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A Business Creativity Book Review, 1 of .... a Bunch

This is the first of many book reviews I plan to post, pulled from an old blog of mine because nobody will go hunting for my review of Thinkertoys (Micheal Michalko).

Michalko's book is really divided into five sections. Section one is mostly an introduction to creative problem solving. His most useful chapter describes different ways of exploring a challenge (problem/opportunity) facing you or your organization.

The second and third sections describe a dizzying array of tools for generating ideas, either in a logical way or through intuitive methods that more closely match what we usually think of as brainstorming - Sit down for some time alone and think of fundraising ideas. You might enjoy experimenting with multiple idea generating techniques, considering that Thinkertoys describes 31 brainstorming techniques there are certainly plenty of options.

Section four covers some group brainstorming techniques. I've never tried any of the three group brainstorming techniques Michalko describes. And I've never found an account of how well they work. So, if you want to experiment you and see how the results compare with regular old group brainstorming you may well be breaking new ground.

Section five covers methods of evaluating ideas. That's an important step in the whole idea generation process. Many ideas that appear promising at first are actually bad ideas.

Maybe the book is too new to call a classic, but it has been in print for many years and is now in its second edition. Thinkertoys gets mentioned in many recommended book lists on Amazon.com and elsewhere. Those two facts are enough to make one think that Thinkertoys might be useful to people in the nonprofit world.

Final Verdict: Get a used copy from Amazon.com and at least skim all of sections two, three, and four. Read section one carefully.

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