About the book
Think Smart–Act Smart can change the way you make decisions—for the better.
Using insightful, entertaining examples, author Jim Nightingale explains the four types of flawed thinking that can lead to major mistakes:
- Wishful thinking
- Mythical thinking
- Tribal thinking
- Royal thinking
All of these thought processes are useful in some situations. But when taken too far, not given enough emphasis or applied in the wrong settings, they lead intelligent people to reach the wrong conclusions.
Learn from other smart people’s mistakes
In Think Smart–Act Smart, Nightingale deconstructs a series of case studies that exemplify each type of erroneous thinking. From the wacky to the disastrous, Nightingale’s examples include:
- The Collapse of Barings Bank
- Quality Circles as Magic Bullets
- Calvary vs. Tanks: The Myth of the Calvary
- The Swiss Watch Industry: Failure to Adapt
- The Challenger Disaster
- South Sea Bubble
- Medical Quackery
- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and the Cottingly Fairies
You can make better decisions
To avoid the pitfalls that led to such follies,Think Smart–Act Smart describes six practices for better decision making. Importantly, they can be put to use immediately. And they don’t rely on elaborate or time-consuming techniques to achieve the desired results:
- Look for disconfirming evidence
- Do your homework
- Step outside of the problem
- Review previous decisions to see what has worked and what hasn’t
- Create a group of thinking partners
- Know your limits and beware of success
Your organization can make better decisions too
Think Smart–Act Smart offers clear guidance about helping organizations make the right decisions. It means eliminating the current decision-making pathologies that plague many organizations and hamper performance, including:
- Unclear goals
- Lack of pertinent, timely information
- Wrong decision-makers
- Failing to follow a proven decision-making process
Outsmarting Isaac Newton
In 1720, Sir Isaac Newton lost a fortune in a stock market crash that he had predicted. How could the genius who developed the law of gravity and invented calculus make such a stupid mistake?
Think Smart–Act Smart reveals the ways smart people, including Newton and several Nobelists in economics, make monumentally bad judgments. It also explains some simple strategies to help you avoid the same fate.
Excerpt:
“...Much of the coaching managers receive about decision making is focused on techniques. For instance, the instructor or consultant will provide a way to weigh the pros and cons of alternatives against each other to determine which approach is correct. This is perfectly fine, and there are places for this kind of technique, especially in formal decision-making processes. But frankly, if you tried to use them regularly, you would be fired in a month because they take too much time.”
Endorsement:
"Think Smart–Act Smart is a book that walks you through the 'how to' of thinking outside the box in your everyday approach to problem solving and how to avoid the old patterns buried in society's IQ-driven approach to problem solving. A very refreshing and mind-opening journey that shares a wonderful look into a number of startling truths about the way we think."
