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12 Best Problem Solving Books to Read in 2024

You found our list of top problem solving books .

Problem solving books are guides that improve critical thinking capability and the ability to resolve issues in the workplace. These works cover topics like bias and logical fallacies, problem prevention, and prioritizing. The purpose of these books is to help workers remain calm under pressure and come up with solutions more quickly.

These guides are similar to decision making books , negotiation books , and conflict resolution books . To improve competency in this area, one can also play problem solving games .

This list includes:

• problem solving books for adults
• creative problem solving books
• business problem solving books
• problem solving books for programmers

Here we go!

List of problem solving books

Here is a list of books to improve problem solving skills in the workplace.

1. Fixed: How to Perfect the Fine Art of Problem Solving by Amy E Herman

Fixed is one of the most useful new books on problem solving. The book calls for problem solvers to look beyond instinctual and obvious answers and provides a framework for more creative thinking. While most folks think about problem solving in terms of logic, reason, and disciplines like math and science, this book shows the role that art and imagination play in the process. Amy Herman consulted on leadership training with Silicon Valley companies and military organizations and brings this expertise into the text to train readers on how to adopt a more innovative critical thinking approach.

Notable Quote: “Working through problems is critical for productivity, profit, and peace. Our problem-solving skills, however, have been short-circuited by our complicated, technology-reliant world.”

Read Fixed .

2. Cracked it!: How to solve big problems and sell solutions like top strategy consultants by Bernard Garrette, Corey Phelps, and Olivier Sibony

Cracked it! is one of the best creative problem solving books. Drawing inspiration from the tactics of consultants, this guide is a practical playbook for approaching business problems. The authors outline a “4S” method– State – Structure – Solve – Sell– to tackle obstacles and get support from stakeholders. While many problem solving books simply focus on how to think through issues, this guide also demonstrates how to gain approval for ideas and get others onboard with the solution. The book explains how to best use these techniques, and presents case studies that show the theories in action. Cracked it! is a handy reference for any professional that faces tough challenges on the regular.

Notable Quote: “If you want to know how a lion hunts, don’t go to a zoo. Go to the jungle.”

Read Cracked it!

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3. Upstream: The Quest to Solve Problems Before They Happen by Dan Heath

Upstream takes a proactive approach to problem solving. The book urges readers to not only be responsive to issues, but also try to prevent obstacles from occurring. The guide opens with an exploration of “problem blindness,” and the psychological factors that cause folks to be oblivious to issues, along with a reminder that many problems are more controllable and avoidable than first assumed. The pages that follow outline a series of questions leaders can ask to fine-tune the system and steer clear of major headaches, for instance, “How Will You Unite the Right People?” and “How Will You Avoid Doing Harm?” Upstream is full of real world examples of how minor tweaks achieved major results and allowed organizations to sidestep serious holdups.

Notable Quote: “The postmortem for a problem can be the preamble to a solution.”

Read Upstream .

4. Problem Solving 101: A Simple Book for Smart People by Ken Watanabe

Problem Solving 101 is one of the most fun problem solving books for adults. Written by Ken Watanabe, the guide draws on Japanese philosophy as well as the author’s experience as a consultant at McKinsey to help readers understand and approach problems in productive ways. The pages provide blueprints for problem-solving methods such as logic trees and matrixes, and include scenarios and illustrations that help readers visualize the process more clearly. Problem Solving 101 breaks down the problem solving procedure into the most basic parts and lays out step-by-step instructions for choosing the best action in any situation.

Notable Quote: “When you do take action, every result is an opportunity to reflect and learn valuable lessons. Even if what you take away from your assessment seems to be of small consequence, all of these small improvements taken together make a huge difference in the long term.”

Read Problem Solving 101 .

5. What’s Your Problem?: To Solve Your Toughest Problems, Change the Problems You Solve by Thomas Wedell-Wedellsborg

What’s Your Problem? insists that the most important step in the problem solving process is to start by honing in on the correct problem. The root of much frustration and wasted efforts is that professionals often pick the wrong points to focus on. This book teaches readers how to reframe and approach issues from a different perspective. The guide outlines a repeatable three step process “Frame, Reframe, and Move Forward” to ensure that workers prioritize effectively and stay on track to achieve desired results. What’s Your Problem? teaches professionals of all levels how to be less rigid and more results-focused and adopt a more agile approach to fixing issues.

Notable Quote: “The problems we’re trained on in school are often quite different from the ones we encounter in real life.”

Read What’s Your Problem?

6. Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days by Jake Knapp, John Zeratsky, et al

Sprint is one of the best problem solving books for programmers. The authors are the creators of the five-day-process at Google. This guide describes best practices for conducting sprints and solving problems in limited timeframes. The book provides a day-by-day breakdown of tasks for each day of the workweek, with the final steps being designing a prototype and a plan for implementation. Though this idea originated in the tech world and is most widely used in the software industry, this problem-solving and product design approach can be useful for any position that needs to find fixes in a time crunch.

Notable Quote: “We’ve found that magic happens when we use big whiteboards to solve problems. As humans, our short-term memory is not all that good, but our spatial memory is awesome. A sprint room, plastered with notes, diagrams, printouts, and more, takes advantage of that spatial memory. The room itself becomes a sort of shared brain for the team.”

Read Sprint , and check out this guide to virtual hackathons and this list of product design books .

7. Think Like a Rocket Scientist: Simple Strategies You Can Use to Make Giant Leaps in Work and Life by Ozan Varol

Think Like a Rocket Scientist lays out formulas and instructions for thinking more strategically. The guide reveals common problem solving approaches used by rocket scientists when exploring the unknown and testing new technology. The book is split into three sections– launch, accelerate, and achieve– with deep dives into concepts such as moonshot thinking and overcoming failure. The anecdotes revolve around space exploration and rocket science yet the methods can be applied to more commonplace and less complex problems as well. Think Like a Rocket Scientist proves that one does not need to be a genius to be a genius problem solver and lets readers learn tricks from one of the most complex professions on the planet.

Notable Quote: “Critical thinking and creativity don’t come naturally to us. We’re hesitant to think big, reluctant to dance with uncertainty, and afraid of failure. These were necessary during the Paleolithic Period, keeping us safe from poisonous foods and predators. But here in the information age, they’re bugs.”

Read Think Like a Rocket Scientist .

8. Bulletproof Problem Solving: The One Skill That Changes Everything by Charles Conn and Robert McLean

Bulletproof Problem Solving is one of the best business problem solving books. This workbook-style-guide breaks down a “bulletproof” method of problem solving favored by consultants at McKinsey. The authors distill the process into seven simple steps–define the problem, disaggregate, prioritize, workplan, analyze, synthesize, and communicate– and give numerous examples of how to follow this cycle with different dilemmas. The chapters explore each stage in depth and outline the importance and finer points of each phase. The book also provides practical tools for readers to build skills, including an appendix with exercise worksheets.

Notable Quote: “Problem solving doesn’t stop at the point of reaching conclusions from individual analyses. Findings have to be assembled into a logical structure to test validity and then synthesized in a way that convinces others that you have a good solution. Great team processes are also important at this stage.”

Read Bulletproof Problem Solving .

