Rapid Problem Solving with Post-It Notes

by David Straker

Problem Solved!

Uses your favorite top-drawer tool -- the Post-it Note. Great for individuals, great for groups -- large or small.

Problems come in all shapes and sizes, yet most have common characteristics that can be addressed with the techniques found in this book. Rapid Problem-Solving with Post-it Notes shows you how to use six types of



More than 70 diagrams and examples for solving everyday problems

This refreshing book reminds us the simplest ideas are often the most effective.

Solve problems, create solutions and find answers fast-all with the help of Post-it Notes. Tens of millions of Post-it¬�Notes users can now learn how to do far more with these great little tools. Post-it Notes can be used to help solve difficult problems because

Genres: Business, Nonfiction, Productivity, Management, Entrepreneurship, Personal Development, Reference

176 pages, Paperback

First published September 9, 2009

Reviews

[Joey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super quick read. Nothing mind blowing, but pretty good techniques for brainstorming using the flexibility of post-its.

[Kasey Wang · Rating 1 out of 5]

Seems outdated. Nothing I didn't already know from UX work. There were 4 pages of diagrams that did help with modeling some problem solving. If it were a book filled with these diagrams, then maybe. The text was lackluster.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a straight-forward guide to organizing ideas on post-it notes that can be a great help to larger student groups brainstorming their ideas. It also gives them a few options in choosing how to best organize those ideas...but in the age of working on google docs, this is not essential reading.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

A crisp overview of 6 general problem-framing concepts that can be applied to many different solutions. Easy to read and digest. Key points can even be summarized in 3 Post-it Notes.

[Sandy H · Rating 3 out of 5]

The initial concept was somewhat interesting, if not expensive (you'd go through piles of post-its to use this method, but if it works and you have the budget for it, that would be a valuable expense). However, many of the methods seemed very complicated. However, trying to read them versus practicing them may be the problem--if I were in a position to try out each step I might have been able to more clearly understand the descriptions. I have been looking for alternative methods to the traditional brainstorming that would still allow everyone to have input and feel ownership in the process, so I'm interested in trying the post-up (the first piece of his technique). The swap sort to figure out priorities and some method of moving the notes into flow charts in various ways could be very useful.

[Paul Baldowski · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm torn about how much value I got out of this book. In practice, it does serve up a valuable, if very focussed, guide to use of Post-ItTM Notes in defining, sorting, prioritising and giving structure to knowledge. You have the Post-Up and Swap-Out for general information gathering and sorting, the Top-Down and Bottom-Up for either generating or coalescing data, and you have the Information Map and the Action Map, either for finding commonality between the disparate or creating flow. It all makes sense, but I'm not sure whether it needed to be Post-ItTM Note focussed or quite so long.

OK - a viable toolset that somehow left me leaving short for the time spent reading it.

[Catherine · Rating 2 out of 5]

I use Post-it (R) notes frequently to outline my ebooks, books, and other documentation so I thought this would help me refine the process. I also teach using Post-it (R) notes in my writing seminars. The material has me stumped in many sections.

This is a resource book that you only want to read if you can directly apply it to the process you need it with. Everything else in the book needs to left unread.

[Steve Goodyear · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book and the ideas it gave me. It really added some nice tools to my toolbox for my creative process. I find it helps me develop focus or find a new way of looking at a problem, and I find the process great for brainstorming ideas as well. He did a great job writing the book so the ideas are easy to digest and begin to practice, as well as use it as a reference to refresh myself on different techniques later.

[Andrea James · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very visual book (unsurprising given its main idea is based on visual discussion) and it's really easy to pick up the points and ideas quickly.

A lot of it felt self-explanatory so it could probably have been an even shorter and quicker read. In any case, although hardly groundbreaking, it has some nice prompts to use to get our thoughts organised for decision-making and problem solving.

[Onekerato · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant short book based on the idea that a post-it note can hold just enough content to capture one detail of a problem, and the book presents several structuring techniques to arrange post-it notes to work out solutions to the problem. Eye-opening on how adding structure to a group discussion can help to quickly arrive at concrete results.

[Alix · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not sure if I didn't really internalize the tools in this book, or if it just wasn't what I wanted. I was hoping for something that would help me facilitate problem-solving and decision-making sessions with groups, and just didn't find this to be useful for that purpose.

[Fritz Desir · Rating 5 out of 5]

Small but so powerful. Techniques galore. Impress your friends at parties (and meetings).

[Bassem Alfiky · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best problem solving/decision making books written.

[Lori Grant · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must-read book on decision making and problem solving, which are two critical competencies in business life.