CorkScrew Solutions: The 4-Step Thinking Trick Winston Churchill Used to Tackle His Gnarliest Problems

by Clarke Ching

What separates good leaders from great leaders? Their ability to think outside the box and find ingenious solutions to gnarly dilemmas. Great thinkers like Winston Churchill, Eli Goldratt and Roger L. Martin, aside from being hugely influential people, all had one thing in common. When faced with a perplexing professional dilemma, they used two simple techniques to make all their important decisions. Author Clarke Ching calls these techniques ‘Corkscrew Solutions.’  Winston Churchill employed Corkscrew Solutions just as WW1 was about to begin. He was faced with a huge professional dilemma; preparing the British Navy to win a war against Germany. He had to decide whether Britain’s navy should (a) stick with coal-powered ships or (b) switch to new, more powerful oil-fueled ships. From the outside, it looked like a lose/lose situation. Oil-powered ships would be more powerful, but at the time there wasn’t a reliable and secure fuel supply. Britain would almost certainly lose the coming war.  On the other hand, coal was a reliable fuel source, but the German navy was almost certainly switching to oil. For Britain to stick with coal power, as the movie line goes, would be like ‘bringing a knife to a gunfight.’ If they went with coal, Britain would almost certainly lose the coming war. So what was Winston to do?  By thinking outside of the box, and using the strategies outlined in this book, he came up with a Corkscrew Solution. An ingenious third option which combined the best of both oil and coal.  Unresolved professional dilemmas are the #1 cause of work related stress. This book will show you how to find clever solutions to (seemingly) impossible quandaries. You will solve problems that flummox other people. And your CorkScrew Solutions will turn problems into opportunities.     Through Clarke Ching’s humorous personal stories and real life examples you’ll - The ‘Evaporating Cloud’ Formula for describing any dilemma and finding its solution
 - How to combine seemingly conflicting ideas and find the ‘third solution’ 
 - What all highly successful leaders have in common 
 - How to develop and use everyday integrative thinking
 - A simplified, easy to implement version of Eli Goldratt’s ‘Theory of constraints’
 - The right questions to ask yourself when mulling over any dilemma (Ching’s signature ‘Upthinking’ strategy) 
 - An introduction to The Pattern Maker, The Editor and The Why Finder - and how to put them to work when you’re facing a dilemma. 
 Corkscrew Solutions is for clever people who want to become more effective leaders, make better decisions and learn a proven process for thinking 'outside the box.’

Genres: Self Help, Nonfiction

152 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 3, 2021

Reviews

[Mike Burke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not quite on target...

This is a pretty good book, but I would not recommend it for learning this essential part of Goldratt's "thinking tools".

Goldratt's tools are precisely and specifically designed to "evaporate" what looks like a conflict situation, and is based on the assumption that conflicts do not really exist in nature. So, the "cloud" is a method that modifies thinking at the assumption level. Much of this book describes conflict situations with solutions that are based on compromise, creativity, or manipulation of different elements like time or sequence. The battleship problem is the best example of a conflicted situation, and it succeeds using the cloud because it injects a reframing of the assumptions from "either/or" to smaller elements that can include both choices in limited cases.

[Timur Batyrshin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Problem solving for teenagers

This could be treated as an intro book on how to draw and solve dilemma clouds (which originally appeared in Goldratt’s books) that even teenager will understand that and adopt.

The book is very fun and pleasurable to read at your spare time and the stories are really captivating despite their simplicity.
If you are familiar with the concept you might not find much new ideas but you will enjoy reading every single word of the book, I promise you.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since I liked the first volume in this series I thought I'd try this one. Eh, it was okay, but there was a lot less meat. It was just, take the two choices you're currently in a dilemma over, list out their pros and cons, think up of a solution that will get you the pros of both, oh, btw, here's a nice diagram format, which is like that meme about the two circles and the fully drawn owl. There are some nice examples of lateral solutions in here, though, once we got past the ubiquitous connect-the-nine-dots problem that I first saw when I was seven.

[Jaime Huffman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Looking for a different way to solve dilemmas? This book may help.

CorkScrew Solutions was a quick read on how to solve dilemmas and get better solutions. The author makes good points on how we often settle for what we believe is the best option. But there is likely better option - by using his approach of making a diagram / writing it out and then by asking the right questions.

This book broke down how to solve dilemmas in a simple and easy to understand format that you can use with your kids, employees and employers.

[Douglas Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short book with a quick solution for tricky problems

I first ran across the thinking clouds with Eli Goldratt's work nearly 20 years ago and have been frustrated ever since by not quite grasping what seemed to be a simple but powerful method of problem-solving. At last Clarke Ching comes along with a clear explanation. It may help you with work colleagues or your significant others.

[BRUNO GUARDIA · Rating 5 out of 5]

As good as expected

Clarke is getting himself to be a right successor to Eli Goldratt. Keep the good job!

I was thrown away by some chapters that seemed random, and surprised because he said the book was super short... Then learned how they fit, and agree those were good tricks to deliver faster.

[Michael Goitein · Rating 4 out of 5]

Concise Guide to Theory of Constraints Mental Modeling

Clark Ching has written the definitive guide to thinking through seemingly intractable dilemmas via the Theory of Constraints. The book does one thing and does it well - after you've read it, you can model your way through even the thorniest situations and come up with novel solutions.

[Linda Mandin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A nice quick and easy read, and importantly, an easy to understand method to apply to problem solving. Clarke brings a few different examples that ensures there is something that everyone can relate to. It's a great book to share with others - even those who may have never heard of Theory of Constraints (TOC).

[Luong Trung · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story telling and solve problem

It's an new way approach via story telling (history) and map to the ways to solve problems (don't what is better).

Cloud diagram and up think technique help to solve or decision better. Enjoy examples that are nearly to real world.

It's an amazing content.

[Sergey Kuntsevich · Rating 1 out of 5]

The Theory of Constraints (TOC) includes not only concepts, guiding principles, and prescriptions, but tools and applications as well.
In this book author considers only one of TOC tools (THE EVAPORATING CLOUD:
A CONFLICT RESOLUTION DIAGRAM) in very simplified form.
Such "books" should be distributed free of charge as links to more deep proceedings about TOC.

[Ricky Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I appreciated seeing a process for creative problem solving and helping to free us from the limitations we often create for ourselves in dilemmas. We don't always have to pick either or. We can do a little figuring and get both things we want. I am used to deciding which I want more and picking that one so I am excited to see if I can apply this concept to tackle problems.

[Luis Cristóvão · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clouds are only 4 Skies ?

Are they really ?
Why do we need them ?
It’s a way out of a mess a dilema or a conflict
You may use Bob as the cloud in a corckscrew or other ways
But with Bob you never forget then
Thanks for that Clarke

[TheBrainWorks · Rating 2 out of 5]

While the author has a good writing style I could not view the diagrams since I bought a kindle edition.
The diagrams cannot be enlarged on the kindle edition

[James Burgess · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great quick read to help us form a process to look at tough decisions methodically. Processes give us an avenue to succeed. I am reading all three of these, and stumbled across the trio while looking for some related theory of constraints books