9. Think Like a Programmer: An Introduction to Creative Problem Solving by by V. Anton Spraul

Think Like a Programmer is one of the top problem solving books for programmers. The guide lays out methods for finding and fixing bugs and creating clean, workable code. The text emphasizes that programming is not merely a matter of being competent in the language, but also knowing how to troubleshoot and respond to unexpected occurrences. The chapters present examples of problems and puzzles and work through the answers to help strengthen professional competencies. The book provides an introductory crash course and practical toolkit for beginning coders, with a focus on C++. Yet since the text outlines general theory and approach, the book is also helpful for dealing with other programming languages, or for solving problems in non-tech industries as well. The point of the text is to provide a proper mindset and attitude for reacting to these developments, and the book can be a benefit for folks in any field.

Notable Quote: “Don’t Get Frustrated The final technique isn’t so much a technique, but a maxim: Don’t get frustrated. When you are frustrated, you won’t think as clearly, you won’t work as efficiently, and everything will take longer and seem harder. Even worse, frustration tends to feed on itself, so that what begins as mild irritation ends as outright anger.”

Read Think Like a Programmer .

10. The Founder’s Dilemmas: Anticipating and Avoiding the Pitfalls That Can Sink a Startup by by Noam Wasserman

The Founder’s Dilemmas lays out the most common problems entrepreneurs face and gives advice on how to avoid or solve these issues. The book tackles topics such as managing relationships, hiring, and rewarding or correcting employees. The chapters outline the mistakes inexperienced leaders often make and offer strategies for handling these tough situations with more smarts and skill. By reading this book, founders can learn from predecessors and avoid making obvious and avoidable errors in judgment. The Founder’s Dilemmas is a problem-solving resource for startup leaders and team members who lack more traditional guidance.

Notable Quote: “Ideas are cheap; execution is dear.”

Read The Founder’s Dilemmas , and check out more entrepreneurial books .

11. The Scout Mindset: Why Some People See Things Clearly and Others Don’t by Julia Galef

The Scout Mindset challenges readers to move beyond gut reactions and preconceptions and rethink problems. The book offers instructions for overcoming bias and central beliefs to gather more objective data. Julia Galef encourages readers to act more like scouts than soldiers and gather information without judging to make more informed decisions. The text outlines the common reasons folks jump to conclusions and offers advice on how to avoid incorrect assumptions and conduct level-headed analyses. The Scout Mindset is a call to action for objectivity and an instruction manual for breaking away from unhelpful mental patterns that can lead to poor choices.

Notable Quote: “Discovering you were wrong is an update, not a failure, and your worldview is a living document meant to be revised.”

Read The Scout Mindset .

12. Super Thinking: The Big Book of Mental Models by Gabriel Weinberg and Lauren McCann

Super Thinking is a comprehensive resource that explains various mental models for problem solving. The book identifies logical fallacies and shows readers how to avoid these pitfalls. The pages also lay out appropriate strategies, tools, techniques to use in different situations, such as matrices, pointed questions, and philosophies. The point of the guide is to teach readers how to evaluate information and make quick yet accurate judgements. The guide helps readers decide the best approach to use for each circumstance. Though packed with information, the pages also contain images and humor that prevent the material from getting too dry. Super Thinking is the ultimate cheat sheet for thinking rationally and acting with intention.

Notable Quote: “Unfortunately, people often make the mistake of doing way too much work before testing assumptions in the real world.”

Read Super Thinking .

Final Thoughts

Problem solving is one of the most essential skills for modern industry. With the breakneck pace at which the current business world changes, there is no shortage of new developments that professionals must contend with on a daily basis. Operating the same way for years at a time is impossible, and it is almost guaranteed that workers at every level will have issues to unravel at some point in their careers.

Books about problem solving help professionals predict, prevent, and overcome issues and find more viable and sustainable solutions. These guides not only provide skills, but also methods for survival in a highly competitive business landscape. These texts show workers that they are more capable than may first appear and that sometimes, seemingly insurmountable obstacles are beatable with a combination of creativity, teamwork, and proper process.

For more ways to beat the odds, check out this list of books on innovation and this list of books on business strategy .

We also have a list of the best communication books .

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FAQ: Problem solving books

Here are answers to common questions about problem solving books.

What are problem solving books?

Problem solving books are guides that teach critical thinking skills and strategies for resolving issues. The purpose of these works is to help professionals be more creative and strategic in problem solving approaches.

What are some good problem solving books for work?

Some good problem solving books for work include Sprint by Jake Knapp, John Zeratsky, et al, Upstream by Dan Heath, and Think Like a Rocket Scientist by Ozan Varol.

Author: Angela Robinson

Marketing Coordinator at teambuilding.com. Team building content expert. Angela has a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing and worked as a community manager with Yelp to plan events for businesses.

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The 17 Best Books on Critical Thinking (to Read in 2024)

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The aim of improving your skill of critical thinking isn’t just to be able to reason and give logical arguments about a subject skillfully; your goal is to get to the right answer, to make the right decisions and choices for yourself and others.

Critical thinking helps you:

First , improve the quality of your decisions and judgments, and reevaluate your beliefs objectively.

The human mind is rarely objective. However, mastering the skill of critical thinking keeps your mind objective, at least about those things based on facts.

Take for example the beliefs you have about yourself; Some are based on facts, some on subjective (negative) opinions of others.

Second , become an independent thinker (learn to think for yourself); take ownership of your values, beliefs, judgments, and decisions.

Mastering critical thinking is essential , especially in our modern times, because you must:

• Make a tone of decisions every day;
• Think and come to the right conclusion fast;
• Solve (mostly alone) your problems and issues;
• Weigh carefully facts and information you receive from the dozens of sources you have at your disposal;
• Reevaluate your strategies, beliefs, and habits periodically.

Critical thinking is a skill that you must learn; you’re not born with it. To make your journey a little easier, we’ve gathered the best critical thinking books so you can learn from the masters. Get inspired to become a critical thinker in no time!

The best books on critical thinking:

Table of Contents

1. Critical Thinking: A Beginner’s Guide to Critical Thinking, Better Decision Making, and Problem Solving – Jennifer Wilson

2. wait, what: and life’s other essential questions- james e. ryan, 3. think smarter: critical thinking to improve problem-solving and decision-making skills – michael kallet, 4. brain power: learn to improve your thinking skills – karl albrecht, 5. the art of thinking clearly – rolf dobelli, 6. being logical: a guide to good thinking – d.q. mcinerny, 7. predictably irrational, revised and expanded edition: the hidden forces that shape our decisions – dr. dan ariely, 8. a more beautiful question: the power of inquiry to spark breakthrough ideas – warren berger, 9. a rulebook for arguments – anthony weston, 10. thinking, fast and slow – daniel kahneman, 11. the organized mind: thinking straight in the age of information overload – daniel j. levitin, 12. don’t believe everything you think: the 6 basic mistakes we make in thinking – thomas e. kida, 13. the decision book: 50 models for strategic thinking – mikael krogerus, roman tschäppeler, philip earnhart, jenny piening, 14. weaponized lies: how to think critically in the post-truth era – daniel j. levitin, 15. the demon-haunted world: science as a candle in the dark paperback – carl sagan, ann druyan, 16. how to think about weird things: critical thinking for a new age – theodore schick, lewis vaughn, 17. the 5 elements of effective thinking – edward b. burger, michael starbird.

As the title says, this book introduces you to the art of critical thinking. You’ll discover in it:

• What is critical thinking in practice,
• The different thought processes of critical thinking,
• How will your life be better mastering critical thinking,
• The things your brain needs to enjoy exercising critical thinking,
• Techniques you can use for solving problems,
• How to become a better decision maker, Strategies to use in your critical thinking processes,
• Ways to make good decisions when more people (not just you) are involved,
• Tips to frame your questions in order to maximize the efficiency of your critical thinking.

