A Spy's Guide to Thinking

By: John Braddock

Narrated by: Kevin Pierce

Length: 1 hr and 2 mins

Publisher's summary

"Head wounds bleed. All those vessels going to the brain. Carrying nutrients so you can think. Which I hadn't...I was stunned. But I hadn't lost yet. I still had the phone. And two options."

There are a select few people who get things done. Spies are first among them.

In this 45-minute listen, a former spy introduces two simple tools for thinking. The first describes how we think. The second helps us think ahead. They are the essential tools for getting things done.

The tools are applied to an incident in a subway car in Europe where a spy faces a new enemy. Then, they're reapplied to Saddam Hussein's stockpiling (or not) of weapons of mass destruction.

John Braddock was a case officer at the CIA. He developed, recruited and handled sources on weapons proliferation, counter-terrorism, and political-military issues. A former university research fellow, he is now a strategy consultant. He helps people and organizations think more effectively about their strategy, their customers, and their competition.

©2015 John Braddock (P)2015 John Braddock

A Smart Guide to Thinking

Would you listen to A Spy's Guide to Thinking again? Why?

I have already listened to it three times and have been taking notes. It is a good, concise, guide to proper thinking, and leads to effective actions. When you are in the fog of making a decision, this book will give you a good method to collect data, analyze that data, make decisions, and take action. In short, it is a very smart way to handle many daily personal and business situations.

What other book might you compare A Spy's Guide to Thinking to and why?

In one respect, I have to refer to Sun Tzu's, "The Art of War". In both of these books, you are given some effective ways to look at situations and develop solutions, then carry out actions. They both raise your thinking to higher levels.

Have you listened to any of Kevin Pierce’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have listened to a number of Kevin Pierce's performances and have always enjoyed them. In fact, that is the reason I opted to listen to this audiobook. Kevin has made some good choices in his narrations. I have never been disappointed.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

That is what is funny about this book. Yes, being an hour of so in length, it is easy to listen to in that time. However, there is so much information, pared down in a simple form, it is worth listening to several times.

Any additional comments?

Disclaimer: This book was gifted to me in exchange for an honest review. My first thought is that this is a very "smart" book. It is compact, and concise. John Braddock has been able to throw in a good spy story to show how to properly think in a stressful situation. The four steps are collecting data, analyzing the data, deciding on a course of action, and taking that action. Each step is important. As you get to the action part the cost of this process increases, when you take that course of action. So your decision making, based on your analysis, based on your data collection, must be good. I work as a boat captain. I collect data on the weather, and condition of the ship and crew. I analyze this information to determine the best course to take. I make a decision to take a course of action. I take that action. After taking that action, I collect more data, analyze that data, make more decisions, and take appropriate action. This thinking loop is what a captain does. So this thinking process is what I do, but did not put this into perspective until John Braddock put it into this context. The book also gets into "games", re zero sum games, positive sum games, and negative sum games. This helps to conceptualize transactions that take place between people, governments, and businesses. As I said, this is a very smart book that will give you tools for more effective thinking. At the end of this book, John mentions he will have a follow up book on Strategies. I am looking forward to reading this. If you like Sun Tzu's "The Art of War", you will like John Braddock's, "A Spy's Guide to Thinking".

Just Not Enough

This is a good listen, but there is just not enough content to make a complete statement.

There is only one example given from which to draw all of the author's conclusions. This example is broken down bit-by-bit, move-by-move, piece-by-piece - which is great! The only problem, is that this book really needed (a minimum) of about three examples to clarify and drive home the author's points.

Title is more exciting than the book

The concept is simple: collect data, analyze, decide, and take action. You could read the book in less than an hour. The concept is paired with an encounter the author has while on the subway in Europe. The encounter used for illustrating his points doesn't make a good story. Even if the life of a spy isn't as exciting as portrayed in the movies, surely the author could have found an encounter more thrilling.

Excellent short story

For now I've been listening to the self help/motivational types of books and this one was very interesting. It contained a nice blend of the author's story and through that, a small bit of new knowledge to have bouncing around in my head as I make my way through my own life. Being literally only a couple minutes over an hour means you get only one story but I am growing to appreciate these shorter books that don't contain unnecessary filler and repeated parts.

Too basic

It's just one sorry of a train situation on how to writer handled it and thought processed everything. I really gained nothing from this book. I felt everything was information most others would already incorporate into their personal situations.

very poor thinking.

the only good about this book is the title. very poor problem solution and don't waste your time

Many applications

I purchased this book because of the boyds loop break down really.
My martial arts instructor was talking about boyds loop a few months back and continues to remind me to keep it simple, reliable and adaptable. Using this mindset in other endeavors made me think deeply on how I should best proceed forward.

This book is simple, reliable and adaptable. It's not the end all be all, but definitely a tool to keep in your tool bag.

Insightful pocket book

It's a small but rich and entertaining experience. It's a very well told story, side-tracked with trivia and commentary, a lucky company for a bar table.

Quick, easy listen with good takeaway lessons

The author here aimed to impart strategy information that isn’t new, eg. Data, Analysis, Decision, Action (D-A-D-A), but wanted to impart it by applying it to the spy world. One of the best ways to learn is through example, and here an interesting example is presented (because who doesn’t like spy stories?).

If you are the type that doesn’t like stories that jump between perspectives or narratives, you should know that happens in this book. A lot. But it is essential to the point of the book. We are taken through the story of a spy who needs to evaluate the situation he is in and think ahead to make a favorable decision. The other narrative is where he tells us what his thought process is while he is in this situation, and that is where the learning kicks in. There are also some interesting aside tidbits in here, like the origins of the CIA and Saddam Hussein’s grand (or not) WMD plan. This will probably be a series of books in a ‘A Spy’s Guide to …’ format. The end of the book does mention more books expected. If they continue in the same ‘story with a lesson’ format, they should also be good.

The narration of this book was good. There isn’t a chance or need for varying accents or voices in this book, but the narrator uses a pace and tone that makes for a pleasant listening experience. Plus it helps that he has that ‘wise’ voice quality, so it sounds like what I expect someone who has a lifetime of experience would sound like.

Overall, I think with this book you are getting useful strategizing and how-to-think information in a fun and interesting way. It’s short and to the point.

I received this audiobook at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBlast dot com.

Self indulgent

Unless I'm missing something big this might be the most self explanitory and self indulgent thing I've listened to in a long time.