Review of "Critical Thinking for Go-Getters" by Jack Wolf

Score: 95+/100 (9.5+ out of 10)

Want to make better decisions for yourself, your family, and your business?
Want to learn the ins and outs of decision making at both the micro and macro levels?
Ready to unlock the power of your mind and start thinking like a strategist, innovator, and leader—all at once?

Well, look no further than Critical Thinking for Go Getters by Jack Wolf, already one of the best non-fiction books of the year!

This book overlaps into the areas and fields of sociology, business, economics, communication, psychology, self-help, personal growth, and education—bridging how individuals think, how organizations make decisions, how biases shape society, and how critical thinking can be taught, scaled, and applied in real-world scenarios.

So, this is really a hodge podge of useful knowledge based on evidence, case studies, and real-world insights. This is the kind of thing we love to see in non-fiction books!

In fact, it almost seems overly clean and perfect, sometimes even to a robotic degree. If there's one thing about this book that held it back slightly, it's that we've read and seen books like this before—books with almost the same information, evidence, and statistics.

The content is similar to what we read in Leadership Anatomy by Satpreet Singh, From Purpose to Profit by Erin Andrea Craske, The Passionate Workforce by Nicholas Capman, and Purposeful Performance by Jonathan Stanley.

Now, that's not entirely surprising because generally-accepted information is, well, widely-accepted and presented. When you open a book on physics, you expect the formulas and information to be consistent and generally the same. When you open a psychology book, you expect to read the same things about Freud, Lacan, Skinner, Piaget, Pavlov, and Maslow. That’s the nature of foundational knowledge—it's meant to be consistent. But in fields like personal development, leadership, and critical thinking, what separates a standout book from the pack isn’t just the accuracy of the content—it’s the voice, originality, application, and emotional resonance.

And while Critical Thinking for Go-Getters is polished, well-organized, and full of sound advice, it occasionally leans too heavily on familiar ground. Much of its content overlaps with what we’ve seen in Thinking in Systems by Donella Meadows, Start With Why by Simon Sinek, and The 5 Elements of Effective Thinking by Edward B. Burger and Michael Starbird. That’s not a flaw in itself—but it does raise the bar for how such information needs to be delivered: with fresh angles, bold storytelling, or highly personalized frameworks.

Without that added spark, even the most valuable content can begin to feel like deja vu, and this really reads like deja vu.

But let's look on the bright side... again, to reiterate: the information in here is great and supported by evidence and case studies.

Let's look at some of it.

A huge bit of trivia from this book—really the crux of this book—is that human beings are reported to make 33,000 to 35,000 decisions a day!

Do you press Snooze or Stop? Do you drink coffee, water, or tea? How long do you spend in the shower? Should you eat cereal or eggs for breakfast? Decision after decision after decision. Our lives are built with decisions.

To use a chess analogy: wouldn't you want to make the next best move?

The book discusses SWOT analysis as a practical tool for breaking down complex problems into four key areas: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. It emphasizes the importance of assessing both internal and external factors to gain a clearer perspective on challenges and possible solutions. A compelling example is Home Depot’s use of SWOT analysis to navigate a competitive market. By identifying its strong brand recognition and supplier relationships as strengths, while acknowledging limited global reach and imitability as weaknesses, the company was able to strategically pursue global expansion and service diversification. This real-world case illustrates how structured self-assessment can guide meaningful business decisions.

SWOT is one of those familiar concepts found in almost every business book, but this was a great refresher (and reminder). For us, it was a kick in the butt to think about things we could be doing better as a business, especially in regard to competitors and opportunities.

Hey, Brandon Sanderson was here using the same couch, table, and trash can as us. That was an opportunity we missed because our focus was too narrow. We had tunnel vision on the previous contest. So, when one of the most famous authors in the world was ten feet away on the opposite side of a wooden door, we were staring at our screens instead, completely oblivious to who was on the other side.

It's one thing to be in the zone. It's another thing to have such tunnel vision that you miss opportunities like that. Perhaps we should've done a SWOT analysis of who was going to be using the building.

