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It's Not About the Shark: The Simple Path from Problem to Answer
In the spirit of The Tipping Point and Freakonomics, David Niven presents a new way of decoding the riddles of the everyday choices we make.It's Not About the Shark opens the door to the groundbreaking science of solutions by turning problems—and how we solve them—upside down. When we have a problem, most of us zero in, take it apart, and focus until we have it solved. David Niven shows us that focusing on the problem is exactly the wrong way to find an answer. Putting problems at the center of our thoughts shuts down our creative abilities, depletes stamina, and feeds insecurities. It's Not About the Shark shows us how to transform our daily lives, our work lives, and our family lives with a simple, but rock-solid If you start by thinking about your problems, you'll never make it to a solution. If you start by thinking about a solution, you'll never worry about your problems again. Through real-life examples and psychology research, Niven shows us on the problem first makes us 17 times less likely to find an answer*Being afraid of a problem is we're biologically primed to be afraid*Finding a problem creates power – which keeps you from finding a solution*Working harder actually hides answers*Absolute confidence makes you less likely to find the answer*Looking away from a problem helps to see a solution*Listening only to yourself is one of the best ways to find an answerCombining hard facts, good sense, and a strong dose of encouragement, Niven provides fresh and positive ways to think about problem solving.
245 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 22, 2014
58 people are currently reading
1224 people want to read
About the author
David Niven
32 books33 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
David^Niven, Ph.D., is the author 100 Simple Secrets book series
David^^Niven, actor and author of The Moon's a Balloon
David^Niven, Ph.D., is the author 100 Simple Secrets book series
David^^Niven, actor and author of The Moon's a Balloon
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 75 reviews
August 26, 2014
My pocket will not allow me to purchase as many copies of this book as I would like to gift over the holiday season. Friends, family and colleagues, it is one of those books that might amuse and serve anyone well.
The book *is* light, easily readable, full of a series of anecdotal stories and 'studies' that highlight the point Niven is trying to make....when you focus your energies on 'the problem' you will have adifficult time finding the best solution. Which is not to say that you ignore problems or pretend that they don't exist, more that you note them and focus your energies on the solution or the alternative. The beauty of the book is that Niven explores this position from a wide variety of angles so it becomes quickly apparent to the reader that this thinking can be applied to every aspect of life.
The lightness may repulse more serious readers, this book is not full of scientific studies, control groups and is without footnotes. For the rest of us it is light enough to pick up and put down in digestible bits and engaging enough that I read it to my family as we adventured in the car and for the first time EVER everyone listened quietly, laughed appropriately and we spoke about it afterwards...Let's see if any lessons were learned!
The book *is* light, easily readable, full of a series of anecdotal stories and 'studies' that highlight the point Niven is trying to make....when you focus your energies on 'the problem' you will have adifficult time finding the best solution. Which is not to say that you ignore problems or pretend that they don't exist, more that you note them and focus your energies on the solution or the alternative. The beauty of the book is that Niven explores this position from a wide variety of angles so it becomes quickly apparent to the reader that this thinking can be applied to every aspect of life.
The lightness may repulse more serious readers, this book is not full of scientific studies, control groups and is without footnotes. For the rest of us it is light enough to pick up and put down in digestible bits and engaging enough that I read it to my family as we adventured in the car and for the first time EVER everyone listened quietly, laughed appropriately and we spoke about it afterwards...Let's see if any lessons were learned!
November 24, 2014
I received this book through a Goodreads giveaway.
This is a good book. It's got a lot of good ideas and interesting stories in it. But by God is it annoying.
Almost all of his anecdotes, explanation of studies, etc. follow the same format: hook, introduction, body, conclusion. It makes for very easy, fast reading, which is good. But following that same pattern over and over again can get beyond repetitive and venture into the realm of bad writing. The few times he deviated from the pattern were extremely refreshing, but unfortunately just served to highlight how unvarying in structure the other sections were.
Again, I thought this was a good book, and I'll likely run through it again to take some notes on ideas I found especially intriguing. However, I doubt I'll be able to read it start to finish again.
This is a good book. It's got a lot of good ideas and interesting stories in it. But by God is it annoying.
Almost all of his anecdotes, explanation of studies, etc. follow the same format: hook, introduction, body, conclusion. It makes for very easy, fast reading, which is good. But following that same pattern over and over again can get beyond repetitive and venture into the realm of bad writing. The few times he deviated from the pattern were extremely refreshing, but unfortunately just served to highlight how unvarying in structure the other sections were.
Again, I thought this was a good book, and I'll likely run through it again to take some notes on ideas I found especially intriguing. However, I doubt I'll be able to read it start to finish again.
Read
April 30, 2017Some interesting anecdotes, some irrelevant stories, an overlarge helping of second-person, all combined with not-necessarily-helpful advice. Especially given that it goes from "Here's an easier way to solve the problem!" to "Don't acknowledge that problems exist!" to "Looking for the easy way to solve the problem is the WORST way of solving the problem."
Steven Spielberg's failing mechanical shark makes for an awfully good hook, but skip the rest to read a psychology textbook or a volume of Chesterton or something.
Steven Spielberg's failing mechanical shark makes for an awfully good hook, but skip the rest to read a psychology textbook or a volume of Chesterton or something.
January 6, 2021
-if we let problems define who we are, if we let problems serve as our guide, then our problems tell us what we can't do. we can't do this, we cant do that. our lives become negatives and absences.
