--- product_id: 342827845 title: "The 5 Elements of Effective Thinking by Edward B. Burger, Michael Starbird - Hardcover" price: "£32.18" currency: GBP in_stock: true reviews_count: 5 url: https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/342827845-the-5-elements-of-effective-thinking-by-edward-b-burger store_origin: GB region: United Kingdom --- # The 5 Elements of Effective Thinking by Edward B. Burger, Michael Starbird - Hardcover **Price:** £32.18 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** The 5 Elements of Effective Thinking by Edward B. Burger, Michael Starbird - Hardcover - **How much does it cost?** £32.18 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.co.uk](https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/342827845-the-5-elements-of-effective-thinking-by-edward-b-burger) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description Buy The 5 Elements of Effective Thinking by Edward B. Burger, Michael Starbird - Hardcover by Burger, Edward B., Starbird, Michael online on desertcart.ae at best prices. ✓ Fast and free shipping ✓ free returns ✓ cash on delivery available on eligible purchase. Review: This short novella-sized book is a unique overview of techniques that will improve your thinking. Written by two Professors from a mathematical background, it presents simple and effective ways to enhance creative thinking and improve the whole process of learning. The book excels by showing how our brains and thinking skills can become more refined through a series of brief but imaginative approaches. This includes brainstorming without edits, making mistakes, finding the "easy" solutions, then assimilating to grow, improve, learn, and ultimately change your thinking. It is basically an approach that gives free permission to "thinking outside the box" since this is often where truth and insight are to be found. This book does not present a cookie-cutter formula to improve thinking. Rather, the authors have given broader categories and outlines to frame their approach to think more effectively. I found that the very act of reading this book improved my own approach to critical thinking and definitely bolstered the creative process. The concise size of the book easily lends itself to re-reading several times. There is a lot of meaning below the surface of the text that will reward the thinker in you. This book makes the discovery process fun and enjoyable. Our minds need challenges to grow and learn. This book presents many examples of people who were initially challenged by a large or forbidding problem, but were able to persevere and subsequently find solutions that weren't apparent at first. Many geniuses were not born that way, but only through systematic and meticulous thinking, by "connecting the dots" of what came before them, were they able to effectively improve their knowledge base. This book shows you how. This book should be required reading for educators and teachers. Our current system has to change. Education in our country is getting worse, not better. A book like this can serve as a platform to throw out old notions, and start afresh. To conclude, this book is a welcome and important addition to the growing body of literature about how the mind works and how we can enhance its function. It belongs on the shelf of scientists, artists, engineers, teachers, and neuroscientists. It should particularly be read by students or anyone interested in lifelong learning. The more people gathered from various and diverse disciplines, assembling together to solve our many problems, the better our society will be prepared for the future. We all need to improve and refine the thinking process, to think more effectively, and this book is a great place to start. Highly recommended. Review: This Is a great book about learning and personal grow, is a check list to mental información processing that helps learning un a solid way. ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | ASIN | 0691156662 | | Best Sellers Rank | #409 in Creativity #1,636 in Test Preparation #4,621 in Psychology & Counseling | | Customer reviews | 4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars (395) | | Dimensions | 11.94 x 2.79 x 20.07 cm | | Edition | 0 | | ISBN-10 | 9780691156668 | | ISBN-13 | 978-0691156668 | | Item weight | 222 g | | Language | English | | Print length | 168 pages | | Publication date | 26 August 2012 | | Publisher | Princeton University Press | ## Images ![The 5 Elements of Effective Thinking by Edward B. Burger, Michael Starbird - Hardcover - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/613DSN0kH1L.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review *by N***N on 9 September 2012* This short novella-sized book is a unique overview of techniques that will improve your thinking. Written by two Professors from a mathematical background, it presents simple and effective ways to enhance creative thinking and improve the whole process of learning. The book excels by showing how our brains and thinking skills can become more refined through a series of brief but imaginative approaches. This includes brainstorming without edits, making mistakes, finding the "easy" solutions, then assimilating to grow, improve, learn, and ultimately change your thinking. It is basically an approach that gives free permission to "thinking outside the box" since this is often where truth and insight are to be found. This book does not present a cookie-cutter formula to improve thinking. Rather, the authors have given broader categories and outlines to frame their approach to think more effectively. I found that the very act of reading this book improved my own approach to critical thinking and definitely bolstered the creative process. The concise size of the book easily lends itself to re-reading several times. There is a lot of meaning below the surface of the text that will reward the thinker in you. This book makes the discovery process fun and enjoyable. Our minds need challenges to grow and learn. This book presents many examples of people who were initially challenged by a large or forbidding problem, but were able to persevere and subsequently find solutions that weren't apparent at first. Many geniuses were not born that way, but only through systematic and meticulous thinking, by "connecting the dots" of what came before them, were they able to effectively improve their knowledge base. This book shows you how. This book should be required reading for educators and teachers. Our current system has to change. Education in our country is getting worse, not better. A book like this can serve as a platform to throw out old notions, and start afresh. To conclude, this book is a welcome and important addition to the growing body of literature about how the mind works and how we can enhance its function. It belongs on the shelf of scientists, artists, engineers, teachers, and neuroscientists. It should particularly be read by students or anyone interested in lifelong learning. The more people gathered from various and diverse disciplines, assembling together to solve our many problems, the better our society will be prepared for the future. We all need to improve and refine the thinking process, to think more effectively, and this book is a great place to start. Highly recommended. