The best 44 Critical Thinking & Problem Solving books

Win Every Argument (2023) is a guide to the art of argument by one of the world’s most combative debaters: journalist, anchor, and writer Mehdi Hasan. Drawing on ancient theories of persuasion, neuroscientific theories of cognition, and the rhetorical tricks of contemporary politicians, Hasan reveals the secrets to winning arguments in today’s post-factual world.

Impromptu (2023) is a speculative, in-depth conversation involving GPT-4 – a Large Language Model Artificial Intelligence. By discussing real-life stories and potential applications, it paints a future in which Artificial Intelligence is a tool that can push the limits of education, creativity, business, and more. Join the conversation, and prepare for an exciting future that will unlock the true potential of humankind.

The Heart of Transformation (2021) is a how-to guide for changing an organization. It focuses on six specific capabilities that leaders can adopt to meet the demands of the twenty-first century.

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teenagers (2011) invites teenagers to begin taking charge of their lives by teaching them seven habits that help them thrive and will set them up for a successful future. 

It Worked for Me (2012) imparts Colin Powell’s practical wisdom on becoming an effective leader. It’s largely based on his time in the military and public service, and the insights he gained from his experiences in these positions. 

The Road Less Stupid: Advice from the Chairman of the Board (2018) is about avoiding the dumb mistakes that can sabotage businesses. The way to avoid these mistakes, which is usually more valuable than having smart ideas, is to think more and with more focus. Cunningham shows readers how to do this with his Thinking Time practice.

What’s Our Problem (2023) offers a fun and unique perspective on the strange state of the modern world in which we live. Using the author’s iconic comedic style, it draws on observations from political theory, psychology, history, and modern-day events to explain what is going on in our society, and what we can potentially do to fix it.

Being You (2021) offers a new theory of consciousness. What does it mean to be you? Why do your experiences of the world, your selfhood, and your body feel the way they do? Combining neuroscience, philosophy, and a pinch of speculation, these blinks argue that consciousness is not as mysterious as it seems – it is deeply entwined with our living, breathing bodies.

Conversations Worth Having (2018) looks at the power of conversation in our lives and what we can do to communicate more productively at work, in our relationships, and in the community. Drawing on real-life stories and scientifically based theories, it illustrates how we can improve organizations and lives using the principle of Appreciative Inquiry – effective conversation through positive perspective and asking the right questions.

Leadership (2022) is a detailed analysis of six monumental twentieth-century leaders. By examining both the circumstances that formed these leaders and the strategies they used to shepherd their respective nations through periods of turmoil, it presents invaluable lessons for anyone working to shape the world’s future. From Charles de Gaulle’s strategy of will to Anwar Sadat’s strategy of transcendence and beyond, it serves as a historical debriefing on some of the defining leadership strategies of the last century.

How to Think More Effectively (2020) is a simple guide to improving the way you think. Drawing lessons from sources as diverse as the feeling of envy and the prose of Proust, it lays out the characteristics of effective thoughts – and shows how you can start cultivating them.

Continuous Discovery Habits (2021) explores how product managers and designers can keep making a positive impact on their customers’ lives. It explores an optimal decision-making process for product teams, so that they can continue to improve their offerings. 

The Great Mental Models (2019) provides a crash course on how to upgrade your thinking and decision making. Drawing from a wide variety of disciplines, it will equip you with nine of the most essential tools for understanding and navigating the complicated world around you.

The Climate Book (2023) unites dozens of voices in a compelling and eye-opening exploration of the complex relationships between climate change, politics, and media. Offering insights into the interconnectedness of various global issues and the urgent need for systemic change, it contains practical, actionable steps towards a sustainable and equitable future.

The Tools: 5 Tools to Help You Find Courage, Creativity, and Willpower—and Inspire You to Live Life in Forward Motion (2012) outlines five mental exercises to immediately tackle common challenges that may be holding you back in life. The coauthors are therapists and include patient cases and sketches to elaborate on how to use each tool. 

Bulletproof Problem Solving (2019) delves into one of the most important yet consistently neglected skills in the modern workplace: problem-solving. With routine jobs declining around the world, more and more employees are being tasked with tackling open-ended challenges. As we’ll see in these blinks, you don’t need an advanced degree in statistical analysis to be a great problem solver – you just need a dash of creativity and the right strategies. 

An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (1748) presents a succinct summary of Hume’s empirical and skeptical philosophy, and is one of the most influential texts of the early modern period. In calling for the use of reason in rejecting the “superstitions” of metaphysical philosophy and religion, this text helped to furnish the philosophical basis for the scientific method that was then coming to prominence in Enlightenment Europe. Even today, Hume’s Enquiry remains one of the best introductions to modern philosophy.

How to Have Impossible Conversations (2019) is a guide to having frank conversations that don’t end in tears. Philosopher Peter Boghossian and scientist James Lindsay argue that however prickly the topic, we all profit when we air our disagreements – provided we’re out to learn something, not just shout our opponents down. These blinks will explore techniques that facilitate respectful dialogue, from rules of building rapport to the art of convincing your sparring partner to reexamine her assumptions. 

You Coach You (2022) is a guide to being your own coach for maximum career success and happiness. With practical guides, questions that help you think about who you are at work, and fun exercises, the authors show you how you can be your own best cheerleader and guide. 

Rationality (2021) explores the faculty that sets us apart from other species: reason. The ability to think rationally drives individual and social progress. It allows us to attain our goals and create a fairer world. But rationality isn’t just something we do as individuals – it also sustains our best institutions.