Wisdom comes from observation, learning, practice, and asking the right questions.

Using examples from history, politics, and his own personal life, James e Ryan shows you the importance of knowing how to:

• Ask questions and gain a better understanding,
• Get to be more curious,
• Push yourself to take action,
• Make your relationship stronger,
• And stay focused on the important things in life.

Related:  Critical Thinking Examples

The book starts with the five fundamental questions:

• Couldn’t we at least…?
• How can I help…?
• What truly matters….?

Knowing how to formulate, address, and deliver the right questions doesn’t leave room for misunderstandings, misinterpretations; asking the wrong questions will most probably give you a wrong answer.

This book (Wait, What?: And Life’s Other Essential Questions) will make you feel (more) courageous; after all, asking questions thanks courage. Asking yourself and others the right questions helps you make informed decisions and decisive action.

This book is a guide on how to train your brain to work even more for you. The author (Michael Kallet) is a critical thinking trainer and coach and gives you a practical set of tools and techniques for critical thinking in your day-to-day life and business.

If you want a clear, actionable step by step program to:

• Improve your critical thinking skills,
• A better understanding of complex problems and concepts,
• And how to put them in practice, then this book is for you.

Learn how to discover the real issues that need a solution, so you don’t waste your time in trying to solve imaginary problems. Increase your mental toughness, useful and productive thought.

In this book, Karl Albrecht shows you how to:

• Build your mental strength,
• Think more clearly logically and creative,
• Improve your memory,
• Solve problems,
• Make decisions more effectively.

Karl Albrecht talks in this book about the six functional abilities you need to have and become more adaptable and an innovative thinker.

The book is packed with practical exercises, fascinating illustrations, games, and puzzles to improve your mental capabilities.

The art of thinking Clearly by Rolf Dobelli is a window into human psychology and reasoning; how we:

• Make decisions;
• Evaluate choices and options;
• Develop cognitive biases.

This book helps you notice and recognize erroneous thinking and make better choices and decisions, change unwanted behaviors and habits.

It will change the way you think about yourself and life in general because you have in this book 99 short chapters with examples of the most common errors of judgment and how to rectify them.

If you wish to think more clearly, make better decisions and choices, reevaluate your biases, and feel better about yourself, this book is for you.

When you decide you want to study the field of logic more closely and improve your critical thinking, this book might be exactly what you need. It’s written clearly and concisely laying out for you the basic building blocks of logic and critical thinking.

The ancient civilizations understood better than us how important is to study logic and rhetoric. With the help of this book, you’ll bring back into your life these essential things that our modern society forgot and missed to teach you as a child.

Having increased logical thinking doesn’t mean to ignore your emotions. It means to start from your emotions and together, (emotions and logic) to take better decisions and see more clearly your choices to move forward in life.

“Predictably Irrational, The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions” is a book packed with examples of how:

• Irrational are our choices;
• We make decisions on impulse;
• We fool ourselves with optimism- “that must work for me.”

The author presents you, in this book, a large number of mental traps and flawed tendencies which can make your life harder.

After reading this book, you’ll be better informed about a variety of human flaws and how to avoid being trapped by irrational thinking. You’ll be better prepared to make decisions and choices based more on facts rather than subjective personal opinions.

Knowing how to ask the right questions is determining your success about many things in your life:

• Influencing others,
• Getting out of tricky situations,
• Reevaluating your beliefs,
• Offering yourself and others compassion,
• Overcoming mistakes and fears.

Warren Berger shows you in this book examples of people who are successful (partially) because they are experts in asking questions and don’t have preconceived ideas about what the answers should be.

This book helps you avoid wasting your innovative and brilliant ideas by presenting them in the same way over and over and getting nowhere over and over.

Asking yourself (and others) the right questions gives you the opportunity to display your ideas in a way that those around you feel compelled to listen.

This book is impressive because, Anthony Weston gives you a lot of excellent and practical advice, ordered in a logical and clear manner.

The examples in this book are realistic and useful, ranging from deductive to oral arguments, from argumentative essays to arguments by analogy.

Once you read this book you’ll want to have it on hand to sort out all sorts of situations you’ll encounter in your day-to-day life.

Daniel Kahneman, the author of this book, is a renowned psychologist and winner of the Nobel Prize in economics.

In this book, you will discover where you can and cannot trust your intuition; how to use the two systems that drive the way you think.

The first system is fast, intuitive, and emotional; the second system is slower, based on facts, and more logical.

The author argues that knowing how to use these two systems can make a huge difference in how you:

• Design your strategies,
• Predict consequences,
• Avoid cognitive biases,
• (and even simple things like) choosing the colors for your home office.

If you want to improve your critical thinking, know when you should use logic (instead of using emotions), and become mentally stronger this book is definitely for you.

Critical thinking can’t be created in a cluttered mind. It’s like trying to prepare a gourmet meal for your loved ones in a cramped and dysfunctional kitchen.

As if is not enough all the information you store in your mind from what you personally experience every day, our modern times forcefully adds to that information a lot of junk.

The book “The Organized Mind: Thinking Straight in the Age of Information Overload” by Daniel J. Levitin will help you sort out and organized your thoughts with the help of the four components in the human attentional system:

• Mind wandering mode;
• Central executive mode;
• Attentional filter;
• Attentional switch.

The book is showing you how you can improve your critical thinking and make better decisions concerning many areas of your life.

This book can (really) change your life if you’re dealing with procrastination, multitasking, the inability to switch off and block the outside world.

All in all, you’ll be better prepared to think straight in the age of information overload.

Thomas E. Kida talks in this book very elegantly about the six basic mistakes your thinking can make.

• The first mistake is being mesmerized by stories and ignoring the facts or statistics.
• The second mistake is searching to confirm what we already know or believe.
• The third mistake is to discount the role that chance and coincidence play in our life.
• The fourth mistake is believing that what you see it’s always the reality.
• The fifth mistake is to oversimplify things.
• The sixth mistake is to believe (trust) faulty memories.

This book can be for you an eye-opener into critical thinking, accepting who you are as you are, and improving the way you choose and make decisions.

Did you know you have a strategy for everything you do? From brushing your teeth to making new friends? From choosing a career to dealing with difficult people?

Considering you have a strategy for everything you do, it’s only logical the try to improve every day the way you develop your strategies and don’t leave it to chance, habit, or convenience.

“The Decision Book: 50 Models for Strategic Thinking” can improve your critical thinking and help you make your life easier and more enjoyable.

This book is interactive and provokes you to think about some of the strategies that don’t bring you the results you want.

It contains 58 illustrations offering summaries for known strategies such as the Rubber Band Model, the Personal Performance Model, and the Black Swan Model.

This book is for you if you want to improve the flexibility of your thinking, accept challenges more comfortable, feel more in control of your decisions and choices.

From this book, by Daniel Levitin, you’ll learn how to think critically and avoid being manipulated by things like misleading statistics and graphics, extreme view, or fake news.

The book contains three main sections:

• Evaluating numbers – how to read statistics and data to find out what lurks underneath and make a more objective analysis
• Evaluating words – how to assess the information you receive from experts, understanding the difference between incidence and prevalence, risk perceptions, and probabilistic thinking
• Evaluating the world – how to interpret scientific methods for different types of reasoning (induction, deduction, abduction)

This book will help you improve your critical thinking providing you with a lot of food for thought.