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review *by C***L on 14 January 2017* This Is a great book about learning and personal grow, is a check list to mental información processing that helps learning un a solid way. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review *by J***E on 10 August 2016* I have written my review as a case study: Having recently read The 5 Elements of Effective Thinking, I have just completed a book where I made good use of those 5 elements: Firstly, I truly believe that Thinking Makes a Difference to physical activities and exercise. Mankind has been endowed with reasoning skills and applying these to one’s learning path can improve it immensely. The Five Elements of Effective Thinking are: • Understand Deeply - starting with simple ideas, focus on what is really important • Make Mistakes - failing to succeed highlights gaps in understanding • Raise Questions - the right question deepens understanding and promotes connections • Follow the Flow of Ideas - look back to see where ideas came from and to the future to see where they can go. • The Quintessential Element - understanding and utilising change allows you to get the most out of anything I wrote a book based on my experiences from decades of martial and moving arts training (Karate, Aiki Jujutsu, Aikido, Bagua, Tai Chi, Qigong, Systema). What puzzled me most was not the claims that martial and moving arts were effective forms of fighting, but that they almost all claimed to have health giving properties. I like to think about things and analyse them. When I was studying my various Martial Arts, I would often ask about the rationale behind the moves and techniques that we were taught. I rarely got any answer, other than, that’s the way it’s always been done! And, when I did get answers, many of the explanations seemed barley plausible. Understanding Deeply So I delved deeper. I wanted to understand deeply. I looked at the simplest elements, looking for patterns between and within the martial and moving arts. Four key concepts provided my focus: • the first of these was the concept of Anatomy Trains. Basically, units of fundamental structure in our bodies that provide models of understanding. • the second was the guidance from one of my instructors who advised me to read about Viktor Schauberger’s discoveries around the properties of water. We are, after all, 70-80% water! • the third concept developed from the first: the use of mental or mind models to simplify one’s understanding (something that is also integral to the book, The 5th Discipline); • the fourth concept was something I just kept on hearing through-out my training. There is a ‘law of threes’. Sanmi-sangen states that there are three elements that “constitute the basis of all forms of existence”. Their depiction is of a square, a circle and a triangle. The elements of this law change, but their relative meanings are similar: o solid, liquid, gas; o past, present, future; o beauty, virtue, truth o destiny, life, mission Make Mistakes I tried various mental-models to accurately reflect the properties of Anatomy Trains and the spiralling properties of water. After numerous failures, I was able to see where the gaps were in those models and create new ones to fill those gaps. I could test any new exercise against those models to see if they fitted the model or whether the model needed to be changed. Raise Questions Once I had begun my search for the underlying principles of the health parts of the martial arts, I asked deeper questions: • what makes and keeps you healthy? • what makes and keeps you strong? • what are the underlying reasons for ill health? • why don’t people exercise? • how are these connected? • what can people do to change their status quo? Follow the Flow This aspect of effective thinking provided some useful and surprising insights. Many claims are made about the legacy and deep traditions of the Martial Arts. Yet many of them, particularly the Japanese ones, are 20th Century inventions - they are all derived from older forms of Martial Arts that were often closely held family secrets. These arts were also learned from other, older Martial Arts from other countries such as China, India and even Greece. There is an approach in the Martial Arts world suggesting that you need to get as close to the source as possible if you want to know the deeper aspects of your art. Indeed, I believe getting as close to the origins of your art is even better. Once I had looked backwards, I also looked forwards to a modern Martial Art - one that the Soviet Military regime pieced together from all of its collective know-how, Systema. I could now test my models out, not only with the old and the relatively recent arts, but also a modern one. They held! The Quintessential Element I realised that what I had uncovered could now be described by a set of models and exercises that would convey the feelings that people should get from doing the exercises. As with any development, there are natural snapshots or way-points of progress during their evolution. I wrote my book to encapsulate that first coherent snapshot. However, I fully realise that it is only the first way-point along the path and that not only I, but many others, will take that path further into the future. Change is not only inevitable: it is also advantageous. Julian is the author of The Power of Threnergy - Mindful Connectivity [...] ## Frequently Bought Together - The 5 Elements of Effective Thinking - Thinking, Fast and Slow - Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/342827845-the-5-elements-of-effective-thinking-by-edward-b-burger](https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/342827845-the-5-elements-of-effective-thinking-by-edward-b-burger) --- *Product available on Desertcart United Kingdom* *Store origin: GB* *Last updated: 2026-05-28*