-two groups were given a problem. the first group was asked to solve the specific problem with bike racks, and they flailed. the second group was asked to design the best bike rack they could, and they did. in the process, they solved a problem they didnt even know existed. the group that had never seen a bad example let their natural talent carry them to a good design. the group that saw the problem wanted to solve it so badly they couldnt think straight.
-why are you still a bad teacher when you could be a great something else?
-try harder, thats what we all learn we're supposed to do when we're facing a problem. but the harder you try, the worse it gets. because it keeps your focus on the problem.
-dont think of pink elephants.
-thinking about the problems first makes us 17 times more likely to fail.
-einstein didnt seek anyone's approval. his superpower, as it were, was a willingness to exist inside his own world, losing not a moment trapped inside the fear problem of what other people think. he could have absolutely fearless thoughts. he could venture down a path no one had ever trod. and he could do it without hesitation because he wasnt ducking danger and he wasnt worried about consequences. einstein saw his strengths in similar terms. 'i am a horse for a single harness, not cut out for tandem or team work'. most people would have trouble living outside the limits place by the judgment of others. it takes strength and sometimes a willingness to stand well apart from your peers. but by incurring the cost of this distance, einstein said 'i am compensated for it by being tendered independent of the customs, opinions, and prejudices of others and am not tempted to rest my peace of mind upon such shifting foundations'. 'everybody is a genius. but if you judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid'.
-do something you've never done before. there is such freedom when you do not limit yourself to what you already know and what you've already done.
-eat a candy bar. we think more clearly when we feel a little bit of joy. an experiment with doctors and candy proved candy eaters were vastly more likely to arrive at the correct diagnosis, and performed better on a creativity test.
-teachers believed that stepping outside the conventional learning process was surely a path to failure, and were on a vigilant watch for the first signs of someone headed in that direction.
-john lennon struggled in school. no one appreciated the remarkable thoughts and utterly original perspectives their most vexing student was capable of producing. he failed 9 of 9 exams. he hated regimentation, being told what to do or when to do it. he hated having to fit within the stifling standards and judgements of the staff. so he didnt. the boy wasnt doing what he was supposed to do, and that problem, like all problems, demanded a response. we will push and shove and try with all our might, and we will enjoy the exertion because it is pleasing to be right. problems are easy to see. promise and potential are not. lennon never believed the consensus opinion of him. 'when i was about 12 i used to think i must be a genius, but nobody's noticed'.
-82% of us would physically hurt someone if told it helps teach them a lesson, in an experiment about giving people shocks. this classic milgram experiment is considered a warning about obedience to authority, but also to a problem. what they were responding to was the notion that the learner wouldnt succeed if he didn't receive the punishment. they were hurting people because they were seduced by the problem - unless you used this training technique, your student would never learn the lesson. they would suffer if you didnt hurt them. ordinary people, simply doing their jobs, and without any particular hostility on their part, can become agents in a terrible destructive process.
-try harder. everyone tells you this. its not that people should give up, never try, never apply themselves. the point is simply this: turning effort up to an 11 on a 10 point scale is inherently counterproductive. it makes our problems seem bigger and our abilities seem smaller. sometimes no amount of effort or shame will carry you any farther. why do people persist in their self-destructive behavior, ignoring the blatant fact that what they've been doing for many years hasn't solved their problems? they think that they need to do it even more fervently or frequently, as if they were doing the right thing but simply had to try even harder. people will work as hard as they can until they destroy themselves with their effort. we burn out. we make illogical decisions. we dont build engagement with the task.
-studies show that incentives fail to make people more committed to or interested in successfully completing a task. instead of making something more interesting, more vital, more alive, we transform it into a bloodless transaction that we wish to rid ourselves of at the first opportunity. incentives dont produce harder work, and harder work doesnt produce better outcomes. intrigue and engagement beats the best incentive and the hardest worker every time. engagement is sustaining. incentives are limiting. we are twice as likely to stick to a challenge without an incentive.
-slow down. people think the only way is to go at things full tilt. we overvalue speed in almost everything we are doing, because we associate speed with effort. but hurrying wears us down and closes out possibilities.
-a group is sometimes a division into something less than what a single member can accomplish. you can be so right that they can't even see it. we falter against a group's questionable opinions or arguably wrong assertions. we are stymied by a group united behind a demonstrably wrong basic fact. subjects want to fit in. adding people to the process made the obvious inaccessible. alone, everyone would have identified the matching line and given the correct answer. in a group, the correct answer was almost always beside the point. what groups do best is limit what you could otherwise clearly see.
-75% of people will give an obviously wrong answer just to conform to a group's preference.
-talk to your friend with purple hair. talk to someone who sees things differently.
-when confidence gets in the way of asking questions, then it no longer propels us forward, it chains us down.
-forcing children to meet testing standards meant that teachers began to teach only whats being tested. reshaping the education system to an approach of 'right answers' only. life isnt like that. putting tremendous value on being able to pick out the right answer out of little bubbles turns out not to be a very valuable skill. you cant take this skill out into the workplace and get paid for it.
-be open to criticism, not blinded by confidence.
-the more coaches get paid, the worse the teams do. the coaches smother. its harder to do what you're BEING told, than to do what you've BEEN taught.
-shake it up. literally. moving arms in big sweeping movements scores 24% higher on creativity tests than moving arms only in short precise patterns.
-never settle for the first draft. first drafts are first available ideas, based on what we already know, things that come to mind easily. we are twice as creative when the first impulse doesnt work.
-fail with joy. try something that probably wont work. try something that definitely wont work. we want to be right so much, but there is exploration and discovery to be found in failing. be as wrong as you can. there is so much more freedom and possibility in not being afraid to fail that failing first actually makes things better.