You know how in a criminal trial they call two experts that have divergent opinions on the same facts? Depending on whose side they are? This book teaches you to see the truth.

Although written in the 1990s, this bestseller book is still relevant in today’s society.

With both intelligence and compassion, Carl Sagan lays out the importance of education, logic, and science. This book will show you a ton of practical skills for assessing arguments, recognizing logical fallacies, and applying the scientific method.

Sagan felt that reason and logic could make the world a better place.

This book contains invaluable instructions on logic and reason using critical thinking, without being dull or difficult to understand.

Schick and Vaughn effectively laid out the key elements on how to assess evidence, sort through reasons, and recognize when a claim is likely to be accurate, making this book an absolute must-read for all students.

If you want to be better at decision-making based on sound evidence and argument, then this book is for you.

If you ever found yourself stuck on a problem, or having trouble in forming new ideas, this book will guide you in finding creative solutions to life’s difficult challenges.

This book emphasizes the value of effective thinking, how it can be mastered, and how to integrate it into everyday life.

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10 Top Books on Problem-Solving and Coaching for Improvement

• November 1, 2022

As leaders and continuous improvement practitioners, we’re committed to learning and to creating a “learning organization”. But how? Any leader seeking to create a learning organization must cultivate both the technical skills for problem-solving and the social skills of coaching for problem-solving . This is the foundation of what lean and continuous improvement is about – not the tools but the thinking process and behaviors that support learning. Imagine you could find a list of books on problem-solving and coaching for improvement at the click of your mouse?

I’m often asked for my top book recommendations on a host of topics and I’ve decided to pull together several posts sharing some of my “go-to” books that have influenced me personally and that I recommend for anyone seeking to develop their team’s capabilities – both on how to use problem-solving techniques and fundamental coaching skills to develop an organization filled with problem solvers.

While this is not a conclusive list of my best books about problem-solving (they’re 10 top books rather than my top 10) , all of these books are my go-to recommendations for any coach, leader, individual contributor, continuous improvement practitioner , or manager seeking to both achieve needed goals AND develop their people at the same time.

They are some of (but not the only!) best books on problem-solving and critical thinking. I had a difficult time honing this list down to just ten, so I decided to start with these ones. 

This list is the second in a three-part series that shares my top book recommendations broken down into three categories: 

• 10 Top Books on Lean Management, Lean Production, and Toyota History
• 10 Top Books on Coaching and Problem-Solving
• 10 Top Books on Culture, Organizational Change, & Strategy

Top Books on Problem-Solving and Coaching for Improvement

This article focuses on books that can help you become a better problem-solver – and a better coach for improvement, lean, and problem-solving.

There are so many on my shelves that have influenced my personal practice of how to develop a learning organization or practice lean thinking that it was hard to get this list down to just ten books.

So, in order to narrow it down, I am first sharing influential books from authors in my own learning journey, who have also honored my book Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn with their endorsement, plus a few bonus books on problem-solving and coaching for improvement as well.

Here you’ll learn about why I recommend these 10 top books on problem-solving and coaching for improvement, as well as sharing my personal experiences with many of these leading thinkers, and how they’ve informed my Chain of Learning.

There are many more books I could include on this list, but these are some of my go-to books that I suggest if you are a lean practitioner or anyone seeking to understand the true success of creating a real learning organization where people have the capability and confidence to solve problems at all levels, each and every day.

Without further ado, and in no particular order, here are 10 of my top books on problem-solving and coaching for improvement.

📚 Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn

But don’t just take my word for it about the impact of Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn ! Below you can read what these other influential authors had to say about their learning from the book.

📚 Managing to Learn by John Shook

Chairman and CEO of the Lean Enterprise Institute

This book is the book to read, and re-read, to really understand what A3 problem-solving is about. It’s not the tool – it’s the thinking process and the coaching process to support it.

John Shook has been an important link in my “Chain of Learning” about lean and leadership since I first was exposed to the Toyota Way and lean thinking in the mid-2000s.

Long before I met Isao Yoshino, Managing to Learn became – and continues to be – my go-to book on A3 thinking and practice. It also is among my top books to understand the management principles of lean management and the Toyota way. (You can see the whole list here ).

As I describe in the introduction to Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn , it was through John at the Lean Coaching Summit in 2014 that I met Isao Yoshino, who was his boss when John was the first non-Japanese employee at Toyota Motor Corporation and who was the inspiration for the manager character in his fictionalized leadership book, Managing to Learn .

In this book, John illustrates not only what he learned about the process of problem-solving using an A3 format, but also what he learned about how leaders coach and develop their people to think more deeply and develop the capabilities and confidence for problem-solving.

In John’s forward to Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn , he shares some more insights about his experience reporting to Mr. Yoshino and “learning to lead”, and their partnership in developing the NUMMI training program – Toyota’s experiment to see if they could translate their famous Toyota Production System to another culture. (Hint, they could! Check out Mr. Yoshino’s and John Shook’s inside stories about his time in my book Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn ).

Here’s what John Shook had to say about Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn in an excerpt from his foreword to the book:

“In her debut book, “Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn”, Katie Anderson has distilled countless hours of interviews, lecture transcripts, and conversation (and ample debate, too, I am sure) into a cohesive whole that’s informative, inspiring, and entertaining. I am grateful to Katie for capturing Isao Yoshino’s story … and for going beyond just documenting history but weaving it all into a rich tapestry that readers of many interests will find compelling and useful. Explorers of lean thinking and practice will find a deep dive into the mind of a Toyota manager during the defining final third of the 20th century. Japanophiles will find access to the inner workings of Japan’s largest industrial enterprise during the heyday of Japan Inc. And, perhaps most importantly, executive coaches — or anyone with an interest in the phenomenon of ‘manager-as-coach’ — will find in these pages a rich expression of the thinking and practices of a deeply thoughtful, extraordinarily reflective practitioner of the craft.”

Managing to Learn: Using the A3 Management Process to Solve Problems, Gain Agreement, Mentor and Lead

From the Publisher:

Managing to Learn by Toyota veteran John Shook, reveals the thinking underlying the A3 management process found at the heart of lean management and leadership. Constructed as a dialogue between a manager and his boss, the book explains how “A3 thinking” helps managers and executives identify, frame, and act on problems and challenges. Shook calls this A3 approach, “the key to Toyota’s entire system of developing talent and continually deepening its knowledge and capabilities.”

📚 How to Coach for Creativity and Service Excellence: A Lean Coaching Workbook by Karyn Ross

Author of The Kind Leader and The Toyota Way to Service Excellence

Karyn’s book How to Coach for Creativity and Service Excellence is a fabulous resource for any lean coach or leader looking to improve, deepen, and simplify their coaching and problem-solving practices…and help teach others to do the same! Karyn walks the reader through a practical guide of how to approach continuous improvement and apply lean principles in service organization, with daily examples and practices to implement immediately.

Another of Karyn’s books, co-authored with Jeffrey Liker, The Toyota Way to Service Excellence is another of my top recommended books in lean management and the Toyota Way (you can see the whole list here ).

