Thinkertoys (English, Paperback, Michalko Michael)

Thinkertoys: A Handbook of Creative-Thinking Techniques, by Michael Michalko, is a set of useful and practical tools, that are designed to stimulate ingenuity, which will ultimately impact a person’s personal and professional life.

Summary Of The Book

In this “how to” manual, readers will learn about different methods and strategies that are available to them to solve problems and assess situations. In this second edition of the text, Michalko has added new Thinkertoy tools, a brainstorming section and additional chapters, that address the subject of developing creative thinking.

According to the author, human beings tend to rely on what has worked for them in the past to solve problems in the present. And as a result, there is a tendency to be affixed to the correctness of the solution. This type of reproductive thinking, does not enable thinkers to generate novel ideas, but rather stick to older ones. Ultimately, using previously used solutions to newer problems, might not always lead to success. 

In Thinkertoys: A Handbook of Creative-Thinking Techniques, Michalko addresses this type of fallacious reasoning, by creating what he dubs as “thinkertoys”. These are creative thinking techniques, that entail a set of specific instructions. Michalko provides support for each technique by dispensing anecdotal and allegorical evidence of how others have utilized the technique in order to succeed.

Michael Michalko’s Thinkertoys: A Handbook of Creative-Thinking Techniques, received a gold medal from Success magazine.

About Michael Michalko

Michael Michalko is an author, an Officer in the army, an ex CIA employee and an acclaimed expert in creativity.

Apart from Thinkertoys: A Handbook Of Creative Thinking Techniques, he has also authored three other books such Cracking Creativity, Think Pack  and Creative Thinkering.

Michalko uses a narrative writing style to explain and prove his creative thinking strategies.
He presently creates and develops creativity workshops and seminars, for individuals and businesses. When Michalko was in the US army, he organized a group of specialists which put together a collection of inventive-thinking methods. He later applied these methods to various NATO, political and social problems, and formed the basis for his books on creative thinking.