-do things out of order. when people had to do mundane things out of order, they produced an 18% jump in cognitive flexibility scores that measure the capacity to build ideas from multiple concepts.
-the best answers are found when you put the problem down. give yourself time and space to change your context, and give your brain the opportunity to make connections and see whats possible.
-confinement confines ideas. get out of the box, the cubicle, the kitchen, the car, wherever the problem is, go find somewhere open.
-attacking the drug problem in america harder doesnt work. more arrests, more police, longer prison sentences. america spends more on jails than on universities. if what you are doing doesnt work, why keep doing it?
-portuguese government focused on the goal, not the problem. the goal had always been reducing the use of drugs. if drug use is decriminalized, those resources could be put into treatment. those in need of help would have no reason to hide in shadows in fear of punishment if they sought a way out of drugs. after 10 years the numbers are astonishing. deaths from overdose fell by 27%. new hiv cases from drug use fell 71%. overall drug use fell by 50%. portugal now haas the lowest rate of drug use in europe. portuguese people are 1/4 as likely to use drugs as americans. think of all the mothers and fathers who are providing for their children today because they are not using, because they are not in jail. society is stronger because of this.
-dont follow the leader. we want to defer to the people in charge who have the knowledge and experience and judgment to arrive at the best answers. but the leader in many cases is the person with bad ideas who has been around the longest.
-dont do what everyone else does.
-we are 10 times more likely to help someone in distress when we are alone. because alone we can think for ourselves and see answers more clearly.
-those who received lessons on mindfulness principles such as being slow to judge and being readily open to exploring new ideas wasted 276% less time on useless, negative distraction photos. take a moment. give yourself permission to see things differently.
-two groups were given a problem. the first group was asked to solve the specific problem with bike racks, and they flailed. the second group was asked to design the best bike rack they could, and they did. in the process, they solved a problem they didnt even know existed. the group that had never seen a bad example let their natural talent carry them to a good design. the group that saw the problem wanted to solve it so badly they couldnt think straight.
-why are you still a bad teacher when you could be a great something else?
-try harder, thats what we all learn we're supposed to do when we're facing a problem. but the harder you try, the worse it gets. because it keeps your focus on the problem.
-dont think of pink elephants.
-thinking about the problems first makes us 17 times more likely to fail.
-einstein didnt seek anyone's approval. his superpower, as it were, was a willingness to exist inside his own world, losing not a moment trapped inside the fear problem of what other people think. he could have absolutely fearless thoughts. he could venture down a path no one had ever trod. and he could do it without hesitation because he wasnt ducking danger and he wasnt worried about consequences. einstein saw his strengths in similar terms. 'i am a horse for a single harness, not cut out for tandem or team work'. most people would have trouble living outside the limits place by the judgment of others. it takes strength and sometimes a willingness to stand well apart from your peers. but by incurring the cost of this distance, einstein said 'i am compensated for it by being tendered independent of the customs, opinions, and prejudices of others and am not tempted to rest my peace of mind upon such shifting foundations'. 'everybody is a genius. but if you judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid'.
-do something you've never done before. there is such freedom when you do not limit yourself to what you already know and what you've already done.
-eat a candy bar. we think more clearly when we feel a little bit of joy. an experiment with doctors and candy proved candy eaters were vastly more likely to arrive at the correct diagnosis, and performed better on a creativity test.
-teachers believed that stepping outside the conventional learning process was surely a path to failure, and were on a vigilant watch for the first signs of someone headed in that direction.
-john lennon struggled in school. no one appreciated the remarkable thoughts and utterly original perspectives their most vexing student was capable of producing. he failed 9 of 9 exams. he hated regimentation, being told what to do or when to do it. he hated having to fit within the stifling standards and judgements of the staff. so he didnt. the boy wasnt doing what he was supposed to do, and that problem, like all problems, demanded a response. we will push and shove and try with all our might, and we will enjoy the exertion because it is pleasing to be right. problems are easy to see. promise and potential are not. lennon never believed the consensus opinion of him. 'when i was about 12 i used to think i must be a genius, but nobody's noticed'.
-82% of us would physically hurt someone if told it helps teach them a lesson, in an experiment about giving people shocks. this classic milgram experiment is considered a warning about obedience to authority, but also to a problem. what they were responding to was the notion that the learner wouldnt succeed if he didn't receive the punishment. they were hurting people because they were seduced by the problem - unless you used this training technique, your student would never learn the lesson. they would suffer if you didnt hurt them. ordinary people, simply doing their jobs, and without any particular hostility on their part, can become agents in a terrible destructive process.
-try harder. everyone tells you this. its not that people should give up, never try, never apply themselves. the point is simply this: turning effort up to an 11 on a 10 point scale is inherently counterproductive. it makes our problems seem bigger and our abilities seem smaller. sometimes no amount of effort or shame will carry you any farther. why do people persist in their self-destructive behavior, ignoring the blatant fact that what they've been doing for many years hasn't solved their problems? they think that they need to do it even more fervently or frequently, as if they were doing the right thing but simply had to try even harder. people will work as hard as they can until they destroy themselves with their effort. we burn out. we make illogical decisions. we dont build engagement with the task.
-studies show that incentives fail to make people more committed to or interested in successfully completing a task. instead of making something more interesting, more vital, more alive, we transform it into a bloodless transaction that we wish to rid ourselves of at the first opportunity. incentives dont produce harder work, and harder work doesnt produce better outcomes. intrigue and engagement beats the best incentive and the hardest worker every time. engagement is sustaining. incentives are limiting. we are twice as likely to stick to a challenge without an incentive.
