Turning Numbers into Knowledge: Mastering the Art of Problem Solving

"Although the technical aspects of this process are taught at many universities, the art of problem solving is rarely discussed and even more rarely written down," Koomey notes in the preface. His goal is to amend that lack, helping the reader "to become a first-rate analyst in your chosen field."

"Your chosen field" covers a lot of ground, and while the book delivers on Koomey's promise, much of the pleasure of reading it comes from his eccentric definition of both his topic and his audience. Not a textbook -- or not just a textbook -- "Turning Numbers into Knowledge" is aimed at students and professors alike; at problem solvers in business, government, and research; at middle managers and potential investors; and even at journalists.

Beginning with a chapter titled "Beginner's Mind" and including others titled "Question Authority" and "Reflect," one might think Koomey's book could have been named "Zen and the Art of Statistical Analysis." But it's also full of technical advice, in chapters like "Let Tables and Graphs Do the Work," "Use the Internet," and many more.

In fact Koomey has organized his topics thoughtfully, beginning with considerations of why anyone, professional or amateur, would undertake quantitative analysis. Koomey's bottom-line answer is that it helps us manage a runaway information explosion, which otherwise can lead to paralysis through overload or the opposite, a refusal to learn anything new. He then moves on to the mental preparation needed for problem solving, consideration of common pitfalls, critical thinking, and finally to nitty-gritty techniques.

In the first chapter, "Beginner's Mind," Koomey reminds the reader that "experience is a two-edged sword. It eliminates unnecessary detail," but it can also "lead you astray when a new problem is sufficiently outside your experience." What's needed, he says, is a combination of curiosity -- the nonjudgmental observation of the beginner -- with the experience of a senior analyst.

He makes his point with Bruce Lee's amusing parable of the Zen master and the Western university professor who came to inquire about Zen but never stopped talking about what he already knew. During a pause in the monologue, the master suggested tea. He poured his visitor's cup full and kept on pouring and pouring until finally the professor protested: "No more will go in!" Noting that professor's mind was like his tea cup, the master asked "How can I show you Zen unless you empty your cup?"

Later, in the chapter "Question Authority," Koomey allows that sometimes following authority is essential -- in military maneuvers, for example -- but that most life situations aren't like that. Appeals to anonymous authority are immediately suspect; so are expert pronouncements by experts in an unrelated field, or those with a vested interest in the outcome. Koomey cites the "expert" testimony of researchers funded by tobacco companies who found no evidence that smoking had adverse health effects. He warns that while information on the internet is particularly susceptible to a lack of institutional validity, "any source can propagate nonsense."

In an exercise from a subsequent chapter, "How guesses become facts," Koomey suggests that the reader "Find an official statistic that sounds plausible and explore its origins. Do you still find it plausible after you've investigated?" It's an exercise Koomey himself has undertaken more than once, notably with the 1998 claim that the internet was consuming eight percent of total U.S. electricity production and was well on its way to consuming half. Koomey discovered that the numbers were based on bad measurements, bad assumptions, and outright guesses -- none of which prevented them from becoming enshrined as fact before Koomey's team did their best to set things straight.

In summing up, Koomey lists a dozen lessons to remember, among them "Don't be intimidated," "Get organized," "Document, document, document," and "Remember that others don't care as much about your work as you do" -- an invitation to know and persuade one's audience. It's sound advice, cheerfully and colorfully delivered by a man who knows what he's talking about, and of value to all sorts of readers -- whether or not they intend to ever crunch a single number.


Tools, tricks, & tips for solving problems in the real world   September 12, 2001
Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA)
3 out of 4 found this review helpful

Jonathan Koomey is a Staff Scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, a position he has held since 1984. He got tired of explaining again and again what he describes as the "tricks of the trade" for using data and numbers to the analysts he would hire. Out of this frustration arose Turning Numbers Into Knowledge: Mastering The Art Of Problem Solving, which teaches the reader the neglected art of critical thinking. More than a mere proficiency with basic calculations, the mastery of analyzing numerically-based data requires an understanding of how people use information, the importance of ideology, the art of storytelling, and acknowledging the distinctions between facts and values. Turning Numbers Into Knowledge is the first comprehensive guide available to the general public on these and other related and essential skills. Here is a compendium of tools, tricks, and tips for solving problems in the real world, an essential ability for making independent judgements about the assertions of others by generating cogent and compelling analyses of one's own. Very highly recommended.


Turning Numbers Into Knowledge - A Great Guide for Analysts   August 8, 2001
Kayla V Roach (Washington, DC United States)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful

Turning Numbers Into Knowledge offers wise and witty advice on organizing your time/space and deciphering data in a world of information overload. Koomey offers insightful tips on thinking critically and analytically and not letting yourself be defeated by the mere presence of numbers in other people's arguements. His advice also steers you clear of the mess of misusing facts and figures. Koomey artfully instructs you on using facts wisely and displaying them clearly with will chosen examples of reworked tables and graphs. Turning Numbers Into Knowledge is a necessary guide for not just analysts, but any person who wants to learn to think more critically about facts and how they're used in popular debate.


A Clear and Concise Guide for Critical Thinkers   July 26, 2001
Richard L. Brehm (La Jolla, CA USA)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful

Dr. Koomey presents an excellent, concise, comprehensive, and extremely well written compilation of guidelines, common sense, and "rules of behavior" for analysts and anyone interested in critical thinking, performing evaluations, and/or engaged in public presentations, written or oral. In particular, this book should be a "must" read for those entering the teaching and research professions. I wish it had been available prior to my professional career.


Turning Numbers Into Knowledge   July 16, 2001
Dr. J. Richard Beer (Berkeley, CA)
10 out of 13 found this review helpful

A great book! Koomey uses quantitative data analysis only as a starting point; no in-depth knowledge of statistics is required to enjoy this book and learn from it. The main emphasis is on the art of data interpretation. Now that you have the charts, graphs, and correlation matrixes how do you draw meaningful conclusion from the numbers? While much of the process of turning data into knowledge is indeed an art, it behooves the practitioner to follow a scientific methodology in the process. This is where the book excels; it establishes a clear guideline (one could even say a methodology) for critical thinking that is applicable to every step in the process of qualitatively interpreting quantitative data. The book covers the range from raising the awareness of how personal bias and value systems might color (or even guide) the data collection and subsequent interpretation all the way to sound advice to presenting your own findings effectively and honestly. Aside from the interpretation of data the book also covers the creative process in designing experiments, building models, and the data collection process. The book is very well organized into mostly self-contained chapters that address all the major steps and issues in the process of distilling knowledge from numbers. The book is also peppered with pithy (but appropriate!) quotes from famous people that summarize the point covered. This book should be equally appealing to social scientists, engineers, and natural scientist, as well as anybody who appreciates clear thinking. After reading this book it will be much harder for anyone to "pull the wool over your eyes."