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The 5 Elements of Effective Thinking
The coauthors are mathematics professors. Burger teaches at Wiliams College; Starbird at The University of Texas at Austin. Here, they “reveal the hidden powers of deep understanding (earth), failure (fire), questions (air), the flow of ideas (water), and the quintessential element of change that brings all four elements together. By mastering and applying these practical...more
Hardcover, 168 pages
Published
August 6th 2012
by Princeton University Press
(first published January 1st 2012)
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As authors note, it was relatively quick. Unlike their suggestion to go through it three times, I might not.
Are some worthwhile notes:
To succeed you must fail, to fail you must succeed
Relying on authority for 2000 years versus relying on evidence (how gravity affects falling objects; surely Archimedes is infallible!)
Seeing things from another perspective. (Term that I perhaps best remember an information systems professor by.. Is worth noting lately that taking a bunch of pics while rearranging...more
Are some worthwhile notes:
To succeed you must fail, to fail you must succeed
Relying on authority for 2000 years versus relying on evidence (how gravity affects falling objects; surely Archimedes is infallible!)
Seeing things from another perspective. (Term that I perhaps best remember an information systems professor by.. Is worth noting lately that taking a bunch of pics while rearranging...more
This book surprised me. I won this book from Good Reads and wasn't sure what it'd be like. I did think it sounded interesting though, which is why I entered the contest. I thought this book may be like others that I've read. But this was different and helpful. This book is simple, well written, and direct.
The authors used quotes to illustrate ways to think and live and succeed effectively. The way they wrote it is like one of my favourite other books by Jack Canfield where he also talks about h...more
The authors used quotes to illustrate ways to think and live and succeed effectively. The way they wrote it is like one of my favourite other books by Jack Canfield where he also talks about h...more
There are many self-help books that have been written to help us achieve success, however you may define success. The reason I found this book to be refreshing is because it is simple, uses common sense and sites specific patterns to follow.
The 5 habits are attached to elements to make them easy to remember through association with a symbol.
1 – Earth - Grounding your Thinking, Understand Deeply
2- Fire – Igniting Insights through Mistakes, Fail to Succeed
3 – Air – Creating Questions out of Thin A...more
The 5 habits are attached to elements to make them easy to remember through association with a symbol.
1 – Earth - Grounding your Thinking, Understand Deeply
2- Fire – Igniting Insights through Mistakes, Fail to Succeed
3 – Air – Creating Questions out of Thin A...more
This would be a good book for students. A nice guide by professional teachers on how best to learn. The authors break the ideas down into the symbolism of Earth, Fire, Air and Water. Earth refers to "Rock Solid Understanding" where the student figures out the big picture of what she is learning before driving into the details. Fire is Failure, failure is a good thing and teaches the student that progress is being made. Air represents Asking Questions (that analogy was a stretch, but it needed a...more
I would like to say "I already knew that" after reading this book, but that would not be true. Here is a distillation of some helpful tips on getting your mind right, acting on what you know, and never -ever- stop learning.
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“The 5 elements of effective thinking” was a short 160+ pages. I was able to read the material in a day. The power of the text was in the fact that it was to the point and practical in nature. I have read several books related to critical thinking and Neuropsychology and this book provides a great summary of active thinking skills without an extra 500 pages of cognitive research history or case studies. I think linking key factors to critical thinking to classical concepts of natural elements wi...more
Oct 31, 2012
Ken Clary
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
non-fiction-reads,
audible
I found it insightful and important.
1. Understand basic ideas deeply
2. Learn from mistakes
3. Raise questions
4. Follow flow of ideas
5. Embrace change
1. Understand basic ideas deeply
2. Learn from mistakes
3. Raise questions
4. Follow flow of ideas
5. Embrace change
This brief, highly readable book challenges readers on several fronts, and includes several good quotes:
Picasso: I begin with an idea then it becomes something else."
"A ship in port is safe, but that's not what ships are built for." Admiral Grace Murray Hopper
"In a chronically leaking boat, energy expended to changing vessels is more productive than energy devoted to patching leaks." – Warren Buffett
The five elements:
1) Earth: Strive for Rock-Solid Understanding
2) Fire: Fail and learn from miss...more
Picasso: I begin with an idea then it becomes something else."
"A ship in port is safe, but that's not what ships are built for." Admiral Grace Murray Hopper
"In a chronically leaking boat, energy expended to changing vessels is more productive than energy devoted to patching leaks." – Warren Buffett
The five elements:
1) Earth: Strive for Rock-Solid Understanding
2) Fire: Fail and learn from miss...more
I am not going to call this book life changing: don't expect to read it and suddenly complete the String Theory or discover a new element. That said, it's a good place to start if you're looking for strategies to better yourself.
