Edward de Bono, Granddaddy of Lateral Thinking, creator of 6 Thinking Hats
Interested in Edward de Bono? This guy has changed our understanding of the creative process.
Find out about Lateral Thinking
What are the 6 modes of creative thinking, De Bono's 6 Thinking Hats?
Listen to a cool interview from the big man.
Buy his books....
A bit about Edward de Bono's background
Before we get to the serious stuff
Edward de Bono was born in Malta in 1933. He attended St Edward's College, Malta, during World War II and then the University of Malta where he qualified in medicine. He proceeded, as a Rhodes Scholar, to Christ Church, Oxford, where he gained an honours degree in psychology and physiology and then a D.Phil in medicine. He also holds a Ph.D from Cambridge and an MD from the University of Malta. He has held appointments at the universities of Oxford, London, Cambridge and Harvard.Dr Edward de Bono is one of the very few people in history who can be said to have had a major impact on the way we think. In many ways he could be said to be the best known thinker internationally.
6 Thinking Hats
Changing the way you approach the creative process
As a result of his investigations, de Bono was able to describe a process of deliberately adopting a particular approach to a problem as an implementation of parallel thinking, as well as an aid to lateral thinking. Six different approaches are described, and each is symbolised by the act of putting on a coloured hat, either actually or imaginatively. This he suggests can be done either by individuals working alone or in groups.
The Red Hat represents Emotional thinking. The Yellow Hat represents Positive thinking. The Black Hat represents Critical thinking. The White Hat is purely the facts. The Green Hat is Creative thinking. The Blue Hat represents the Big Picture, sort of looking at it from all the viewpoints.
Find out about '6 Hat Thinking' in the book below
Six Thinking Hats
Every so often you read a book that is so obvious that you are amazed you did not see it before. For me, this is such a book. Yes, I could argue about the slow nature of the book, about the style or choice of phrase. However, the very simple idea (singular) at the core hit me like a billiard ball between the eyes at three paces.
De Bono takes the idea of thinking, and breaks it down into six different aspects, and proposes that all should be allowed at appropriate times in a meeting. The key is not that (say) raw emotion can be expressed unjustified, but that where necessary such feelings are not only encouraged, but that it is an everybody thing. Participants are allowed to express a simple yes / no to an idea with no further comments. This, by the way, is 'red hat thinking'.
Each aspect of thinking is given a colour, so participants will wear the SAME hat at the same time, to view topics from a similar perspective. There is no compelling reason to have physical hats, but presumably this may help initially. Examining each proposal in a critical way is allowed, but not all the way through any discussion - only at 'blackhat' time.
This is a short, easy-read book. It would be possible to give a summary here of the six hats, and their meanings - however, it is better to let de Bono do that. Chapters are small and bite-sized, with an introduction and summary to each coloured hat. You do not need to read the book in one sitting, but it is probably advisable to tackle the 170 pages within 2 or 3 days.
The author has written a number of other books on 'thinking', and these are referred to in the text of the volume. For me, the references were about right - neither too many (a sales pitch) or too few (not giving readers the opportunity to get further information). What did irritate me was the summary chapters for each hat, where the majority of sentences seemed to begin with e.g. "Blue hat thinking ..".
At the end de Bone gives a possible framework for using the principles within a meeting. This is helpful, and adds to the comments and examples throughout the text. The overall feel is that this is a book about thinking that is based in reality.
Amazon Price: $10.19 (as of 07/26/2008)
Creativity Tip of the day
Would de Bono be proud of you?
So how do we get more creative?One trick I have seen work time after time is to limit the amount of time for you to create. It is amazing how the creative juices flow.
This trick works well with small groups (2-6 people).
So why does limiting time work? The answer is simple; if you give yourself plenty of time, generally all your filters are in place that limit your creativity. If you limit time, the filters don't have the time to work, so you become spontaneously creative for a short period of time.
This takes a great deal of energy. This is good; you feel a huge sense of achievement at the end.
Try it. Limit time. Change the world!
Lateral Thinking
Techniques that apply lateral thinking to problems are characterized by the shifting of thinking patterns, away from entrenched or predictable thinking to new or unexpected ideas. A new idea that is the result of lateral thinking is not always a helpful one, but when a good idea is discovered in this way it is usually obvious in hindsight,
Find out more about using Lateral Thinking in De Bono's book below
Serious Creativity: Using the Power of Lateral Thinking to Create New Ideas
This book is one of it's kind. Edward De Bono believes that "Lateral thinking" can be learnt...and gives us insight into how that can be done. My experience with this book is that it cannot be read from cover to cover. Along with "Six thinking hats" this one is one of the best books into helping us in seeing the need to think differently and to actually think "laterally".
Amazon Price: (as of 07/26/2008)
Lateral Thinking: Creativity Step by Step (Perennial Library)
Amazon Price: $10.20 (as of 07/26/2008)
A Top Tip for Creativity : how do people write songs?
Well, 1 way!
Do you ever listen to a song and wonder how they came up with the lyrics? Well, one way is very simple, was used by Andy Warhol and his 'groupees' in the '60s and '70s (for example David Bowie).What you need to do is take a selection of magazines and newspapers. Cut out phrases, and put these in a 'hat'. The precut phrases are then drawn out randomly, and formed into a song...easy!!
Try this out. Maybe it works for short stories?
Other books by de Bono
He has, however, been a prolific writer, and some of his other books are shown below.
Teach Your Child How to Think
Teach you child to think give you what you need to get started, but do not expect to become a master thinker over night - or in five days. The book gives you an overview of the methods and tools and leaves the thinking to you. I hope you and your kids enjoy reading this - I am looking forward to teach my child to use the method like I have already done with myself and quite a few adults.
Amazon Price: $10.20 (as of 07/26/2008)
Creativity Workout: 62 Exercises to Unlock Your Most Creative Ideas
Amazon Price: $10.36 (as of 07/26/2008)
How to Have a Beautiful Mind
How to have a Beautiful Mind is like a Mosaic Map of his previous thinking. I found this book a very useful tool because it helps me bridge into his different thinking topics. This book sparked my interest into revisiting de Bono's earlier work for an in depth dive into the topics of Lateral thinking, Simplification, Future Positive, Parallel Thinking, and Practical Thinking.
Amazon Price: $16.95 (as of 07/26/2008)
The Six Value Medals: The Essential Tool for Success in the 21st Century
Amazon Price: $16.95 (as of 07/26/2008)
Tactics
de Bono intereviewed 50 successful persons across the world, in different areas of human endeavor (sports, business, arts...). Basically this book is a compilation of those interviews -- but, oh, what a compilation! de Bono weaves in and out of the interviews, adding his insights, isolating strands of thought, and putting them together. The result is rewarding, refreshing and thought-provoking.
de Bono's conclusion? You can not become successful by copying others. Identify your own interests and strengths. Work on those. Enjoy your work. Life will reward you.
His unique word-graphs and line drawings add more oomph to an already powerful delivery.
Amazon Price: (as of 07/26/2008)
New YouTube vids
Edward de Bono on creative thinking
Edward de Bono, renowned expert on creative thinking, talks about creativity and about thinking outside the box. Be sure to check out more from Doctor de Bono and solve his three creative challenges at www.thinkoutsidethebox.se
Runtime: 4:17
27692 views
10 Comments:
Are you a fan of Edward de Bono?
I've worked with de Bono's thinking for over 11 years, as a practionioner of creativity and innovation.
If you wish to know more about his techniques, please leave a comment.
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Professor_K
Tip for the day: Posted March 10, 2008 |
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Professor_K
Tip for the day: Posted February 20, 2008 |