-slow down. people think the only way is to go at things full tilt. we overvalue speed in almost everything we are doing, because we associate speed with effort. but hurrying wears us down and closes out possibilities.
-a group is sometimes a division into something less than what a single member can accomplish. you can be so right that they can't even see it. we falter against a group's questionable opinions or arguably wrong assertions. we are stymied by a group united behind a demonstrably wrong basic fact. subjects want to fit in. adding people to the process made the obvious inaccessible. alone, everyone would have identified the matching line and given the correct answer. in a group, the correct answer was almost always beside the point. what groups do best is limit what you could otherwise clearly see.
-75% of people will give an obviously wrong answer just to conform to a group's preference.
-talk to your friend with purple hair. talk to someone who sees things differently.
-when confidence gets in the way of asking questions, then it no longer propels us forward, it chains us down.
-forcing children to meet testing standards meant that teachers began to teach only whats being tested. reshaping the education system to an approach of 'right answers' only. life isnt like that. putting tremendous value on being able to pick out the right answer out of little bubbles turns out not to be a very valuable skill. you cant take this skill out into the workplace and get paid for it.
-be open to criticism, not blinded by confidence.
-the more coaches get paid, the worse the teams do. the coaches smother. its harder to do what you're BEING told, than to do what you've BEEN taught.
-shake it up. literally. moving arms in big sweeping movements scores 24% higher on creativity tests than moving arms only in short precise patterns.
-never settle for the first draft. first drafts are first available ideas, based on what we already know, things that come to mind easily. we are twice as creative when the first impulse doesnt work.
-fail with joy. try something that probably wont work. try something that definitely wont work. we want to be right so much, but there is exploration and discovery to be found in failing. be as wrong as you can. there is so much more freedom and possibility in not being afraid to fail that failing first actually makes things better.
-do things out of order. when people had to do mundane things out of order, they produced an 18% jump in cognitive flexibility scores that measure the capacity to build ideas from multiple concepts.
-the best answers are found when you put the problem down. give yourself time and space to change your context, and give your brain the opportunity to make connections and see whats possible.
-confinement confines ideas. get out of the box, the cubicle, the kitchen, the car, wherever the problem is, go find somewhere open.
-attacking the drug problem in america harder doesnt work. more arrests, more police, longer prison sentences. america spends more on jails than on universities. if what you are doing doesnt work, why keep doing it?
-portuguese government focused on the goal, not the problem. the goal had always been reducing the use of drugs. if drug use is decriminalized, those resources could be put into treatment. those in need of help would have no reason to hide in shadows in fear of punishment if they sought a way out of drugs. after 10 years the numbers are astonishing. deaths from overdose fell by 27%. new hiv cases from drug use fell 71%. overall drug use fell by 50%. portugal now haas the lowest rate of drug use in europe. portuguese people are 1/4 as likely to use drugs as americans. think of all the mothers and fathers who are providing for their children today because they are not using, because they are not in jail. society is stronger because of this.
-dont follow the leader. we want to defer to the people in charge who have the knowledge and experience and judgment to arrive at the best answers. but the leader in many cases is the person with bad ideas who has been around the longest.
-dont do what everyone else does.
-we are 10 times more likely to help someone in distress when we are alone. because alone we can think for ourselves and see answers more clearly.
-those who received lessons on mindfulness principles such as being slow to judge and being readily open to exploring new ideas wasted 276% less time on useless, negative distraction photos. take a moment. give yourself permission to see things differently.
April 29, 2023
Not enough sharks. 2/5 stars.
Well, on second thought, perhaps there are actually too many sharks here. A malfunctioning mechanical shark is introduced at the start of this book as an example of a problem that needs to be solved (for Steven Spielberg, in the production of the film Jaws). The moral of the story being: that to solve problems, we should not focus too much on the problem itself. Spielberg achieved this by making a successful shark movie mostly without a shark.
Ok, so problems are "sharks" and we shouldn't focus on them. We should work around them. Cool. But wow, for a book with "don't focus on the problem" as the main thesis, it sure does devote a LOT of space to filler-text focusing on problems and how much people like them. If I read one more sentence about how seductive problems are, I will feed this book to a shark (except I can't, because I borrowed a digital copy from the library). Example quotes from the text: "problems are so seductive and compelling", "your problems are fascinating and important," "everyone feels important when pointing out problems," "a problem is a very seductive thing," "If we don't have a problem, we have a problem", "we love problems," "we lunge at problems", "with a problem we are consequential", "problems are compelling."
Each chapter purports to have a common theme, with several catchy anecdotes proving a point, and then ends with some 'takeaways' of advice. However, only weak connections and similarities are drawn between each set of anecdotes, making the overall theme of each chapter unclear, and the 'takeaways' are often silly, trite, or strange. This advice includes: "go look at an abstract painting", "be willing to work for half pay" (???), "go watch a boring movie" (not Jaws, though, I assume?), "eat a candy bar", "call your friend with purple hair", or "get out of your cubicle." There's also plenty of vague advice within each chapter, gluing the anecdotes together with helpful insights such as: "Listen now. You have the answer. The solution is within you. Listen to it."
Overall, this is not a terrible book, just kind of annoying. Many of the individual anecdotes on their own are interesting stories of people who found unique ways to overcome challenges that they encountered. It's unfortunate that they are buried within so much filler text that doesn't add much. This book is an easy read that would be suitable for travel, when you are looking for something that doesn't require a lot of thought, keeps you entertained by constantly switching to a fresh mini-topic, and is easy to jump right back into if you have to set it down frequently.
