Reframe: how to solve the world's trickiest problems

by Eric Knight

How to solve the world's trickiest political problems? In Reframe , Eric Knight explains how a change of focus can reveal a solution that was lying just outside your frame of vision. From terrorism to global warming, from border security to high finance, he brings a new perspective that is both exhilarating and useful. Why can't we eliminate terrorism by killing terrorists? Why can't we learn anything about climate change by talking about the weather? Why can't we resolve immigration tensions by building higher fences? And what do fishermen in Turkey have to teach us about international relations? This is an optimistic, lucid and original book by a brilliant young Australian thinker.

Genres: Nonfiction

228 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Librarian's Note: There is more than one author by this name.

Reviews

[Warren · Rating 2 out of 5]

The 'reframe' idea is a useful one, but, a shorter book could do a better job.

[Jeannie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author has an enormous breadth and depth of knowledge but he also writes in a really easily accessible manner - a combination which makes this a wonderful book.
I expected it to be about encouraging readers to use fresh perspectives to problems - and it was that, but it seemed to me it was much more about how sloppy thinking has characterised known problems - i.e. that we need to be much more serious minded about the things that matter.
The author introduces this thought early in the book with the best summary of Simon's 'bounded rationality', which I have ever read, concluding: "[Our human] limits meant that we tended to solve complex problems by breaking them down and focusing on their most digestible parts. By using these intellectual shortcuts, people have a tendency to leave an awful lot of information out of the picture." p.19
The book's conclusion (p.209) echoes this: "...we can look at the complex world around us but miss the deeper issues in play. We are attracted to ... little pockets of certainty which mask larger uncertainties."
I loved this book, it is both thoughtful and easy to read.

[Simon Joshua · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mr. Knight writes in a story-telling fashion, proving his thesis largely by example; he includes short, rare didactic paragraphs. There are many possible solutions to the issues he profiles here, so it’s not surprising that he avoids making a case for the solutions he includes: it’s clear these are just examples. This is a how-to on big-huge-problem-solving-thinking.
Biases can be difficult to write about, mostly because no human can claim complete freedom from them. Knight writes a good book and generally handles his his subjects with fairness.

[Mat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting concept but I think the execution was weak. Didn’t really take much away, and what I did was covered in the last paragraph.

[Suman Srivastava · Rating 3 out of 5]

Did Einstein really say that if he had one hour to save the world, he would spend 55 minutes understanding the problem and 5 minutes solving it? Whether he did or not, I'm fascinated by the idea of reframing problems until a solution leaps out at you.

This book gives a few great examples of the result of this approach. But it meanders after that. In the end I'm a little disappointed that the author didn't do more than just put out a manifesto for reframing. He doesn't really help the reader understand how to do that. Which is what I expected from this book.

[Chiara · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very engaging within the first chapter or so, but seemed to lose focus. I struggled to connect the later stories and examples to the main idea of reframing.

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyable read - certainly challenged my thinking in different areas and a great encouragement to try and view things from different perspectives.

[Anthony Nicholas · Rating 4 out of 5]

light read - not too intense! will recommend if into world affairs