Here is what Karyn Ross had to say about Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn :

“Those who are lean practitioners always know that the best way to understand is to ‘go and see!’ In this wonderful book of stories and reflections about Mr. Yoshino’s tenure at Toyota, Katie Anderson beautifully captures and helps us ‘see’ Mr. Yoshino’s lessons on “Leading to Learn and Learning to Lead”. I know you will enjoy, learn and grow from this book as much as I have!” Karyn Ross – Author, Coach & Consultant

How to Coach for Creativity and Service Excellence: A Lean Coaching Workbook

How to Coach for Creativity and Service Excellence: A Lean Coaching Workbook is a self-contained workbook, in which the reader completes twenty-one days of practical exercises and activities focused on creativity, lean and coaching (one set per day). This will enable the reader to develop their capability and confidence to be creative, adapt lean principles, practices and tools to their unique service organization and coach others to do the same. The workbook guides the reader through a structured, systematic, easy-to-understand, habit-building approach, and functions as the reader’s ‘coach’. As the reader ‘works’ their way through the book, they will reclaim their creativity, learn Karyn’s tried-and-true 15-minute a day coaching approach and adapt lean principles, practices and tools to their particular service organization.

📚 The Coaching Habit by Michael Bungay Stanier

Author of The Advice Trap and How to Begin

The Coaching Habit – and its follow-up companion The Advice Trap (you can read my interview with Michael about that book here ) – are must-reads for anyone who works with other people (that’s everyone!) and seeking to create a learning organization. These books are complementary resources to what I write, coach, and teach about how to “Break the Telling Habit”. Like me, Michael too acknowledges the influence of Edgar Schein (scroll down to see two more of my “best coaching books” recommendations) on the power and nuance of asking questions and helping people move forward.

If you want to become a better coach, question-asker, and thinker, definitely check out MBS’s books!

Here’s what Michael had to say about Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn :

“This is a wise book that weaves a story of leadership between two core principles of purpose (i.e., what shapes us) and discovery (i.e., what defines us). It will be fascinating for students of lean; should be essential for students of leadership.” Michael Bungay Stanier – Author of The Coaching Habit and The Advice Trap

The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More & Change the Way You Lead Forever

In Michael Bungay Stanier’s The Coaching Habit , coaching becomes a regular, informal part of your day so managers and their teams can work less hard and have more impact.

Drawing on years of experience training more than 10,000 busy managers from around the globe in practical, everyday coaching skills, Bungay Stanier reveals how to unlock your peoples’ potential. He unpacks seven essential coaching questions to demonstrate how – by saying less and asking more – you can develop coaching methods that produce great results.

📚 Measures of Success by Mark Graban

Author of Lean Hospitals and The Executive Guide to Healthcare Kaizen

Since then, I’ve been on Mark’s podcasts The Lean Blog multiple times (check out the first one or this one ), and on the My Favorite Mistake Podcast one with Isao Yoshino and one on my own reflecting on how I applied the lessons from Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn to my own mistake.

There are so many books by Mark that I could include on multiple recommended book lists about lean and learning (such as Lean Hospitals ), but this one is my most recommended of all of Mark’s books as it relates to helping organizations understand problems and know how to react to them.

I regularly recommend Measures of Success to clients to help them and their organizations understand and respond to data in a much more informed way. I have served on two non-profit Board of Directors over the past decade – for the Quality Committee for a local hospital and as the Chair of the Mother’s Milk Bank – and Measures of Success has directly influenced and improved our board meeting discussions because we (and the organizations’ leaders) are no longer reacting to noise and usual variation in the system.

Read Measures of Success and pass it on to your leaders. Your conversations will become more focused about real problems, not just the roller coaster of standard variation!

Here’s what Mark had to say about Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn :

“Isao Yoshino has a life’s worth of wisdom to share and Katie Anderson does a fantastic job of bringing those lessons to us in “ Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn” . Katie skillfully weaves together stories that share an insider’s perspective on Toyota, and life, in a conversational tone that will be insightful to readers from any industry. This book will be helpful for those who are new to lean or the Toyota Production System, and it will fill in key details for those who have been practicing lean for a long time.” Mark Graban, Author, Consultant, Professional Speaker, and Blogger

Measures of Success: React Less, Lead Better, Improve More

A practical guide for how to manage your metrics. Organizations depend on metrics for their business. Question is, are they helping people do the right things? Or, encouraging them to overreact to every uptick, downturn, and change?

In other words, reacting to noise. Noise is present in every metric. But, it’s our reaction to noise that causes waste and stress. Too often, people don’t recognize this.

Measures of Success shows a better way to chart and manage your metrics, in any organization or setting. For your business processes and activities, you need to know what’s working, what’s not, and what to change. And why. Then, you can determine what to stop doing, what to start doing, what to keep doing.

📚 The Problem-Solver’s Toolkit by Elisabeth Swan and Tracy O’Rourke

I got my copy of The Problem-Solver’s Toolkit as a gift from Elisabeth and Tracy when they were participants on my 2019 Japan Study Trip ! It was there in Japan that I deepened my relationship with both Tracy and Elisabeth – over the six days of immersive learning (you can read about Elisabeth’s takeaways from her time in Japan with me here ).

Fun fact: Elisabeth generously offered to serve on the Editorial Board of Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn , providing invaluable insights into the first draft!

Here’s what Elisabeth had to say about Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn :

“Katie Anderson has crafted a personal, lean learning journey from her conversations with Toyota leader Isao Yoshino that we all can savor. Out of their friendship comes a moving testament to the power of humanity, risk, failure, and reflection to positively impact the lives around us. It’s a joy to soak up the reflections that culminated from Mr. Yoshino’s decades of business leadership and Ms. Anderson’s brilliant questions about what he learned during his career. Throughout the book, reflection questions invite the reader into the conversation. These serve as sparks to help us understand our own visions of who and what we can be, if we dare to weave our core purpose with our other passions. This captivating read will make you stop and consider your own untapped reservoirs of influence, generosity of spirit, and humble leadership.” Elisabeth Swan, Author and Just-In-Time Cafe Podcast Host

The Problem-Solver’s Toolkit: A Surprisingly Simple Guide to Your Lean Six Sigma Journey

The Problem-Solver’s Toolkit: A Surprisingly Simple Guide to Your Lean Six Sigma Journey is a fast-and-fun travel kit eBook for the process improvement traveler. We provide basic tool sets, examples, instructions, “detours” around potential “potholes” and some sight-seeing options when you want to learn more on a given topic.

• Contains 35 foundational Lean Six Sigma tools
• Covers essentials like the A3, Process Walks, SIPOCs, Check Sheets, Run Charts, 5S, Monitoring and Response Plans, and more – Just enough to get you rolling!
• Provides clear instructions, examples and best practices
• Draws on over 25 years of success helping organizations achieve their goals with Lean Six Sigma

📚 The Conclusion Trap by Daniel Markovitz

Founder of Markovitz Consulting and Author

We quickly discovered that our home-bases were both in the San Francisco Bay Area and, since 2016, regularly meet up in the city to grab a meal and talk about all things leadership, lean, Japan, and more.

On one of our lunches in 2019, we were focused on book writing. I was in the thick of writing – and rewriting – Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn , to be restructured as a leadership narrative. And Dan threw out the idea of a new book he was pondering about problem-solving and the problems with problem-solving.

That book became The Conclusion Trap – an easy-to-digest, quick-to-read, and super impactful guide for coaches, problem-solvers, and leaders at all levels on how to avoid jumping to solutions (which I’ve also written about here ).

I’ve also included another of Dan’s books, Building the Fit Organization , in my book recommendations about building organizational culture. (forthcoming)!