Well, on second thought, perhaps there are actually too many sharks here. A malfunctioning mechanical shark is introduced at the start of this book as an example of a problem that needs to be solved (for Steven Spielberg, in the production of the film Jaws). The moral of the story being: that to solve problems, we should not focus too much on the problem itself. Spielberg achieved this by making a successful shark movie mostly without a shark.
Ok, so problems are "sharks" and we shouldn't focus on them. We should work around them. Cool. But wow, for a book with "don't focus on the problem" as the main thesis, it sure does devote a LOT of space to filler-text focusing on problems and how much people like them. If I read one more sentence about how seductive problems are, I will feed this book to a shark (except I can't, because I borrowed a digital copy from the library). Example quotes from the text: "problems are so seductive and compelling", "your problems are fascinating and important," "everyone feels important when pointing out problems," "a problem is a very seductive thing," "If we don't have a problem, we have a problem", "we love problems," "we lunge at problems", "with a problem we are consequential", "problems are compelling."
Each chapter purports to have a common theme, with several catchy anecdotes proving a point, and then ends with some 'takeaways' of advice. However, only weak connections and similarities are drawn between each set of anecdotes, making the overall theme of each chapter unclear, and the 'takeaways' are often silly, trite, or strange. This advice includes: "go look at an abstract painting", "be willing to work for half pay" (???), "go watch a boring movie" (not Jaws, though, I assume?), "eat a candy bar", "call your friend with purple hair", or "get out of your cubicle." There's also plenty of vague advice within each chapter, gluing the anecdotes together with helpful insights such as: "Listen now. You have the answer. The solution is within you. Listen to it."
Overall, this is not a terrible book, just kind of annoying. Many of the individual anecdotes on their own are interesting stories of people who found unique ways to overcome challenges that they encountered. It's unfortunate that they are buried within so much filler text that doesn't add much. This book is an easy read that would be suitable for travel, when you are looking for something that doesn't require a lot of thought, keeps you entertained by constantly switching to a fresh mini-topic, and is easy to jump right back into if you have to set it down frequently.
January 21, 2016
This book teaches you how to view problem from a different perspective. It is a useful and practice book if you tend to face difficult or unsolvable problems at work. There are 10 strategies to solve a problem: 1) Look at the situation from a new perspective; 2) let go of fear and do something you've never done before; 3) take less and don't chase problem; 4) slow down and put outcomes over effort; 5) compete against yourself and be own source of fresh perspective; 6) climb out of the overconfidence trap; 7) do something out of order and try something that probably won't work; 8) take a step back from problem and look away; 9) go the other way and see the opposite to open a world of new possibilities; and 10) the art of listening to yourself and be mindful.
September 3, 2016
I unexpectedly couldn't put this book down. An easy (quick) read with entertaining anecdotes and new ways of looking at "problems." I am guilty of being someone who sometimes feels "paralyzed" or overwhelmed by problems, so I found this book intriguing and it gave me a chance to look at my own ways of approaching problems. Highly recommended if you're looking to shake up your own ways of approaching challenges.
August 22, 2021
I could not complete it because I never felt it gripping. Good thing is that stories are short and you can decide if you still want to continue or not.
March 17, 2015
This book distills a wide range of published research on motivation, decision-making and creativity into a tactical manual for lateral thinkers. Numerous examples show how people facing difficult problems, both professional and personal, discover innovative and powerful solutions once they move their focus beyond the obvious barrier to progress, whatever problem that may be. The stories provide the reader with motivation and encouragement to test the author's techniques on their own turf; to reinvent yourself as a solutions expert rather than a problem solver. The basic thesis is that problems are an easy and seductive place to focus effort. We are taught to focus on problems from an early age, to "work harder if at first you don't succeed," to "never give up." Yet that very focus limits our ability to see a bigger picture that likely contains an entirely different and more powerful way of viewing the situation, which most people never consider.
Traditional problem solving is linear, probabilistic, and bounded by conventional wisdom or culture. Author David Niven's approach more closely aligns with Edward de Bono's concept of Lateral Thinking, that is, "solving problems through an indirect and creative approach, using reasoning that is not immediately obvious and involving ideas that may not be obtainable by using only traditional step-by-step logic." (Wikipedia)
Key concepts portrayed in this book:
- Problems focus effort and limit options.
- Step away from the problem. No amount of effort can solve a problem that you put at the center of your life.
- Study what is right about the situation, not what' wrong; focus on what is unique, not common or mundane or obvious.
- Working harder rarely works.
- Think for yourself. Group think is "the bus to Abilene." (nobody wants to go but we go there anyway thinking everyone else wants to go)
- Watch out for the "first answer bias." The first ideas are rarely the best you can come up with.
- Burn the first draft. First drafts contain the problem and fail to truly explore and innovate solutions.
- You can solve anything if you just stop focusing on the problem.
These points are just the tip of the iceberg. Niven's stories and examples bring them to life and help embed them in the reader's memory and, hopefully for this reader, behavior.
The book has a very good index, a list of references to articles in professional journals from which the author derived the scientific basis of the book, and a list of chapter footnotes citing magazine and news articles relevant to the examples. There is not a good summary chapter that organizes the many ideas presented. My detailed notes fill that gap for me personally, but I am sure that readers could benefit from a comprehensive summary of the material. Even so, this book is worth reading for anyone who considers himself or herself a problem solver. It expands one's horizon about what is possible and how to get there.
