The most recommended problem solving books

If any book can explain why there’s always more than one way to solve a visual problem, this is it. The book shares a compendium of 13 experimental projects, each designed to teach conceptual thinking and problem solving to art and design students.

I read a lot of books for my podcast (nearly one a week), and Both/And Thinking was the perfect mix of brainy insight and business acumen.

In its pages, the reader learns about how the brain really works and that we are wired to see binary solutions to the problems we face when, in reality, there are often many possible answers.

It teaches you to embrace everyday paradoxes and step out of the “either/or” to the “both/and.” This book has great stories, case studies, and scientific research that keep you reading and learning.

I recommend it constantly, and that makes it my number 1 read of the year!  

I love this book because it’s written in bite-sized pieces that you can read in just a few minutes, and each provide practical guidance on a specific topic for business success.

As a small business owner, I read a lot of business books, but they are often long and contain too much filler—stories I don’t care about and history that isn’t helpful to me. This book eliminates the fluff and focuses on the specific advice.

It’s quick learning that I can pick up anytime, and reference as the need arises. I find myself coming back to it again and again.

A very practical guide on how to unlock yourself from the inevitable battle of wills that crop up in the parent-child relationship, and instead become the “captain of the ship” who is able to co-regulate your child through the ups and downs of difficult moods and behavior. Stiffelman explains in clear language how co-regulating in this way, over time, helps your child build skills of self-regulation and problem solving - bringing a natural feeling of peace of harmony both in your child and in your relationship.

My daughter loves this book because Jabari’s little sister Nika wears a different fun costume in each scene.

All three of my children have learned from this book what to do when they’re frustrated: Take a deep breath and try again, just like Jabari, they like to say. And I love this book because it offers strong yet subtle representation along with awesome life lessons!

I always find myself applying algorithmic thinking in my everyday life—it affects the way I put away dishes, navigate to the store, and organize my to-do lists. And I think others could benefit from that mindset.

So, when I read this book, my reaction was "Yes! That's what I want people to know. I just wish I could have said it that well!" The authors (who I know, but didn't know they wrote a book together), did a fantastic job of selecting algorithms with deep human connections. Really! And they explain them just right, without getting too mathematical but while still hitting the key ideas with clarity and accuracy. Fantastic!

This is a delightfully wacky book with endearing characters. Zinnia is having a bad hair day, literally. A hive of bees takes up residence in the wild and curly mane of her hair to add to her troubles—a missing brother and a mother who doesn’t seem to care. I fell in love with this book on the first page when I learned that Zinnia was about to yarn bomb a statue of her school mascot. (I’m a knitter and have fancied taking up yarn bombing myself.) Quickly-paced chapters alternate between Zinnia as narrator and the bees discussing their own perilous situation. Told with both humor and empathy, this is a book where you can’t turn the pages fast enough in order to find out how things resolve.

This thin but quite fulfilling book is a compact yet profound exploration of proven program correctness, probably one of the first texts to focus on that topic.

Dijkstra's emphasis on mathematical rigor and disciplined thinking reshapes how programmers approach problem-solving. The author imparts essential principles of program construction, advocating for clarity and precision in code, and leading to cultivating a disciplined mindset, and fostering a deep appreciation for the art and science of programming.

Despite its age, all its knowledge is fully valid, and I’d give the book to every programmer so they can reach a higher level of quality.

I was besotted with Madeline in her first book. I checked it out of the library time after time, never tiring of reading about the twelve little girls in two straight lines in the old house in Paris - and Miss Clavell. And goodness – Madeline’s appendicitis and subsequent scar!

It took a while for Bemelmans to write a sequel, and when he did, he introduced a dog named Genevieve, who saves Madeline’s life and then disappears. The girls band together to find her again, and she finds her forever home.

Little did I know when I first read it that I would end up writing many episodes of the Emmy-award winning Madeline animated TV series… and nothing was more thrilling than recreating the friendship between Madeline and her helpful, lifesaving dog.

Roger Martin is a mentor. I learned how to think strategically from him, first-hand. In fact, I hated strategy until I met Roger. He is one of the brightest thinkers on the planet. I use his frameworks daily in my work. His concept of integrative thinking, taught while he was dean of the University of Toronto’s progressive Rotman School, is all about the ability to hold two opposing ideas in your head at once. This is the stuff of breakthrough. The challenge is to avoid either/or thinking when considering two different ideas and synthesize them into an altogether new concept that improves on both. It’s like alchemy for the mind.