Turning Numbers into Knowledge

rcr1001 writes "Turning Numbers into Knowledge (TNIK) is an entertaining and readable primer on practical problem solving. TNIK is about structured analytical thinking and Slashdot readers interested in improving the quality of their critical thinking skills should consider learning from this book." Read on for the complete review. Turning Numbers into Knowledge: Mastering the Art of Problem Solving author Jonathan G. Koomey, PhD pages 221 publisher Analytics Press rating 9 reviewer rcr1001 ISBN 0970601905 summary A guide to mastering the art of problem solving

An overview: TNIK is one of those rare books that is simple in its presentation and quietly leaves a deep understanding of its topic. Chapters read like common-sense and jibe with everyday experience in a satisfying way. Koomey is a masterful analyst who has distilled his years of experience into a well-thought-out, well-written book on the "art of problem solving." Koomey's tone is conversational and succeeds in making a potentially dry topic interesting and relevant through genuine insight, clear prose, and real-world examples.

TNIK is divided into 5 sections containing a total of 38 chapters. The chapters are easily digested. The book can be read equally well straight-through or in bites here and there as interests warrant -- in fact, Koomey uses icons in page margins to cross-reference chapters encouraging the reader to jump around if a thread seems particularly interesting.

See table of contents at bottom for more information on content -- the chapters are small enough that the ToC provides an excellent summary of the territory covered in the book. Also, here are some sample chapters online.

Why Recommend a Book about Problem Solving on Slashdot:
While I consider myself more of an analyst than a programmer, I've written a fair amount of code in support of data analysis (mostly perl and sql). I've benefitted invaluably from books recommended on Slashdot that I wouldn't have known to pick up or notice otherwise. I thought this book might be similarly useful to others who were interested in improving their problem solving skills and/or analytical approach. This book is the The Practice of Programming of the practice of problem solving.

What I Enjoyed About the Book:

I have read TNIK twice and used it as a reference on many occasions. Reading it has helped me retool my approach to analysis in a broad way (getting more organized, becoming more cynical about "official" analysis, questioning my own analysis more deeply, and developing different analytical scenarios all come to mind), pointed me to other excellent references, and most importantly, always helped me with whatever problem I'm currently working on. I tend to pull it off the shelf when I'm starting a big project and it has been an easy way to gain inspiration.

Other Good Stuff:
There is an outstanding "Further Reading" section which is essentially an annotated bibliography of recommended books organized by topic. There are many, many excellent books in this section and each listing contains a short description by Koomey as to why he recommends them.

Each chapter begins and ends with a quote relevant to the chapter topic and lots of humorous comic strips (Calvin and Hobbes, Dilbert, New Yorker, etc.) relevant to the chapter throughout the text serve as comic relief.

A Note on the Publisher:
This book is published by Analytics Press in Oakland CA. Individual copies are available through Amazon or Barnes and Noble.com. Ordering options here.

Conclusion:
This book is on par with Edward Tufte's influential Graphical Explanations (which amazingly hasn't been reviewed on this site yet!) The beauty of the book is in its elegant coverage of so many topics in such a short space. This book is a road map to great analysis and it behooves anyone interesting in improving their skills to take advantage of it, and judging by the amount of bad analysis created on a daily basis, it deserves a spot on many bookshelves! Other reviews are here.

Table Of Contents:

1. Part I: Things to Know
2. Beginner's Mind
3. Don't be Intimidated
4. Information, Intention, and Action
5. Peer Review and Scientific Discovery

   Part II: Be Prepared

6. Explore Your Ideology
7. Get Organized
8. Establish a Filing System
9. Build a Toolbox
10. Put Facts at Your Fingertips
11. Value your Time

    Part III: Assess their Analysis

12. The Power of Critical Thinking
13. Numbers Aren't Everything
14. All Numbers Are Not Created Equal
15. Question Authority
16. How Guesses Become Facts
17. Don't Believe Everything You Read
18. Go Back to the Questions
19. Reading Tables and Graphs
20. Distinguish Facts from Values
21. The Uncertainty Principle and the Mass Media

    Part IV: Create Your Analysis

22. Reflect
23. Get Unstuck
24. Inquire
25. Be a Detective
26. Create Consistent Comparisons
27. Tell a Good Story
28. Dig into the Numbers
29. Make a Model
30. Reuse Old Envelopes
31. Use Forecasts with Care
32. Hear All Sides

    Part V: Show your Stuff

33. Know Your Audience
34. Document, Document, Document
35. Let the Tables and Graphs Do the Work
36. Create Compelling Graphs and Figures
37. Create Good Tables
38. Use Numbers Effectively in Oral Presentations
39. Use the Internet

    Conclusion: Creating the Future

    Further Reading
    Notes
    Index
    

You can purchase Turning Numbers into Knowledge from bn.com. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to see your own review here, read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.

Comments

Thinking Skills?

[jaaron]

Slashdot readers interested in improving the quality of their critical thinking skills...

You've got to be kidding me right? Slashdotters? Thinking Skills? Someone ate too much turkey yesterday. :)

Sales / IT barrier

[LionKimbro]

Ha! When I read about TNIK, I thought, "Oh! A success book about programmers!" I don't know that it's really a success book, but it is in that domain of higher level approach to world problems that success books belong to.

I have been a programmer my entire life. I recently read Napoleon Hill, Frank Bettger, and Dale Carnegy for the first time. Wow! My life changed completely. And I realized that us programmers have a LOT to learn from sales people, both in terms of culture and skills.

Us programmers need a Napoleon Hill of our own.

Any rate- thanks for trying to understand our mindset.

Problem solving methodologies in context

[Austenite]

• QFD - Quality Function Deployment
  
• Taguchi - named after Dr. Genichi Taguchi
  
• TQM - Total Quality Management
  

... and there are many others. I believe that many manufacturing technology institutes (technology transfer institutes also), such as the one I'm familiar with, QMI, have done work into the effectiveness / requirements pertaining to quality and problem solving methods, in order to lend credibility to their recommendations. Check your local guides. :)

Personally, I've found it very interesting to look at the social, political and economic conditions that caused these "lean manufacturing" ideologies to develop in Japan first. The best explanation I've heard so far is that during the American occupation of Japan after WW2, many labor laws and conditions were put in place, making the HR environment very different. This combined with cultural differences and a need to develop very good manufacturing and assembly industries because of Japan's (supposed - I haven't checked for myself) low level of mineral resources and more compact manufacturing facilites to drive this development.

In effect, raw material, manpower and space became much more expensive than in the Western world. This meant that higher levels of automation and more emphasis on waste reduction could be justified.

So, a set of advanced manufacturing ideologies evolved to suit the prevailing conditions. The ideologies are expanding, displacing the old ideologies in the western manufacturing world, especially in the automotive sector. You can thank this for the vastly increased quality and rapid technology advance in many modern cars.

But when someone comes to you with that look in their eye and says "We need to implement 5S to save the company!", I believe it pays to look at these techniques through OUR eyes. For us, it may well be more prudent to build a larger factory. Or lay off workers in the tough times - the inflexibility of the Japanese labour market has been blamed for keeping Japan's economic growth stunted for the last decade or so.

Slavish adherance to any ideology is bad..... is that what makes things become "-isms"?