Here’s what Dan had to say about Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn :

“Humans are hardwired to remember and learn from stories. Katie Anderson does the lean community a huge service by bringing storytelling to fundamental lean ideas through her interviews with Mr. Yoshino. Everyone will benefit from the depth and color that the book brings to otherwise dry disquisitions of the Toyota Way.” Daniel Markovitz, Author and Consultant

The Conclusion Trap: Four Steps to Better Decisions

Organizations (and individuals) frequently struggle to make good decisions. They spend money, invest in new technology, and invest enormous amounts of time and effort reorganizing in fruitless efforts to solve thorny problems. Why? Years of training and reinforcement in school and at work, time pressures and deadlines, and inherent psychological biases cause us to jump to conclusions before we even understand the problem we’re attempting to solve.

This book will help you make better decisions by eliminating that tendency. You’ll learn a powerful, four-step process that ensures you will deeply understand a problem before pursuing any given solution. Following this framework enables you to generate insight before you take action. Rather than needlessly hiring more people or spending money on new equipment and technology, you’ll be able to identify the bottlenecks, root causes, and structural impediments that create the problems in the first place. It reduces the chronic fire-fighting your organization suffers from, while increasing the likelihood that your problem stays solved.

Honorable Mentions for books on problem-solving and coaching for improvement :

There are several key books on my bookshelf that I have to include in this list of great books on problem-solving and coaching, but not necessarily by authors who provided a pre-publication endorsement of Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn .

Here are some honorable mentions that must be on this list. And of course, there are so many more that could deserve a place on this list of top books! I might have to do another list in the future!

📚 People Solve Problems: The Power of Every Person, Every Day, Every Problem  by Jamie Flinchbaugh

Founder of JFlinch and author 

In People Solve Problems: The Power of Every Person, Every Day, Every Problem , Jamie explores the real leverage to improve problem-solving: people. In it, he dives into the problems with problem-solving, including both the value and limits of tools and templates, as well as the marriage of problem-solving and standards.

Jamie outlines the culture needed in an organization in order for problem-solving to be effective, and the role of leaders, whether the CEO or a team leader, in building an environment where problem-solving can thrive.

People Solve Problems: The Power of Every Person, Every Day, Every Problem

Every person in every function of every organization is involved in solving problems. They show up in your email inbox, in meetings, in your own work. They are strategic and tactical, mundane and breakthrough, easy and difficult. Most organizations want to, and need to, improve their people’s problem-solving efforts, and so they offer them tools, templates, and training. Yet this is not where the leverage for impact is found.

People Solve Problems: The Power of Every Person, Every Day, Every Problem explores the real leverage to improve your problem-solving.

📚 Helping and Humble Inquiry by Edgar Schein

Edgar Schien is one of the most influential writers and thinkers when it comes to my approach to coaching, problem-solving, and helping. Two books of his that have most shaped my entire leadership approach and how I now coach leaders to “Break the Telling Habit” – and frankly, that helped me become a better human being across all aspects of my life – are his books Helping and Humble Inquiry .

The types of questions I teach are based on Schien’s categories and the impact they have on problem-solving ownership. Read more about this here .

Schien, a professor-emeritus of MIT, and his son Peter, continue to write prolifically together about these fundamental concepts of humble leadership, humble coaching, and humble consulting.

If you haven’t read these books yet, do so! They will help you become a better leader, coach, and human.

Helping: How to Offer, Give, and Receive Help

Helping is a fundamental human activity, but it can also be a frustrating one. All too often, to our bewilderment, our sincere offers of help are resented, resisted, or refused—and we often react the same way when people try to help us. Why is it so difficult to provide or accept help? How can we make the whole process easier?

Many words are used for helping: assisting, aiding, advising, caregiving, coaching, consulting, counseling, guiding, mentoring, supporting, teaching, and more. In this seminal book on the topic, corporate culture and organizational development guru Ed Schein analyzes the social and psychological dynamics common to all types of helping relationships, explains why help is often not helpful, and shows what any would-be helpers must do to ensure that their assistance is both welcomed and genuinely useful. He shows how to navigate the delicate acts of asking for or offering help; avoid pitfalls; mitigate power imbalances; and establish a solid foundation of trust—and how these techniques can be applied to teamwork and organizational leadership.

Humble Inquiry: The Gentle Art of Asking Instead of Telling

We live, say Edgar and Peter Schein, in a culture of “tell.” All too often we tell others what we think they need to know or should do. But whether we are leading or following, what matters most is we get to the truth. We have to develop a commitment to sharing vital facts and identifying faulty assumptions—it can mean the difference between success and failure. This is why we need Humble Inquiry more than ever.

The Scheins define Humble Inquiry as “the gentle art of drawing someone out, of asking questions to which you do not know the answer, of building relationships based on curiosity and interest in the other person.” It was inspired by Edgar’s twenty years of work in high-hazard industries and the health-care system, where honest communication can literally mean the difference between life and death.

📚 Toyota Kata Managing People for Improvement, Adaptiveness and Superior Results by Mike Rother

Author of The Toyota Kata and Toyota Kata Culture

Rother’s framework documents the invisible pattern of thinking and practice of “leader as coach” at Toyota, which mirrors directly with Isao Yoshino’s experiences over 40-years at Toyota in both Japan and the U.S and are documented in Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn .

A leader’s role in Leading to Learn – just like in the coaching kata – is to 

1) set the direction or challenge, 

2) provide support to help the learner solve the problem, and 

3) develop their own capabilities at the same time. 

Toyota Kata helps make the invisible visible, and will help you, your team, and your organization accelerate your ability to learn, innovate, and solve important problems.

Toyota Kata: Managing People for Improvement, Adaptiveness and Superior Results

This game-changing book puts you behind the curtain at Toyota, providing new insight into the legendary automaker’s management practices and offering practical guidance for leading and developing people in a way that makes the best use of their brain power.

Drawing on six years of research into Toyota’s employee-management routines, Toyota Kata examines and elucidates, for the first time, the company’s organizational routines–called kata–that power its success with continuous improvement and adaptation. The book also reaches beyond Toyota to explain issues of human behavior in organizations and provide specific answers to questions such as:

• How can we make improvement and adaptation part of everyday work throughout the organization?
• How can we develop and utilize the capability of everyone in the organization to repeatedly work toward and achieve new levels of performance?
• How can we give an organization the power to handle dynamic, unpredictable situations and keep satisfying customers?

Other Resources:

Explore more of Mr. Yoshino’s stories from his 40 years at Toyota, you can purchase a copy of it in paperback, eBook, or audiobook for your own reading and re-reading here .

The Companion Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn Workbook

To supplement your learning from the book, I’ve also created the Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn Workbook to help you deepen your understanding and practice of the concepts highlighted in the book. This 100-page workbook provides additional exercises and questions to prompt your deeper thinking on your own leadership legacy.

Additional articles about problem-solving and ask effective questions:

• What’s your biggest problem with problem solving?
• Effectively Coaching for Problem Solving 
• When to “A3”? – Three problem solving tools to match the complexity of your problem
• How to Ask Problem-Solving Questions
• Effective Questions to Support Problem-Solving Thinking
• What If I Have The Answer? Should I still ask questions?
• Author Interview with Jamie Flinchbaugh: People Solve Problems

How to Ask Effective Questions

• How to get out of the habit of telling: Pay attention to questions in disguise
• Reflections on When to Listen, Ask, & Tell
• Toyota Leadership Lessons: Part 9 – Learning the value of asking questions

And, if you are looking to dive even more deeply into how to coach for problem-solving, check out my on-demand Break the Telling Habit Workshop — facilitated by me, which explores how to tap into your team’s potential by using powerful questions to unlock innovation and amplify engagement.

