-esque.

It would get 4.5 start if possible, but it gets only to four, because it is also too light a reading.

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Alex Pronove

Baloney! I bought it because of its excellent reviews. I'm pitching it because it's so poorly written.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 24, 2010

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It made sense up to the end of chapter 5. Then, things don't start adding up.

The authors use a "cute" hypothetical scenario that was appropriate until the story started losing its thread. That happened, as far as I'm concerned, in chapter 6.

In that chapter, Billy, one of the protagonists, figured that "you can never be sure you have a correct problem definition, even after the problem is solved." After an intermediate lesson, Billy figures out that "you can never be sure you have a correct definition, but don't ever stop trying to get one."

And there the chapter ends.

That's where I started to grouse. Those are their words of wisdom!? Chapter 7 is entitled "The Endless Chain." It sounds like the correct sequel to the wheels that the authors started spinning in the preceding chapter. "Each solution is the source of the next problem." Really!? Draw me an Ishikawa diagram and I'll get to the source of the problem faster than the banal platitudes offered in this book.

I read my copy shortly after buying it. I was going through my bookshelf, recalled my unsatisfactory impression of this book, and decided to reread it. Well, I'm throwing it away and this is its tombstone.

5 people found this helpful

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kouros mohit

About the meaning of life! Really!!!!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 22, 2011

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If you read this book five times the meaning of life will become clear to you! I have purchased many copies of this book and shared them with colleagues that have all sorts of problems. One person with a Ph.D. read it twice and refused to read it again and did not get it. All others got the message. Some after three times of reading. some after four. It took me five times to understand the underlying message. I almost have a Ph.D. Oh, it is fun after dinner reading from two of my heros.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 7, 2017

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This book is a gift that keeps on giving. I have read it twice and I am working on my third read-through, and I am seeing new insights that I didn't see the first two times I read it. The book does not contain specific advice for specific situations. However, when dealing with ambiguity and nuance, this book provides new of ways of looking the problem that you might have otherwise passed over.

4 people found this helpful

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Jim Grey

Delightful and thought-provoking, light on solutions

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 4, 2004

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This engaging little book helps you step back and see your problems from a broader perspective, which helps you solve them more effectively. It also introduces you to a number of truths about problems, especially that solving one problem always creates another.

What this book does not do, however, is tell you how to solve problems. If you're looking for how-to, look elsewhere.

11 people found this helpful

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Thomas Felden

Super geschrieben - habe ich sehr gerne gelesen und in einem Stück verschlungen

Reviewed in Germany 🇩🇪 on December 15, 2016

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Der Titel hat mich eigentlich nicht angesprochen aber wegen der Inhaltsangabe habe ich es trotzdem gekauft. Der Inhalt ist sehr humorvoll manchmal witzig dargestellt und man trifft so einiges an Lebensweisheiten adrett verpackt und stringent im Zusammenhang dargestellt.

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Sergey

Five Stars

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on October 31, 2015

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very good book

Maik Nogens

Weinbergs Bücher sind ein "Muss"

Reviewed in Germany 🇩🇪 on April 15, 2013

Verified Purchase

Wer im Testing Umfeld arbeitet, kommt an Weinberg nicht vorbei.
Und das ist auch gut so. Das Wissen, was in den über 30 Büchern steckt, die Jerry zu unterschiedlichsten Themengebieten geschrieben hat, ist immer noch aktuell und faszinierend.

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