Agree. I think Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance encapsulates the art of troubleshooting the best. Especially the concept of "gumption traps",

"What you have to do, if you get caught in this gumption trap of value rigidity, is slow down...you're going to have to slow down anyway whether you want to or not...but slow down deliberately and go over ground that you've been over before to see if the things you thought were important were really important and to -- well -- just stare at the machine. There's nothing wrong with that. Just live with it for a while. Watch it the way you watch a line when fishing and before long, as sure as you live, you'll get a little nibble, a little fact asking in a timid, humble way if you're interested in it. That's the way the world keeps on happening. Be interested in it."

Words to live by

Yeah, it is probably what I would start with and all the messages the book is sending you will resurface in the others. You have to cultivate that debugging mind, but once it starts to grow, it can't be stopped.

i'm slogging through zen, it's a bit trite so far (opening pages). im struggling to continue. when will it stop talking about the climate and blackbirds and start saying something interesting?

Yes it starts slow, but keep at it. It starts to get interesting about halfway into the book, if I remember correctly.

One also doesn't need to enjoy something to get something very worthwhile out of it. Not apologizing for Zen, but all books have rough patches to someone.

What part of Three Body Problem has anything to do with debugging or troubleshooting or any form of planning?

Things just sort of happen with wild leaps of logic. The book is actually a fantasy book with thinnest layer of science babble on top.