Think Like a Rocket Scientist Review

This is a book I read for work, and I read it specifically with the lens of how I might take the author’s insights and apply them to my work life. Over the years I have read a few of what I would consider “mindset” books aimed at improving business performance.

I have had mixed feelings about this genre of books. Oftentimes, the books consist of positive slogans which have been merely expanded to book length and offer little in the way of actionable advice or information.

Think Like a Rocket Scientist was a bit different. There was some inspirational storytelling based on the author’s career as a scientist who was involved in landing the Mars Rover craft on the surface of Mars and how space travel and exploration has some very specific challenges.

What was enlightening to me as someone who has worked in nonprofit communications and marketing, is that the people working in a hard science face some of the same obstacles of rigid “this is how we’ve always done it” thinking as well as subjective thinking where key stakeholders place a lot of store by what they personally like and prefer.

One quote from the book resonated strongly with me. “When your beliefs and identity are one in the same, changing your mind means changing your identity - which is why disagreements often turn into existential death matches.” (Think Like a Rocket Scientist, pg. 173)

That really struck me as it explains not only how some battles become irrational in a business setting, but also what we are experiencing in political entrenchment and irrationality.

This book is an interesting read for this genre, and while I didn’t find it necessarily practical, it did provide unique insights into ways of thinking about problems and challenges.