The Practical Thinker

The Story

I spent years as a Solution Architect—a title that sounds grander than it feels. It mostly meant helping people solve problems and figure out how to communicate their solutions clearly. It's genuinely good work, but the role gave me a front-row seat to two recurring patterns that never quite made sense.

First, I kept meeting brilliant people—experts in their fields—who could do incredible work but stumbled when it came time to explain it visually. They'd hand me a wall of text when a single diagram would have settled the question. Second, I noticed that smart professionals kept solving the same problems over and over, or else tackling entirely new problems the same way they'd tackled the last one. They weren't lazy or inexperienced. They just didn't have a framework for pausing and asking: "Wait, is this actually the right problem to solve? Is this approach still working?"

These two books grew from that observation. They're the books I wish someone had handed me on my first day in that job. And if I'm honest, they're books I still wish I had now.

The series is called "The Practical Thinker" because both books share a philosophy: practical over theoretical, accessible over academic, useful over impressive. They're not written for designers or professional problem-solvers (though they might enjoy them). They're written for smart people who don't consider themselves experts in those fields—which is to say, most of us.

The three purposes of visual communication — the foundation of Diagrams That Speak.

The Two Books

How They Connect

These books are designed to be read independently—you can start with whichever matches your most pressing need. But they work together in ways that make both stronger.

Each book includes "Going Deeper" sidebars that cross-reference specific chapters in the companion book. In the problem-solving book, when we talk about visualizing your thinking, we point you to techniques in the visual communication book. In the visual communication book, when we discuss choosing the right diagram, we reference the problem-solving framework that shapes which insights matter most.

Book 2's problem-solving methods become more powerful when you can visualize them. Book 1's visual communication skills become more purposeful when you know what problem you're solving. Read them separately if that works for you. Read them together if you want the full picture. Either way, they're written to support that choice.

About Drew

Drew Bruce has spent his career at the intersection of technology, communication, and problem solving. He's worked as a Solution Architect, consultant, and leader across multiple industries—always focused on the same core: helping people think clearly and communicate that thinking to others.

He believes the most valuable professional skills—clear thinking, clear communication, and the willingness to say "hang on, that's not working"—aren't taught in most classrooms or training programmes. They're learned through practice, usually the hard way, usually after you've made the mistake a few times over.

The Practical Thinker series is his attempt to change that, one reader at a time. Not by making you an expert designer or a professional problem-solver, but by handing you the practical frameworks and tools that let you do both better, starting today.