Reviews

Thinkertoys: A Handbook of Creative-Thinking Techniques by Michael Michalko

d_sebek's review against another edition

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3.0

Great section on the strategy of SCAMPER

aeroplanino's review against another edition

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5.0

A complete manual of creativity. A book to which I'll often return.

boygirlparty's review against another edition

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My friend Robby and I read two chapters a week for four months & it helped us unlock solutions to creative dilemmas and personal ones, but this book is absolutely packed with at least a hundred of the worst analogies and similes I’ve ever seen. The writing style is messy, but there are lots of good ideas if you can see past that.

thems0kitty's review against another edition

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informative slow-paced

3.0

melanna's review against another edition

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4.0

3.5 stars rounded up to 4. I think this is a great resource to come up with creative ideas. But I felt like it started getting repetitive halfway through. Also I listened to the audiobook which, if not from the library (mine was), comes with a bonus PDF to see all his visuals (there are tons!). Except many people who listen to audiobooks do so because of visual challenges. I feel like he could have used his own problem solving skills to come up with a different alternative for print than...print.

kq5's review

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informative slow-paced

4.0

hlandes1's review

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3.0

Michalko has written a number of texts on creativity. This is the first that I read. It includes a discussion of creativity, examples of how people are creative, and exercises the reader can try to enhance one's own creativity. He provides linear exercises, intuitive exercises and brainstorming exercises. It's a dense work full of exercises and information that can be quite helpful for discovering how one is creative.
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