Traditional problem solving is linear, probabilistic, and bounded by conventional wisdom or culture. Author David Niven's approach more closely aligns with Edward de Bono's concept of Lateral Thinking, that is, "solving problems through an indirect and creative approach, using reasoning that is not immediately obvious and involving ideas that may not be obtainable by using only traditional step-by-step logic." (Wikipedia)
Key concepts portrayed in this book:
- Problems focus effort and limit options.
- Step away from the problem. No amount of effort can solve a problem that you put at the center of your life.
- Study what is right about the situation, not what' wrong; focus on what is unique, not common or mundane or obvious.
- Working harder rarely works.
- Think for yourself. Group think is "the bus to Abilene." (nobody wants to go but we go there anyway thinking everyone else wants to go)
- Watch out for the "first answer bias." The first ideas are rarely the best you can come up with.
- Burn the first draft. First drafts contain the problem and fail to truly explore and innovate solutions.
- You can solve anything if you just stop focusing on the problem.
These points are just the tip of the iceberg. Niven's stories and examples bring them to life and help embed them in the reader's memory and, hopefully for this reader, behavior.
The book has a very good index, a list of references to articles in professional journals from which the author derived the scientific basis of the book, and a list of chapter footnotes citing magazine and news articles relevant to the examples. There is not a good summary chapter that organizes the many ideas presented. My detailed notes fill that gap for me personally, but I am sure that readers could benefit from a comprehensive summary of the material. Even so, this book is worth reading for anyone who considers himself or herself a problem solver. It expands one's horizon about what is possible and how to get there.
March 12, 2016
And that’s what this book is about: it’s not about the shark. Focusing on the problem never leads to a solution; it leads to obsession with the problem, worrying about the problem, desperate ways to blunt the problem or reroute the problem or circumvent the problem, but it never solves the problem.
Takeaways: “Thinking about problems first makes us seventeen times more likely to fail.” Fear of the problem is in us all. “Letting fear guide our lives...is safer...but only if you don’t actually want to accomplish anything.” We chase problems to make ourselves seem bigger. “We are twice as likely to stick to a challenge without an incentive.” More people do not produce better answers. Once we make a decision, our confidence in the validity of the decision soars. The first draft is the most obvious response to the problem; go past the first draft and you can see past the problem. Look away from the problem. Turn things upside down and see things no one else can see.
Fascinating read.
Takeaways: “Thinking about problems first makes us seventeen times more likely to fail.” Fear of the problem is in us all. “Letting fear guide our lives...is safer...but only if you don’t actually want to accomplish anything.” We chase problems to make ourselves seem bigger. “We are twice as likely to stick to a challenge without an incentive.” More people do not produce better answers. Once we make a decision, our confidence in the validity of the decision soars. The first draft is the most obvious response to the problem; go past the first draft and you can see past the problem. Look away from the problem. Turn things upside down and see things no one else can see.
Fascinating read.
June 2, 2017
Buku yang saya baca adalah versi Indonesia dengan judul: It's not about the shark. Terobosan baru dalam penyelesaian masalah.
Kisah pendahuluan yang diangkat dalam buku ini adalah tentang sebuah film berjudul Jaws yang merupakan satu dari sejumlah kecil film yang disimpan sebagai kekayaan budaya oleh Library of Congress.
Disutradarai oleh Steven Spielberg, awalnya film ini sekedar menyajikan masalah bagi para kru dan menimbulkan keraguan dari para eksekutif studio.
Namun, sang sutradara tidak terpaku pada masalahnya. Dia melihat solusi. Hiu raksasa yang lebih mirip dengan marshmallow laut raksasa akhirnya mampu menghadirkan suasana mencekam yang tidak tertandingi.
Selain kisah Hiu raksasa, David Niven mengulas berbagai kisah lainnya yang membuat kita menyadari bahwa:
Masalah, apa pun bentuknya (misal rasa takut, hal yang dianggap sebagai hambatan, dsb), tidak seharusnya berada di pusat pikiran kita.
Mulailah berpikir tentang solusi. 😊
Kisah pendahuluan yang diangkat dalam buku ini adalah tentang sebuah film berjudul Jaws yang merupakan satu dari sejumlah kecil film yang disimpan sebagai kekayaan budaya oleh Library of Congress.
Disutradarai oleh Steven Spielberg, awalnya film ini sekedar menyajikan masalah bagi para kru dan menimbulkan keraguan dari para eksekutif studio.
Namun, sang sutradara tidak terpaku pada masalahnya. Dia melihat solusi. Hiu raksasa yang lebih mirip dengan marshmallow laut raksasa akhirnya mampu menghadirkan suasana mencekam yang tidak tertandingi.
Selain kisah Hiu raksasa, David Niven mengulas berbagai kisah lainnya yang membuat kita menyadari bahwa:
Masalah, apa pun bentuknya (misal rasa takut, hal yang dianggap sebagai hambatan, dsb), tidak seharusnya berada di pusat pikiran kita.
Mulailah berpikir tentang solusi. 😊
January 11, 2016
I really enjoyed this book! My outlook on problems will probably forever be changed because of it. Every chapter is made up by an overall "lesson". Inside the lesson there are examples, a recap, and ways to avoid falling into the mental trap previously discussed. The examples are cited, are of actual life examples (from government agencies, top business leaders, big movie directors, etc) , and are able to stay in your head to keep the overall lesson from falling out. I only dislike how short it was, or at least how quickly I finished it. I wanted more! (less)
May 8, 2016
Not written by the actor, who I am fairly certain is dead, but maybe a vampire in a new incarnation so who knows.
Life assistance, come management book. Lots of anecdotes on how to look at things just a little differently to work your way through the hassles life tosses your way. Entertaining, well written but with excellent tips to make you take your head off your shoulders and tuck it under your arm for a different point of view. Hard to believe but I actually learned a few things.
