Leaders in the public and private sector are being driven to do more with less. On the surface this does not seem to be rational. Surely the best we can hope for is doing the same with less? Since its … Continue reading
De Bono Update – All governments need a minister of thinking
New Delhi: Sell them to Playboy,” said the amiable 77-year-old guru of lateral thinking, Edward de Bono, after posing for pictures against a colourful backdrop at a Gurgaon hotel recently. The veteran creative thinker (and qualified physician), who believes that “thinking” must be taught as a subject in schools, was in India and spoke about his big idea for India in this interview. Continue reading
Edward de Bono Meets Thai Prime Minister
BANGKOK, 6 March 2010 – Originator of Lateral Thinking, Edward de Bono yesterday met Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva at the Government House. He praised Thai government for the proclaimation of National Creative Economy Policy. Read more at https://www.siamdailynews.com/2010/03/08/originator-of-lateral-thinking-lauds-thailands-creative-economy-policy/
Mission Impossible?
You don’t need to look at many company websites before you realise that most organisations claim to be creative. Their bold mission statements are very clear – being ‘creative’ and ‘innovative’ is what sets them apart from their competitors. But … Continue reading
The de Bono Weekly Message – “We need to add”
Complacent, adequate, sufficient all imply that something is not wrong or bad. Our normal language and thinking behaviour does not have a convenient way of saying: “That is excellent but not enough”. Or we might need to say “That is excellent but that is only part of the picture”. Dr Edward de Bono Continue reading
Turn up the air con: this organisational ‘heat’ is stifling my thinking
On a recent business trip to Humberside I travelled from London’s Kings Cross to Hull. A train journey I have happily completed on a number of occasions. Apart from this time: the carriages were sweltering for the entire 2 hours … Continue reading
Can life really be made more ‘simple’?…
Yesterday in Central London, 24 delegates at Indigo’s Simplicity™ workshop were finding out. Dr Edward de Bono’s workshop follows the success of his globally-renowned Simplicity book, and helps people recognise the value and need for simplicity, teaching a range of … Continue reading
ROI with ROEye
Clients are telling us that Return On Investment (ROI) is the primary consideration when making any strategic decision. And rightly so in these turbulent times. Whether in the private, public or charitable sector competition is fierce. Each pound spent needs … Continue reading
The de Bono Weekly Message – A Different Sort of Logic!
Our habits of thinking are too much judgement based and not enough design based. This arises from the origin with the GG3 (Greek Gang of Three). When this thinking came into Europe at the Renaissance, the Church ran schools, universities and thinking in general. What the Church needed was truth, logic and argument to prove heretics wrong. So we developed an excellent thinking system for ‘finding the truth’ but we never developed thinking ‘for creating value (design)’. Continue reading
The de Bono Weekly Message – Out of the Box!
The brain is designed to allow incoming information to form itself into routine patterns. Without this life would be impossible. With eleven items of clothing to put on in the morning, it would take seventy six years to go through … Continue reading
The de Bono Weekly Message – Difficult Times / Problem Solving
There is a difference between difficult times and a problem. With difficult times the universe of action is changed. All logics are only relevant in their particular universe – just as the universe of a patterning system is different from … Continue reading
The de Bono Weekly Message – Creative Challenge
Here is a creative Challenge for you. Most existing sports have been around a long time. The Challenge is to invent a new sport. There are the following requirements: Must look good on television. There must be build up and … Continue reading
Edward de Bono & Garrison doctor attend Lords event
Garrison doctor Patrick Treacy was at the House of Lords in London recently to participate in a pioneering humanitarian event. Dr. Treacy joined Dr Edward de Bono who headed up the event which saw the beginning of a ‘Thinking Evolution’ … Continue reading
The de Bono Weekly Message – Football
I once suggested a change to the rules of soccer. When there is a draw then extra time is played. If there is still a draw then there is a penalty shoot-out. This introduces an element of luck. In addition … Continue reading
The de Bono Weekly Message – Positive News Agency