Design thinking is another topic in this book. Design thinking is presented as a practical, human-centered framework that thrives on experimentation. Rather than seeking perfect solutions upfront, it encourages trialing multiple small-scale prototypes to see what actually works in real life. This iterative process helps reduce the fear of failure by reframing it as feedback. The book emphasizes that design thinking is especially useful for emotionally complex or people-focused problems—where intuition alone isn’t enough. By testing ideas and learning from real responses, readers are empowered to move forward with solutions that are not only creative, but genuinely effective and adaptable.

To put this simply, you learn from thinking—successes and failures. Sometimes you triumph, sometimes you fall on your face and look silly. But learn from those times you fall, and try not to fall so hard that you irreparably break something.

Speaking of being willing to fall and look silly, this book makes a very interesting suggestion about brainstorming: thinking backwards and asking yourself how you could hypothetically cause a problem or even make it worse! At first, this may seem counterproductive or even absurd, but it’s actually a powerful tool for uncovering blind spots and vulnerabilities. By deliberately imagining how things could go wrong, you’re able to identify potential pitfalls, weak links, and hidden risks that a traditional brainstorming session might overlook. It also loosens up the creative process, freeing you from the pressure of generating “good” ideas and allowing more authentic insight to emerge. It’s a bold, slightly mischievous method—but one that can lead to more grounded, resilient solutions.

It's also a bit of an icebreaker, in a sense. People are often afraid of sharing ideas, especially if they think their ideas might be bad or that they will be laughed or scoffed at. Well, when people are asked to come up with bad ideas, it really opens the door to people who might be shy, afraid, or apprehensive.

This book also devotes substantial attention to the hidden forces that influence our thinking, particularly cognitive biases and heuristics. The book explains how these mental shortcuts—though sometimes useful—can distort perception, cloud judgment, and lead to poor decisions. It emphasizes that becoming aware of these ingrained tendencies is the first step to overcoming them. From confirmation bias to the halo effect, the book breaks down how our brains often favor comfort, familiarity, or emotion over logic and evidence.

One striking example the book explores is normalcy bias, illustrated through the tragic inaction during Hurricane Katrina. Despite repeated warnings, many residents failed to evacuate because they couldn’t accept that their reality was about to be upended—demonstrating how the human mind defaults to what feels "normal," even in the face of danger. The book also dives into the Dunning-Kruger effect, a bias where those with the least knowledge often display the most confidence. It serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of overestimating our abilities, and it encourages readers to replace pride with curiosity. By surfacing these biases and explaining them in relatable terms, the book empowers readers to make more thoughtful, grounded decisions in every aspect of life.

One of the most engaging concepts in this book is the "Six Thinking Hats" method—a creative framework that encourages you to approach problems from multiple angles. Each "hat" represents a different mindset, such as optimism, emotion, logic, or creativity. Notably, the Judge’s Hat stands in stark contrast to the Optimist’s Hat and the Factual Hat. While optimism encourages a hopeful outlook and the factual hat centers on evidence, the judge takes a critical stance, scrutinizing risks, weaknesses, and potential downsides. This balance of perspectives ensures that decision-making isn’t just hopeful or data-driven—but also grounded in realism and caution.

The book also explores how our thinking can become distorted by filter bubbles, particularly in the digital age. Social media platforms and local forums—like the Nextdoor app—can trap us in echo chambers where we’re only exposed to information that confirms our existing beliefs. While these tools can foster community or connection, they can also limit perspective, reinforce biases, and amplify fear. For example, the book discusses how something like a fear of flying—an irrational but common anxiety—can be shaped and reinforced by selective exposure to emotional stories or dramatic headlines, rather than actual data or facts.

On a brighter note, the book celebrates the unpredictable, messy side of creative problem-solving. It shares how Pixar’s early brainstorming sessions for Monsters Inc., A Bug’s Life, and Wall-E famously began on napkins—literally sketching wild ideas without fear of judgment. This leads into a broader point: creativity often flourishes in imperfect, playful, or even backward environments. Whether you're solving business problems or dreaming up stories, embracing messiness and asking silly questions (like how to make a problem worse) can unlock the most unexpected and brilliant ideas.

Check it out on Amazon!