From the multimillion-copy bestselling author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, hailed as the #1 Most Influential Business Book of the Twentieth Century, The 3rd Alternative introduces a breakthrough approach to conflict resolution and creative problem solving. There are many methods of 'conflict resolution,' but most involve compromise, a low-level accommodation that stops the fight without breaking through to new and innovative results....

For any task you might want to do, there's a right way, a wrong way, and a way so monumentally complex, excessive, and inadvisable that no one would ever try it. Munroe has created a guide to the third kind of approach. He provides highly impractical advice for everything from landing a plane to digging a hole. In exploring the absurd, he opens up an understanding to the science and technology underlying the things we do every day. -- adapted from...

A rival group of adults that calls itself Weird Team arrives with a gadget that fixes any odd problem. As a result, Odd Squad is run out of business and all the agents are forced to disband and go back to their lives as regular kids. Using math skills and teamwork, the kids discover Weird Team isn't actually solving problems, but just covering them up.

"The secret to better decision-making is learning things that won't change. Mastering a small number of versatile concepts with broad applicability enables you to rapidly grasp new areas, identify patterns, and understand how the world works. Don't waste your time on knowledge with an expiry date - focus on the fundamentals. The hard sciences offer a wealth of useful tools you can use to develop critically important skills like curiosity, relationship-building,...

Discusses research on the creative process, in how humans view processes and objects, how humans use intuition, imagination, and insight in everyday life, and how these techniques can be used in problem solving.

"You're facing a problem at work. There are many ways you can approach the issue, but they each come with their own pros and cons. How do you sort through the information at hand so that you know you're taking the right path? The solution is in how you think. The HBR Guide to Critical Thinking will help you use reasoning and logic to navigate your most challenging issues, from complex problems to tough decisions to tricky situations. By carefully...

"Math is universal, but it's also the least understood and most undervalued subject taught in school. Two Trains Leave Paris: Number Problems for Word People seeks to offer readers an opportunity to experience math like never before. You must use the Pythagorean Theorem to figure out how far apart two ex-lovers are when they simultaneously realize that they cannot live without each other. You must use addition (and logic) to explore the ridiculous...

"Learn how to make better, faster decisions. As a manager you have to make decisions--from daily choices about team priorities to deciding which long-term innovation projects to pursue. But most decisions don't have a clear-cut answer, and assessing the alternatives and the risks involved can be overwhelming. You need a smarter approach to making the best choice possible. The HBR Guide to Making Better Decisions provides practical tips and advice...

What do you do with a problem? Especially one that follows you around and doesn't seem to be going away? Do you worry about it? Ignore it? Do you run and hide from it? This is the story of a persistent problem and the child who isn't so sure what to make of it. The longer the problem is avoided, the bigger it seems to get. But when the child finally musters up the courage to face it, the problem turns out to be something quite different than it appeared....

Peg and Cat are in the bath. One, two friends in the bath. Peg and Cat do math in the bath!