Catching Up

Posted by bob on April 27, 2014

First, let me say “hello” again.  You might have noticed that I have been missing for a while.  A lot has happened since my last blog post and I will try to catch up some information here.  Likewise, I am committing to returning to a more regular schedule of new posts.

Okay, so the second edition of An Engineer’s Guide to Solving Problems is now available at Amazon and through other fine booksellers worldwide.  If you are familiar with the first edition, you might notice that we have shortened the title on the cover.  Much of the interior content is the same, with a few minor corrections plus a little bit of material from this blog.  If you already have a first edition, I don’t see any reason you need the second edition.  Just read the blog postings and you will pick up the additions for free.

Why did the title and cover change?  That is an interesting story.  Many of you had no strong opinion about the cover.  Some of you understood the message of the cover art, but more of you needed the explanation in the front matter to comprehend the message about problem-solver panic.  And some of you really, really hated the original cover and title.  There is no good reason to alienate folks, given that I want you to hear the message of the book.  If you did not like the cover or title, it was too easy to move on and ignore the content.  I hope you find the new edition better.  As always, I welcome feedback.

The second edition was actually ready for print at the end of January, but then the publisher had a few problems getting the book across the finish line.  There were some minor issues with the cover printing (certain specific presses don’t seem to work well with the strong orange color of the new cover) and some sellers struggled with the concept that a second edition book might have a shortened title.  Does the shorter title confuse you in any way?

At the end of January, I had the great pleasure to join a podcast called The Engineering Commons.  The regular hosts gave me the chance to talk about the book and about problem solving in general.  It was really a lot of fun.  I am trying to slowly catch up on their back catalog of podcasts and I highly recommend them; especially the episodes that do not include me.  Check them out at: TheEngineeringCommons.com.

The other big change for me was that in January I took a new job.  I finally have my head enough above water to take some time to start writing here again.  My new position requires some travel, so I hope that I will have the chance to hear some new debug stories to share with you here.

It is good to be back and I hope to hear from you soon.

bob