The Final Word on My 10 Top Books on Problem-Solving and Coaching for Improvement

I hope that your exploration of these books on problem-solving and coaching for improvement brings you as much growth as they did for me.

They explore how leaders apply problem-solving skills, and how you can grow your Chain of Learning by giving you sound problem-solving techniques and teaching you how to coach for improvement by creating problem-solving questions.

Let me know which ones you read and your thoughts on them.

All of these books on problem-solving and critical thinking, and the importance of problem-solving in leadership have played an important role in my own learning journey.

Whether you’re looking to learn about problem-solving in leadership and management, creative problem-solving questions and answers, or coaching for continuous improvement, these books on problem-solving and coaching for improvement have something for you.

And if you’re interested in reading my book, Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn , you can get your very own copy here.

Book Recommendation Series Overview

This is just one article of several that I’ve put together for you to deepen your Chain of Learning about lean, problem-solving, culture, strategy, and more.

This article contains a list of books books on problem-solving and coaching for improvement.

Here is the full list of my book recommendation series:

• Top Books on Lean Management, Lean Production, and Toyota History

Be Part of My Chain of Learning

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Challenging Math through Captivating Comic Books

Where to Start: Beast Academy Math Books

Learn math concepts and problem-solving skills through the richly illustrated adventures of four little Beast Academy monsters.

For each unit, there are Guide and Practice materials.

•  The Guide materials provide comprehensive instruction in an engaging, illustrated, comic-style format. The vivid imagery and storylines captivate both the reader and the visual learner, offering strong pedagogical support while heightening student engagement.
•  The Practice materials contain exercises, problems, and puzzles that reinforce the lessons taught in the Guides. They provide detailed examples and step-by-step solutions that model problem-solving strategies. Many solutions feature more than one approach.

Choosing the Right Level for Your Student

Each level 1-5 is split into four units, A-D. Once a student completes unit D of a level, they are ready to move on to unit A of the next level.

We recommend taking one of our Placement Tests to choose the best level for your student.

New to Beast Academy? The best way to determine your student's starting level is by having them take a Placement Test. We recommend using your child's age to determine which Placement Test to take.

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Gain Problem Solving Tools for School and Life

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• Uncover Creative Solves
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• Advance Exponentially Each Year

Master Concepts Behind Calculations Beast Academy curriculum goes well beyond the basics, teaching students how to think critically and understand the concepts behind the calculations.

Understand the Why and How With a focus on higher-order reasoning, rather than drills and memorization, students develop the foundation they need to master complex problems into the future.

Uncover Creative Solves The Beast Academy universe kindles students' sense of wonder, opening multiple learning avenues that inspire lateral thinking — a hallmark of great problem-solvers.

Advance Exponentially Each Year By tackling increasingly greater challenges, students develop a deeper capacity for learning each year, compounding their ability for growth over time.

Beast Academy Book Curriculum

Books level 1.

FULL SET - LEVEL 1

• 4 combined Guide + Practice books (1A-1D)
• Level 1 does not have separate Guide and Practice books. All of the materials are combined into a single book.

• Subtraction

• Addition & Subtraction

• Big Numbers
• Measurement
• Problem Solving

• 500+ Brand New Puzzles
• 12 Favorite Styles
• Written by US National Puzzle Team competitor

Books Level 2

FULL SET - LEVEL 2

• 4 Guide books (2A-2D)
• 4 Practice books (2A-2D)

• Place Value

• Expressions

• Odds & Evens

• 400+ Brand New Puzzles
• Written by 2011 World Puzzle Champion

Books Level 3

FULL MATH SET - LEVEL 3

• 4 Guide books (3A-3D)
• 4 Practice books (3A-3D)

• Skip-Counting
• Perimeter & Area

• Multiplication
• Perfect Squares
• The Distributive Property

Books Level 4

FULL SET - LEVEL 4

• 4 Guide books (4A-4D)
• 4 Practice books (4A-4D)

• Probability

Books Level 5

FULL SET - LEVEL 5

• 4 Guide books (5A-5D)
• 4 Practice books (5A-5D)

• Expressions & Equations

• Factors & Multiples

• Ratios & Rates

• Square Roots

How Do BA Books Work With BA Online?

BA Books and BA Online can be used either together or independently. Both the books and BA Online levels cover the same concepts in the same order of units and chapters.

The digital versions of our full-color comic-style Guide books are included in the BA Online platform. But many students like to have the printed versions too. Our black-and-white Practice books are not included in the BA Online platform. They contain completely different problems from the ones found in BA Online.

For these reasons, students often use our online and book formats together as complements. Our suggested planning sequences can help you get started.

I couldn't be happier with my child's reaction to this incredible educational resource. He loves the books and reads them even at bedtime. The challenging puzzles and problems in the Practice books are perfect for him. Finally, there is a math program with genuinely intriguing and creative problem sets! I can see the wheels turning and his love of math coming alive again. Kristina I., BA parent

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A Teacher-Led K–8 Math Program

Ready Common Core Mathematics

Ready Common Core Mathematics helps teachers create a rich classroom environment in which students at all levels become active, real-world problem solvers. Through teacher-led instruction, students develop mathematical reasoning, engage in discourse, and build strong mathematical habits. This math program’s instructional framework supports educators as they strengthen their teaching practices and facilitate meaningful discourse that encourages all learners.

Ready Common Core Mathematics :

• Encourages students to develop a deeper understanding of mathematics concepts through the embedded Standards for Mathematical Practice
• Builds on students’ prior knowledge with lessons that make connections within and across grade levels and directly address the major focus of the grade
• Ready Mathematics 6–8, ©2020 Edition provides additional features for supporting English Learners, such as: 
• English Language Development guidelines on scaffolding language use during instruction to benefit students at different levels of English proficiency
• Language routines that integrate language and mathematics
• Concept development activities that allow students of varying mathematical and English language abilities to build on familiar concepts

Proven Math Programs for All Students

Ready Common Core Mathematics can be used as your core curriculum or to enhance your math instruction. Designed to develop strong mathematical thinkers, our math programs focus on conceptual understanding using real-world problem solving and help students become active participants in their own learning.

Proven to Work

Third-party research provides evidence that students using the  Ready Mathematics programs   perform significantly better than students not using the program.

See Ready Mathematics at Work in the Classroom

See how students collaborate and share problem-solving strategies with the Think–Share–Compare routine.

Get to Know Ready Common Core Mathematics

Making mathematics work for you.

• Sample Lessons

Student Solution

The two-part student edition consists of a Student Instruction Book and a Practice and Problem Solving book, a powerful combination of thoughtful instruction, real-world problem solving, and fluency practice.

• VIEW SAMPLE LESSONS

Teacher Solution

The Teacher Resource Book features embedded, point-of-use professional support in every lesson, such as learning progressions, prerequisite skills, and prompts for promoting mathematical discourse.

Assessment Solution

Robust formative and summative assessment tools closely match the rigor and expectations of the state assessments and include lessons, mid- and end-of-unit assessments, and performance tasks at the end of each unit (Grades 2–5 only).

Teacher Toolbox for Mathematics

A perfect complement to Ready Common Core Mathematics , Teacher Toolbox for Mathematics is a digital collection of K–8 instructional resources that supports educators in differentiating instruction for students performing on, below, or above grade level. Regardless of the grade they teach, subscribers get access to the full range of Ready Common Core Mathematics  resources for all grade levels, in addition to multimedia content, assessment practice, discourse supports, and more.