Good stuff.
Life assistance, come management book. Lots of anecdotes on how to look at things just a little differently to work your way through the hassles life tosses your way. Entertaining, well written but with excellent tips to make you take your head off your shoulders and tuck it under your arm for a different point of view. Hard to believe but I actually learned a few things.
Good stuff.
November 7, 2014
Focusing on solutions rather than problems has already opened up my mind and eyes to possiblities I didn't see before. Providing throughtful story examples, Niven gives meaningful evidence of how focusing on problems builds up walls blocking creativity, mindfullness and progress. I will reread this one again and again when I find myself being pulled down by the shark (problem). Highly recommend!
January 18, 2015
I enjoyed the book, but I don't think it follows through on the promise in the title. Instead of specific, actionable steps to take, it offers some vague guidelines on different ways to look at problems. Still, it was interesting. The anecdotes used to illustrate the different ways to look at problems were engaging, even if they weren't as specific and helpful as I would have liked.
April 5, 2020
David Niven PhD takes the idea of the ‘re-frame’ to a whole new level with It’s Not About the Shark - How to Solve Unsolvable Problems. Most of the past decisions we remember are the ones that caused us the greatest amount of grief, turmoil or frustration. It’s the emotional baggage of the hard decisions that come with a side order of poor outcomes that make these moments so memorable. Dr Niven might suggest that this is because we focused on the problem and not the solution.
It’s Not About the Shark is a book that examines what happens when you flip a problem on its head. By re-framing a problem and focusing your attention toward the solution is apparently where the magic lies.
“Having confidence you can fix a problem is like wearing eyeglasses you don’t need, you will look at everything differently and see nothing clearly”
Through numerous anecdotal tales, mixed in with a healthy smattering of scientific evidence, It’s Not About the Shark outlines a framework for how we can become better at finding solutions. Though much of the theory here is a rehashing of old ground, that does not make it any less important. By being reminded again and again by authors and researchers that it is important to be solution-focused, comfortable with uncertainty and emotionally regulating is always beneficial. It is fundamental to do so and be so if you want to be better at making decisions. Focusing on the fundamentals is imperative in all domains, problem-solving is no different.
Dr Niven also teaches that when confronted with problems to give yourself some time (when possible) and space, find contrarian points of view, avoid overconfidence, make predictions and monitor outcomes, and push past your first solution ideas, be mindful, ignore the critic and free your self from thought confinement.
For those of you who are working on becoming better decision-makers and solution finders this book is a good start. It is accessible, entertaining and you should finish it with some new tools in your toolbox. For professional and well-read and researched decision-makers much of this book will be well-traveled ground, however, a revisit to the fundamentals is always time well spent.
In a sentence… Do not accept the problem’s terms and refuse to let it define your options.
Overall Score: 3.6 / 5
It’s Not About the Shark is a book that examines what happens when you flip a problem on its head. By re-framing a problem and focusing your attention toward the solution is apparently where the magic lies.
“Having confidence you can fix a problem is like wearing eyeglasses you don’t need, you will look at everything differently and see nothing clearly”
Through numerous anecdotal tales, mixed in with a healthy smattering of scientific evidence, It’s Not About the Shark outlines a framework for how we can become better at finding solutions. Though much of the theory here is a rehashing of old ground, that does not make it any less important. By being reminded again and again by authors and researchers that it is important to be solution-focused, comfortable with uncertainty and emotionally regulating is always beneficial. It is fundamental to do so and be so if you want to be better at making decisions. Focusing on the fundamentals is imperative in all domains, problem-solving is no different.
Dr Niven also teaches that when confronted with problems to give yourself some time (when possible) and space, find contrarian points of view, avoid overconfidence, make predictions and monitor outcomes, and push past your first solution ideas, be mindful, ignore the critic and free your self from thought confinement.
For those of you who are working on becoming better decision-makers and solution finders this book is a good start. It is accessible, entertaining and you should finish it with some new tools in your toolbox. For professional and well-read and researched decision-makers much of this book will be well-traveled ground, however, a revisit to the fundamentals is always time well spent.
In a sentence… Do not accept the problem’s terms and refuse to let it define your options.
Overall Score: 3.6 / 5
April 4, 2019
Great book on getting a different perspective on problems. It tells the story of the move Jaws and the issues with the mechanical shark. Instead of dwelling on the problem and making the problem bigger than it was, the director instead made a movie about a shark without the shark!
It is a little like the agile software development model where we continuous integrate new code for feedback. Mistakes are just that feed back. We must take the time to reassess positions and possible solutions. Take a step back and look at the problem from a different perspective.
Great points from the book.
1- Looking at a problem the same way over and over again is entirely unproductive. We will fail unless we give our minds a way to look at the situation from a new perspective.
2- These were all very talented engineers. All knowledgeable, capable, skilled, and driven. Yet their likelihood of succeeding varied tremendously based on what they were trying to do. The group that had never seen a bad example let their natural talents carry them to a good design. They wasted not a moment on the problem and spent all their time on the solution.
3- He even collected responses from a dozen Nobel laureates—who turned out to give the greatest number of opposites in the shortest time of any group he ever tested.
4- It is harder to do what you’re being told than to do what you’ve been taught
It is a little like the agile software development model where we continuous integrate new code for feedback. Mistakes are just that feed back. We must take the time to reassess positions and possible solutions. Take a step back and look at the problem from a different perspective.
Great points from the book.
