Why Didnt I Think Of That: Amazon.ca: Jr Mccoy: Books

Product Description

From Publishers Weekly

McCoy, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge and professor at Pepperdine, isn't afraid to admit his mistakes. He opens this book by discussing one of his first cases: the plaintiff had what appeared to be significant brain damage following an accident. It seemed that he would get a sizable judgment until opposing counsel produced a videotape of the man exercising. He had fooled his attorneys as well as McCoy, who learned a valuable lesson: no one judge, attorney or businessperson can afford to make haphazard and lazy judgments without examining all the facts. In this guide to achieving professional success via creative methods, McCoy prescribes various exercises, including some in hypothetical situations, to show how readers can enhance their powers of observation and perception. For example, McCoy suggests that readers "[o]btain a clear view of reality," "[d]oublecheck observations" and "[s]tudy both the forest and the trees." While McCoy's advice is solid, the book is so busy that readers will probably have difficulty absorbing its practical content. He intersperses mental exercises between straight text and chapter summaries. Adding to the confusion is McCoy's overly energetic use of business, historical and political case studies, which end up obscuring the useful content.

From Booklist

McCoy, a California judge and adjunct law-school professor, aims to empower by teaching readers how to think more clearly, creatively, and comprehensively. His eight chapters deal with perception, concentration, high-level thinking, a systematic approach, imagination, intuition, empathy, and anticipation. McCoy's approach is lively: he blends anecdotes from his experiences on the bench; tales of smart (and not-so-smart) decisions in business, politics, science, and other fields; brief but systematic outlines of the elements of each of his main subjects; and classic brainteasers. McCoy's book is no guarantee that readers will qualify for Mensa, but it should make most of them more aware of careless mental habits and overly narrow mental processes that they'd like to improve. Mary Carroll
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Inside This Book (Learn More)

First Sentence
I watched from my seat on the bench as Tucker, leaning heavily on his crutches, hobbled awkwardly across the courtroom floor and allowed the bailiff to help him safely up to the witness stand. Read the first page

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Customer Reviews

13 Reviews

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4.5 out of 5 stars (13 customer reviews)

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5.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring!, Nov 2 2002

By

jessica foster (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Why Didnt I Think Of That (Hardcover)

As a third-year law student preparing to begin my career as a lawyer, I am increasingly eager to learn how I can become a better thinker. Charles W. McCoy Jr. is a professor of mine, and I am continually inspired by the knowledge, wisdom, and insight he shares in class on that very subject. I was thrilled then to discover he had written a whole book detailing his thoughts and advice on becoming a more perceptive, judicious thinker. "Why Didn't I Think of That" is great for anyone who aspires to sharpen their thinking, make wiser decisions, and tackle difficult problems with greater confidence and finesse. Each chapter offers systematic methods for thinking more clearly and creatively and tests such theories with challenging mental exercises designed to help the reader become more conscious of his or her thought process. McCoy is a captivating storyteller and he reveals the book's principles through fascinating accounts of some of man's great accomplishments and defeats in history, all which turned on the sharp or reckless thinking of individuals. The advice and techniques offered in the book are practical, straightforward, and can be easily applied to improve one's decision making process, while the book's theories can be studied and reflected upon one chapter at a time. "Why Didn't I Think of That" is a truly useful book and a pleasure to read. I intend to keep this book on my shelf so that I can refer to McCoy's useful insights and techniques throughout my career in law, for inspiration when making personal decisions in life, and for remembrance of one of my greatest teachers.

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Critical Thinking For the Sheer Pleasure of It, Jan 22 2002

By

F. LaGard Smith (Nashville, TN USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Why Didnt I Think Of That (Hardcover)

Page after page in this book bristles with anecdotal evidence of the obvious: that critical thinking pays, while uncritical thinking bodes disaster. But who ever would have guessed that a book on critical thinking could be, not just cerebrally challenging, but pleasurable as well? From law to business, from the Bible to the checkered history of war, there is sheer joy in eavesdropping on the best and worst of human thinking. I confess I found myself too mentally lazy and impatient to solve the scores of brain-twisters and visual conundrums generously provided throughout the book (lending embarrassing support to McCoy's basic thesis), but I was clearly inspired to use my mental capabilities and intuition in far more productive ways than in the past. The key word being inspired. McCoy has that gift. Which is why he wrote the book, and-ruefully-I didn't. As an author myself, page after page I kept saying to myself enviously, "This book was a great idea. Why didn't I think of that!"

F. LaGard Smith
Scholar in Residence for Christian Studies
Lipscomb University, Nashville, TN

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars If you have momentous decisions to make, study this book!, Dec 28 2003

By

Jean-Victor C�t� (Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville, Qu�bec Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Why Didnt I Think Of That (Hardcover)

How should you think, according to this book? You should think perceptively, deliberately, systematically and empathetically. Also, you must control the quality of your thinking, use your imagination, listen to your inner voice and look before you leap. You can get a lot from this book because it provides you with a comprehensive toolkit for making better decisions. It comes replete with examples to illustrate the application of the various methods the author expounds. Some are so well chosen that they help remind the reader of the methods themselves. There are examples of statesmanship (Franklin, Johnson, Churchill, Gandhi), judges in action (Solomon, Learned Hand and the author), marketing strategy (Intel vs Motorola, Coke vs Pepsi, Ford vs GM), productivity enhancement (Ford again), military strategy (from WWII and Vietnam, mostly, but also "The Charge of the Light Brigade" from the Crimean War), space exploration (three Apollo missions) and environmental disasters (the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska and the Chernobyl nuclear reactor meltdown in Ukraine). The book contains firsthand account of court cases the author has been involved with, both as a lawyer and as a judge. The author even details to us some errors he made and learned from. And he provides exercises to allow us to do the same with ours and to plan ahead. This is one of the most interesting features of this book for me, because I have made errors too and I sure wish to avoid falling into the same rut again. The book also contains interesting mind stretchers. Solutions to the exercises are provided at the end of chapters and some alternate solutions are given at the end of the book. Practice will improve your decision making skills.

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Writing, Great Ideas, Great Reading
I've read this book in a short couple of weeks and was so captured by it's ideas that I couldn't put it down. Everything is so real. Read more

Published on Dec 12 2003 by M

5.0 out of 5 stars Why don't I review that....
I really enjoyed this book. It's a publication that sits somewhere between the likes of Gelb, Buzan and co - nothing really taxing, no great epiphanies but some simple,... Read more

Published on July 20 2003 by mbowman2