*For educators from K–12 educational institutions only.

• TEST DRIVE*

Robust formative and summative assessment tools closely match the rigor and expectations of the state assessments and include lessons, mid- and end-of-unit assessments, and performance tasks at the end of each unit (Grades 2–8 only).

A perfect complement to Ready Common Core Mathematics , Teacher Toolbox for Mathematics is a digital collection of K–8 instructional resources that supports educators in differentiating instruction for students performing on, below, or above grade level. Regardless of the grade they teach, subscribers get access to the full range of Ready Common Core Mathematics K–8 resources for all grade levels, in addition to multimedia content, assessment practice, discourse supports, and more.

*For educators from K–12 educational institutions only.

Behind Our Program

Orchestrating Mathematical Discourse to Enhance Student Learning

Discover strategies that support student collaboration and mathematical discussion.

Selecting and Sequencing Student Solutions

Know more about strategies to facilitate productive mathematics discussions.

Fostering Student Engagement in the Mathematical Practices

Read how to implement discourse that encourages instructional routines in the classroom.

Mathematical Discourse Cards

Use these cards to facilitate and support organic discussions within class.

Problem Posing and Problem Solving in Mathematics Education

International Research and Practice Trends

• © 2023
• Tin Lam Toh   ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9991-3162 0 ,
• Manuel Santos-Trigo   ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7144-2098 1 ,
• Puay Huat Chua   ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5148-328X 2 ,
• Nor Azura Abdullah   ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7259-5224 3 ,
• Dan Zhang   ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3960-6945 4

National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore

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Mathematics Education Department, Centre for Research and Advanced Studies, CDMX, Mexico

Universiti brunei darussalam, brunei darussalam, brunei darussalam, beijing academy of educational sciences, beijing, china.

• Discusses contemporary issues on problem solving and problem posing from an international perspective
• Connects classical and modern approaches to study problem solving and problem posing
• Showcases an overview of problem solving with an emphasis on remote learning scenarios and digital tools

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Table of contents (14 chapters)

Front matter, problem posing and problem-solving in mathematics education: international research and practice trends.

• Tin Lam Toh, Manuel Santos-Trigo, Puay Huat Chua, Nor Azura Abdullah, Dan Zhang

Trends and Developments of Mathematical Problem-Solving Research to Update and Support the Use of Digital Technologies in Post-confinement Learning Spaces

Manuel Santos-Trigo

Problem Posing and Modeling: Confronting the Dilemma of Rigor or Relevance

• Corey Brady, Paola Ramírez, Richard Lesh

Types of Mathematical Reasoning Promoted in the Context of Problem-Solving Instruction in Geneva

• Maud Chanudet

Prospective Secondary School Mathematics Teachers’ Use of Digital Technologies to Represent, Explore and Solve Problems

• Alexánder Hernández, Josefa Perdomo-Díaz, Matías Camacho-Machín

Primary School Teachers’ Behaviors, Beliefs, and Their Interplay in Teaching for Problem-Solving

• Benjamin Rott

Movie Clips in the Enactment of Problem Solving in the Mathematics Classroom Within the Framework of Communication Model

• Tin Lam Toh, Eng Guan Tay

On Teaching of Word Problems in the Context of Early Algebra

• Nicolina A. Malara, Agnese I. Telloni

Problem Posing by Mathematics Teachers: The Problems They Pose and the Challenges They Face in the Classroom

• Alina Galvão Spinillo, Síntria Labres Lautert, Neila Tonin Agranionih, Rute Elizabete de Souza Rosa Borba, Ernani Martins dos Santos, Juliana Ferreira Gomes da Silva

Problem Posing Among Preservice and Inservice Mathematics Teachers

• Ma. Nympha Beltran Joaquin

An Approach to Developing the Problem-Posing Skills of Prospective Mathematics Teachers: Focus on the “What if not” Heuristics

• Zoltán Kovács

Regulation of Cognition During Problem Posing: A Case Study

• Puay Huat Chua

Problem Posing in Pósa Problem Threads

• Lajos Pósa, Péter Juhász, Ryota Matsuura, Réka Szász

Conclusion: Mathematics Problem Posing and Problem Solving: Some Reflections on Recent Advances and New Opportunities

• Edward A. Silver
• Problem Solving
• Problem Posing
• Lesson Enactment
• Teacher Education
• Theoretical Frameworks
• Mathematical Problem Solving
• Mathematical Problem Posing
• Digital Tools in Mathematics Education
• Remote Learning Scenarios
• Mathematical Reasonings
• Professional Development Model
• Characteristics of Mathematical problems
• How Teachers Pose Mathematical Problems
• Regulatory Phases
• Mathematical Guided Discovery

About this book

This book presents both theoretical and empirical contributions from a global perspective on problem solving and posing (PS/PP) and their application, in relation to the teaching and learning of mathematics in schools. The chapters are derived from selected presentations in the PS/PP Topical Study Group in ICME14. Although mathematical problem posing is a much younger field of inquiry in mathematics education, this topic has grown rapidly. The mathematics curriculum frameworks in many parts of the world have incorporated problem posing as an instructional focus, building on problem solving as its foundation. The juxtaposition of problem solving and problem posing in mathematics presented in this book addresses the needs of the mathematics education research and practice communities at the present day. In particular, this book aims to address the three key points: to present an overview of research and development regarding students’ mathematical problem solving and posing; to discuss new trends and developments in research and practice on these topics; and to provide insight into the future trends of mathematical problem solving and posing.

Editors and Affiliations

Tin Lam Toh, Puay Huat Chua

Nor Azura Abdullah

About the editors

Bibliographic information.

Book Title : Problem Posing and Problem Solving in Mathematics Education

Book Subtitle : International Research and Practice Trends

Editors : Tin Lam Toh, Manuel Santos-Trigo, Puay Huat Chua, Nor Azura Abdullah, Dan Zhang

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-7205-0

Publisher : Springer Singapore

eBook Packages : Education , Education (R0)

Copyright Information : The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023

Hardcover ISBN : 978-981-99-7204-3 Published: 02 January 2024

Softcover ISBN : 978-981-99-7207-4 Due: 13 January 2024

eBook ISBN : 978-981-99-7205-0 Published: 01 January 2024

Edition Number : 1

Number of Pages : X, 259

Number of Illustrations : 23 b/w illustrations, 39 illustrations in colour

Topics : Mathematics, general , Education, general , Study and Learning Skills

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05) Practice, Reasoning and Problem-Solving book Answers

• Foundation problem solving book answers.pdf
• Higher problem solving book answers.pdf

• Teen & Young Adult
• Education & Reference

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Holt McDougal Algebra 2: Practice and Problem Solving Workbook Paperback – December 31, 2009

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• Print length 208 pages
• Language English
• Publisher HOLT MCDOUGAL
• Publication date December 31, 2009
• Grade level 9 - 12
• Reading age 14 years and up
• Dimensions 8.4 x 0.33 x 0.33 inches
• ISBN-10 0547354037
• ISBN-13 978-0547354033
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Product details

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ HOLT MCDOUGAL; 1st edition (December 31, 2009)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 208 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0547354037
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0547354033
• Reading age ‏ : ‎ 14 years and up
• Grade level ‏ : ‎ 9 - 12
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 0.035 ounces
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.4 x 0.33 x 0.33 inches
• #299 in Teen & Young Adult Algebra

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