1- Looking at a problem the same way over and over again is entirely unproductive. We will fail unless we give our minds a way to look at the situation from a new perspective.
2- These were all very talented engineers. All knowledgeable, capable, skilled, and driven. Yet their likelihood of succeeding varied tremendously based on what they were trying to do. The group that had never seen a bad example let their natural talents carry them to a good design. They wasted not a moment on the problem and spent all their time on the solution.
3- He even collected responses from a dozen Nobel laureates—who turned out to give the greatest number of opposites in the shortest time of any group he ever tested.
4- It is harder to do what you’re being told than to do what you’ve been taught
September 23, 2024
The book seems to lack an overall narrative. It just jumps from a loosely related series of anecdotes to another and has the gall to call to end these "chapters" with a conclusion that's closer to a TLDR than anything else. The use of sources was laughable too since there'd be about 3 per chapter. Not to mention that instead of really using sources as one should, it's more like here's a sentence with a reference and now I'll just take the abstract from the source and dump it here. Very lazy work overall.
I initially was going to give it a worse rating, but there is some food for thought and good examples within the book.
I initially was going to give it a worse rating, but there is some food for thought and good examples within the book.
May 22, 2025
This book is a smart, approachable guide to creative problem-solving. David Niven uses storytelling and real-life examples to demonstrate that most problems, especially those that feel "unsolvable", often require a shift in perspective rather than brute force or overthinking.
The title itself serves as a clue: sometimes we focus on the wrong part of the problem (like the shark), while the true solution lies elsewhere. Niven’s strength is in making abstract ideas easy to digest, often with short chapters that feel more like conversations than lectures.
You won’t find technical models or dense theories here, just practical, thoughtful ways to reframe challenges and move forward. It’s ideal for readers in leadership, coaching, or anyone who navigates complex decisions or recurring roadblocks.
If you enjoy books like The Obstacle Is the Way, this one provides a similarly insightful, down-to-earth approach to thinking differently.
The title itself serves as a clue: sometimes we focus on the wrong part of the problem (like the shark), while the true solution lies elsewhere. Niven’s strength is in making abstract ideas easy to digest, often with short chapters that feel more like conversations than lectures.
You won’t find technical models or dense theories here, just practical, thoughtful ways to reframe challenges and move forward. It’s ideal for readers in leadership, coaching, or anyone who navigates complex decisions or recurring roadblocks.
If you enjoy books like The Obstacle Is the Way, this one provides a similarly insightful, down-to-earth approach to thinking differently.
August 17, 2020
Niven has written a book that turns the science of problem solving on its head. That the way we have previously solved problems is incorrect, and that the best way to "solve" a problem is to focus on the solution. A short, easy read, Niven uses anecdotes and studies to support his theories. A book for, well, everyone - Elisa, Book Grocer
Purchase this classic here for just $10.00
Purchase this classic here for just $10.00
October 25, 2017
Great reading. This is a very useful and insightful book for both professional and daily life.
A lot of practical ideas, enriched by data and by real life examples that show the reader how effective they are.
It all begins with Spielberg's movie Jaws.
How can you film about a shark if you have no shark to film? Spielberg set the problem aside, seeked solutions and succeeded beyond all limitations.
He did it, everyone can do it. At work, at home, in life.
A lot of practical ideas, enriched by data and by real life examples that show the reader how effective they are.
It all begins with Spielberg's movie Jaws.
How can you film about a shark if you have no shark to film? Spielberg set the problem aside, seeked solutions and succeeded beyond all limitations.
He did it, everyone can do it. At work, at home, in life.
December 17, 2020
The book is about thinking outside the box or dealing with unexpected problems. The title corresponds tot he first chapter and the filming of Jaws. The rest of the book is short 2-3 page topics loosely grouped together in the chapters. I can imagine re-reading the book to gain more insight. Some sections were really good, others were okay. I've read some of the topics before in more detail. Overall, I think it is worth reading and you can fly through it fairly quickly.
April 20, 2018
I've always loved the book encourage people to think different. This book is one of them. You need to read this if you feel you're in one business too long and can't see other possibilities. It's fresh and refreshing. Because sometimes you just need a little reminder that the solution of the problem is not on the outside, but within you.
April 27, 2021
This books has a lot of pop-psychology broken down into bite sized pieces.
It was interesting, but it was a bit predictable. There was no variation in how he introduced the studies and stories, which starting bothering me by the end. It was like a "gotcha" that you could see from a mile away, so it became more of an annoyance than a hook to draw me in.
It was interesting, but it was a bit predictable. There was no variation in how he introduced the studies and stories, which starting bothering me by the end. It was like a "gotcha" that you could see from a mile away, so it became more of an annoyance than a hook to draw me in.
May 11, 2019
A nice light self-help book with an amazing premise. The author was able to connect the information scattered in this book very nicely that I felt that I comprehended the big ideas very easily.
The Answer is a great read that gave me an insight to how to look at challenges in a different way
The Answer is a great read that gave me an insight to how to look at challenges in a different way
October 22, 2021
Menarik. Berisi kumpulan cerita inspiring dgn dgn pesan dari setiap cerita sangat berkesan, tapi maaf lagi harus mengatakan bahwa tidak ada pembatas/penanda antara cerita 1 ke cerita berikutnya benar-benar membuat mood baca down seketika
June 3, 2017
Ironically, mostly about what not to do with many anecdotes.
June 20, 2017
Will read it again and again, later.
August 23, 2018
A solid collection of anecdotal stories & observations.
January 30, 2020
Pop-science book that makes you endlessly to read page by page. One of the interesting story is about "Jaws" movie
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