Here let me spoil the book for you. There are four strategies and one fact: understand any problem you face deeply, don't be afraid of making mistakes, raise questions (also play the devil's advocate), and follow the flow of an idea. The fact: change is the only constant...more
Here let me spoil the book for you. There are four strategies and one fact: understand any problem you face deeply, don't be afraid of making mistakes, raise questions (also play the devil's advocate), and follow the flow of an idea. The fact: change is the only constant...more
Potentially life changing, because it takes its own advice to get at the fundamental ability we all have to think as human beings. While much of it rings true on that core level, so much so, I feel so inspired to want to change, and feel capable of doing so - the authors say it right there, and there are many inspirational stories and quotes, which you will need to get the book to enjoy - as a budding writer and psychologist, I want to get more of the ways that these lessons or pieces of advice...more
Earth, Wind, Water, Fire, Heart—I mean Ether—no, I mean Change! I felt like I was watching Captain Planet. :)
All silliness aside, I understand why the author's chose to tie their writing to the five platonic elements. By doing so they hoped to make their basic premise a bit more memorable.
Despite my snark, I did enjoy this book and there were many great ideas about how to come to a better level of understanding and deeper thinking on a variety of issues. They include lots of great exercises to...more
All silliness aside, I understand why the author's chose to tie their writing to the five platonic elements. By doing so they hoped to make their basic premise a bit more memorable.
Despite my snark, I did enjoy this book and there were many great ideas about how to come to a better level of understanding and deeper thinking on a variety of issues. They include lots of great exercises to...more
In short: the book offers some very good and potentially life-changing advice, which is definitely worth a five-star rating, but I find it a bit fluffy at times. I have summarised this book to use the advice in my daily life and find that there is not much missing in my summary that contains 1/10th of what's in the book; therefore, I substracted one star from my five-star rating. Still worth the read without any doubt though.
The authors invite readers to submit accounts of real-life applications of the five elements of effective thinking.
The authors offer numerous tips, with specificity, on how to accomplish tasks. Students from middle school through graduate school will become more effective by following the guidelines set forth.
Especially useful are the questions designed to help readers focus on challenges and solutions.
I received this book free through the goodreads FIRST READS program.
The authors offer numerous tips, with specificity, on how to accomplish tasks. Students from middle school through graduate school will become more effective by following the guidelines set forth.
Especially useful are the questions designed to help readers focus on challenges and solutions.
I received this book free through the goodreads FIRST READS program.
"The 5 Elements of Effective Thinking is a useful guide for anyone interested in tackling difficult subject matter, particularly in the classroom. The book also could serve as a solid supplementary text in courses on critical thinking." --Jennifer Moore
ForeWord Reviews reviewed this book on our website. Read the complete review at www.forewordreviews.com.
ForeWord Reviews reviewed this book on our website. Read the complete review at www.forewordreviews.com.
I thought it was pretty good. Although I knew much of it, there were some ideas I hadn't thought of, and some examples of points that I can use to illustrate stuff for my classes. I did think it was a bit long. There was some redundancy. It felt a bit like a long essay that had been expanded to fill a book, (although a pretty short book). Someone without a background in psychology or teaching might find it more useful.
Although I found this book interesting, I did feel like it has been written multiple times before. I was taught these concepts in graduate school for my classes on leadership, so it truly was nothing new to me. However, it might be for the general public.
In reality, these books are a dime a dozen. I do think that they author, with his math background, brought in an interesting approach, but it is still the same concepts.
In reality, these books are a dime a dozen. I do think that they author, with his math background, brought in an interesting approach, but it is still the same concepts.
Speaking as someone returning to study after over 25 years, and who had a bad habit of simply regurgitating facts even back then I can't say enough good things about the simple, yet effective learning strategies outlined in this book.
Now I'm passing the book on to my teenagers to read.
Now I'm passing the book on to my teenagers to read.
I don't know if the points in this little book will help me to think any better, but it gave me several ideas to teach better.
I may need to own this one. Very thought provoking. Great for teachers, too!
Very helpful, practical book. This is a well structured, engaging read.
Great stuff, simple and direct. I think it will be useful in my life.
ELEMENTS TO DEVELOP GOOD HABITS OF THINKING TO BE MORE EFFECTIVE.
Too basic and too much repetition. Can be summarized in 5 pages. This is something that should be taught in the elementary school. Not much new for experienced professionals.
I wish I had read this book when I was in school.
Often, why you are not doing well is not that you don't know how to do things better but you just don't practice.
Gave a great foundation on how to approach learning new subjects and what it takes to master or at least be better at anything.
concise and anecdotal
quick read but lacking depth and scientific evidence, especially since it's written by scholars
quick read but lacking depth and scientific evidence, especially since it's written by scholars
Sep 24, 2012
Serina
marked it as to-read
Dr. Burger!
Loving this so far
Short book, very fast read, now I just need to read it twice more!
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