The media, and especially the press, are usually full of negative news: murders, attacks, economic failures etc. It may be that experience has indeed shown that negative matters are of more interest to readers. Even if this is so, I … Continue reading
The Edward de Bono Weekly Message – Economic Crisis
The current economic crisis requires some new thinking. It will not get that. There will be a lot of analysis and references to the 1930 crisis. The methods for influencing the local economy are very limited. There are interest rate … Continue reading
The de Bono Weekly Message – About Education – EBNE
Education is all about knowledge and analysis. There is a complete lack of ‘operacy’ and design. Operacy covers the skill of doing and making things happen. Design is putting together what you have to deliver the values you want. Our … Continue reading
The de Bono Weekly Message – Two Functions of an Organisation
There are at least two key functions in any organisation. The first function is continuity. This means keeping things going as they are going. That includes solving the problems that arise and interfere with the continuity. Most executives see … Continue reading
The de Bono Weekly Message – Computer Analysis
There is a growing tendency for corporations to feed all available data into a computer. The computer analyses the data and this shapes the strategy of the corporation and makes decisions. This is a dangerous tendency because thinking is locked … Continue reading
The de Bono Weekly Message – Creativity
As I have mentioned so often the word ‘creativity’ in English is too broad and ranges from creating a mess to painting a masterpiece. The emphasis is on ‘bringing something about’. At the same time repetition does not qualify. … Continue reading
The de Bono Weekly Message – Property Market
When the property market is falling buyers tend to wait until it falls further. Why buy now when you can get a lower price in a few months’ time? So the market falls further because some people need to sell … Continue reading
The de Bono Weekly Message – Credit Crunch
You may trust a person’s honesty – but can you trust that person’s intelligence? This may have some relevance to the current credit crunch or banking crisis. We can pick out at least five factors contributing to the problem and … Continue reading
The de Bono Weekly Message – Six Frames For Looking At Information
My most recent book is “Six Frames for looking at information” (Ebury Press, part of Random House). We are surrounded by ever more information. How do we look at information? It is like being thrown into a swimming pool of … Continue reading
The de Bono Weekly Message – EU Year of Creativity
“I understand the year 2009 has been announced as the EU Year of Creativity. I hope this is going to include creative thinking and not just the arts. I have offered to give a free seminar in Brussels to EU personnel … Continue reading
De Bono Weekly Message – Thinking through a problem
Because we often consider ‘thinking’ to be problem solving we do not think much about matters which are not problems. If there is a wide open road ahead of us we do not stop to consider the side roads. This … Continue reading
De Bono Weekly Message – Youth Gangs
I have recently had serious meetings both in London and Johannesburg with people concerned with youth crime. There are two things which everyone needs. They are ‘significance’ and ‘achievement’. In today’s world the only way a youngster can get these … Continue reading
De Bono Weekly Message – Creative Task
If you spend a lot of time thinking about things in a creative way then the time is not wasted even if specific ideas are not used. You build up in your mind a reservoir of concepts and possibilities that … Continue reading
De Bono Weekly Message – Information
Many corporations believe that it is enough to collect all data on their computers and then to analyse this data. This sets strategies and makes decisions. The process can be very competent and relieves executives of these complex tasks. But … Continue reading
Tough times call for a creative approach…
Globally the financial markets are in freefall. The sub-prime crisis has hit banks now, and is threatening to affect many other industries and sectors over the coming months. I friend of mine working in an investment bank, with the absence … Continue reading
Are you Crazytive?!
Dr de Bono calls the process by which most companies try to be creative ‘crazytivity’. This is unstructured, ‘brainstorming’ that tends to happen in away days in forests to try to come up with solutions with no structured creative techniques!
Edward de Bono in Bahrain – Maximising Creativity and Lateral Thinking to Deliver Strategic Success.
Bahrain-based Addax Bank has been announced as the headline sponsor of the one-day Edward de Bono conference in the Kingdom on June 1. De Bono will appear live and in person to present Maximising Creativity and Lateral Thinking to Deliver … Continue reading