Empowered (2020) is a written master class that guides ordinary people to create extraordinary products. Discover how to create profitable products that consumers love!

Decision Making and Problem Solving (2019) explains decision-making, problem-solving, and creative thinking. It provides instructions for building and improving these skills and explores the importance of these abilities enabling you to expand your practical thinking capacity.

Mavericks (2022) makes a case for maverick leadership. It shows that independent thinkers motivated by meaningful goals can transform their careers and communities – and that anyone can develop their inner maverick by focusing on five key characteristics.

The Great Mental Models Volume 3 (2021) is the third book in a series that shows how mental models from various disciplines can be applied to make positive changes to your life. This volume focuses on mental models from systems and mathematics. It demonstrates how you can use cognitive tools to improve everything from decision-making and relationships to healthy eating and personal productivity.

Why Startups Fail (2021) identifies six core reasons why startups fail. It presents a framework for analyzing startup failure that explores how different aspects of a business work together. Entrepreneurs can use this framework to evaluate the health of their own ventures. 

Wild Problems (2022) is an exploration of decision-making, particularly when it comes to the thornier issues of life that can have the deepest impact. Although the modern world offers algorithms and practical approaches to doing so, calculations are not always the best way to a life well lived.

The Life-Changing Science of Detecting Bullshit (2021) uses real-world examples to help you build critical thinking habits – which will enable you to recognize and resist all the false information that pervades society.

Facilitating Breakthrough (2021) dives into how people can go about solving their most intractable problems. By using an approach honed over decades, you can learn how to remove obstacles from conflicts and make progress toward resolution.

The Entrepreneur's Weekly Nietzsche (2021) is a how-to guide for disruptors, examining the surprising ways in which this nineteenth-century philosopher can instruct and inspire twenty-first-century entrepreneurs. From business pitches to pride, and from victory to progress, it offers food for thought from an unfamiliar but stimulating perspective.

The Logic of Scientific Discovery (1935) is Karl Popper’s classic work on the purpose of science and knowledge. Scientists should test their theories not to verify them, but to falsify them, and hence become even more accurate.

Disrupt You! (2015) is an entrepreneur’s guide to driving innovation and impact. It draws on some of the biggest success stories in business and offers actionable tips for solving real-world problems and finding opportunity in failure. 

Both/And Thinking (2022) offers a new framework for decision-making. With an either/or mindset, your world appears full of complex choices and difficult sacrifices. By adopting a both/and mindset, you can transform tough choices into fruitful opportunities – no sacrifices necessary.

The Journey Beyond Fear (2021) is a guide to overcoming fear and reaching your full potential. During his 40-year career in Silicon Valley, Hagel has identified three practical tools that anyone can benefit from. Here, he explains exactly how to use them, so you can make the most of exciting new opportunities in your professional and personal life.

Thinking 101 (2022) asserts that by understanding and overcoming thinking biases, we can better solve or even avoid most problems, from everyday conflicts to larger societal issues. 

Don’t Trust Your Gut (2022) turns that tried-and-true wisdom about trusting your gut on its head. Not only does trusting your gut instinct often lead you to make the wrong decision, there’s a pretty foolproof method to ensure you make the right decision – analyzing the available data and acting on it.

Alien Thinking (2021) is a simple guide to having great ideas. Rather than simply waiting for inspiration to strike, it lays out five key skills that enable anyone to innovate on demand.

The Prepared Leader (2022) is a guidebook for those seeking insights on how to manage and persevere through a crisis. One thing is certain: it won’t be long before another crisis hits. The Prepared Leader shows how you can be ready and successful in weathering the next storm.

Meetings That Get Results (2021) is a practical guide to the art of running more effective and efficient meetings. Designed for leaders tasked with facilitating meetings and group discussions, it emphasizes collaborative approaches to decision-making and problem-solving. 

Longpath (2022) is written to change the way you think about humankind. By teaching the lessons of the Longpath mentality, it shows how to break the bad habit of short-term thinking and embrace a mentality that helps connect humanity’s past, present, and future in order to make a better world. 

Creative Acts for Curious People (2021) collects insights about creativity and design taught in the classrooms of Stanford’s renowned Hasso Plattner School of Design, also known as the d.school. In addition to essays about the mindset and skills required for creative action, it offers over 80 practical exercises used by instructors from dozens of fields including medicine, education, and nonprofit to help improve your ability to solve problems, whether personal or on a global scale.

Framers (2021) takes a bird’s eye view of the issues facing our world today, from pandemics to political polarization, and presents a visionary solution. That solution lies with framing –⁠ the conscious or unconscious act of viewing the world through a particular lens. By recognizing and rethinking the frames we use, we can optimize our attitudes toward the world and give ourselves a leg up in the face of major social, economic, and scientific challenges.

Uncharted (2020) explains why it’s impossible to reliably predict what’s going to happen, and shows us how to plan ahead despite the uncertainty of the future.

Provoke (2021) draws lessons from provocative entrepreneurs who pinpointed key trends early and rode them to phenomenal success. What’s more, by outlining the key principles of future-oriented strategy, it shows how anyone can act to provoke the future outcomes they want for their business.

Map it! The Action Mapping Book (2017) is a practical, hands-on guide for those in the business world that design training for fellow professionals. This revolutionary guide refocuses on solving problems in business and achieving measurable results. So if you’re longing to dump those ineffective webinars and boring slide stacks look no further—Map it! Will help you focus on what the problems are, how they got that way, and what everyone can do about it for provable results.