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Edward de Bono - Six figures of thought summary

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Edward de Bono is a leading figure in the field of creative thinking and a person who teaches thinking as a science. Thousands of people create software for computers, and Edward de Bono for the human brain.

From the understanding that the human brain functions as a self-organizing information system, he developed the concept and tools of "lateral thinking". In addition, he is the inventor of "parallel thinking" and the "Six Thinking Hats" method. His thinking and perception tools - CoRT and DATT - are widely used in business.

Many leading corporations, including IBM, Microsoft, Prudental, BT (Britain), NTT (Japan), Nokia (Finland) and Siemens (Germany), took advantage of Edward de Bono's instructions on constructive thinking. National team Australia's cricket team, using this technique, has become the most successful team in history.

A group of scientists from South Africa, Dr. de Bono was included in the list of 250 people who have had the greatest impact on humanity. The largest Australian business magazine included him in the list of "twenty living visionaries". A leading consulting firm, de Bono has been recognized as one of the 50 most influential contemporary thinkers.

Foreword ................................................................ ......................6

Introduction ................................................ ...................................9

1. Purpose. Shape: Triangle..............................................13

2. Accuracy. Shape: circle ............................................... ......37

3. Point of view. Shape: square......................................49

4. Interest. Shape: heart ............................................... ...67

5. Value. Figure: diamond .......................................... 81

6. Result. Shape: Rectangle..............................97

Conclusion................................................. .........................106

"Paste of Truth".................................................................. ...................107

Attention is an important component of human thinking. But, unfortunately, we do not often think about it. We perceive attention already as an end fact. Attention is most often drawn to something unusual. If you see someone lying on the road, your attention will be on him. If you see a funny bright pink dog, it will attract your attention and awaken sympathy. This is the weakness of our attention. It is chained to something unusual. But how much attention do we pay to familiar things?

Perception is another component of our thinking. Research by David Perkins at Harvard showed that 90% of thinking errors were the result of perceptual errors. Not a single logical chain can be built without errors in the perception of a particular person. Gödel's theorem shows that, in fact, no such chain can be evidence of the main position of the philosopher, since it is based on personal perception. In turn, attention is a component of perception. Without focusing on the subject, we see only its familiar sides.

TO ATTRACT ATTENTION

Can you control your attention? We don't have to wait for something unusual to wake up our attention, we can concentrate it in a certain way with the help of a figure, or a frame, or a frame.

Just as we can look towards the south or towards the north, we can direct our attention through the figure we have chosen. This is what this book is about. The six figures are the six windows through which one can look. Then we evaluate what we see, and the assessment directly depends on the window through which we looked.

In this context, we can see everything the way we want. We look through the window of value. Or a window of interest. Or a window of precision. Each of the six frames serves to attract attention.

PILE OF INFORMATION

We are surrounded by information from all sides. And there is nothing easier than finding it (for example, on the Internet). But information in itself is not valuable. What matters is how we isolate the information that is really important to us. How to "get" the most valuable of all that is presented to us? This is what you need to pay attention to.

The Six Thinking Figures method offers a way to isolate exactly what is needed from the flow of information. Therefore, the six figures themselves are no less important than the information received.

The proposed method is very easy. But for effective use it is necessary to weigh everything and discipline yourself. You need to believe that familiar things will be perceived better if you are in the mood for it.

The main enemy of right thinking is confusion.

Unfortunately, the more active a person's brain is, the more likely they are to get confused. The goal of all sound thinking is clarity of perception. But clarity is useless if it comes at the cost of omitting generalities. Being aware of one small "component" of the situation is not good, even dangerous. A compromise must be found between clarity and comprehensiveness.

The main reason for confusion is the desire to do everything at once. When we try to do everything at the same time, some of it works out well, and some of it we barely get started (the popular book The Six Thinking Hats deals with this problem). In general, if we try to do everything at the same time, then each case will end for us on a negative and critical wave (and, unfortunately, this approach is used most often). But if a full and comprehensive study of the subject and constructive communication is necessary, for example at important economic meetings, the use of the proposed Six Thinking Figures method guarantees the possibility of this.

We live in the information age. We are constantly bombarded with different information, and we ourselves have easy access to it (and even much easier than necessary). How do we respond to information?

For example, if you have a specific question that needs an answer, you go to the right place and get it. So, the flight number of an airplane departing after six in the evening from London to Paris can be checked at the airport by looking at the schedule, or asked from the tour operator. But still, what you are thinking about is the choice of flight and airport (traffic jams to Heathrow Airport at this time are too long).

If we dealt only with the information we need, life would be simpler, but more boring and limited. But we react to information coming from everywhere: from television, radio, newspapers, magazines and other media. How do we react to it?

There are many criteria for evaluating information - accuracy, bias, interest, relevance, value. It is possible to evaluate all these aspects at the same time. But you can also separate them - in order to avoid confusion and to make sure that all possible aspects of information that are valuable to us are open. This is what the Six Thinking Figures method teaches. We sequentially study aspects of information: how accurate it is, how biased it is, etc. This sequence is described in this book.

You can get into the habit of using shapes. You can learn to focus on different shapes. You can use a specific shape

at the same time as someone else: “Try looking at this through a square frame. What do you see?" Shapes can be used in discussions, and at some point you will notice that everyone is looking through the same frame.

For example, you ask someone to go out into the garden and then name the colors that are found there. It is easier for a person to remember the main ones: red - in roses, yellow - in daffodils, etc. Many people will not even pay attention to the less noticeable ones. But if you ask the same person to go out into the garden to find blue, red, yellow colors, attention will be more acute.

When you have all forms of thinking, your brain is prepared, "sharpened" to highlight different aspects. You can pay attention to the accuracy of information; you can pay attention to the point of view of the author, expressed in the information; You can pay attention to whether it is interesting. Each figure prepares the brain to evaluate information on different criteria. We all see what we are ready to see.

The six figures described in this book represent easy way perception and processing of information.

When using the Six Thinking Figures, you will get an unexpected result. It may seem that the proposed method complicates and prolongs discussions, but in fact, its use reduces the time of meetings by a quarter, or even a third. In addition, the "Six Figures of Thinking" greatly simplifies the processing of information, and does not complicate it at all. Sequential execution is easier than one in which a person tries to do everything at once and inevitably wonders if he forgot something important.

As you read the chapters of this book, do not lose sight of already familiar figures, this will be the start for information processing. We will suggest that you focus on one frame instead of another. Subsequently, this will become your conscious choice.

So, highlighting various ways analyzing information and displaying them in the form of symbols, we took the process of thinking under control. Now you can direct your attention consciously, without being distracted by things from the outside.

The perception of information is the most main part thinking. How to do it is very important.

E. de Bono. Six figures of thought.

St. Petersburg: Piter, 2010. - 112 p., ill. - (Series "Your own psychologist").

ISBN 978-5-49807-396-5

Edward de Bono is a well-known specialist in the field of cognitive psychology, doctor of medicine and philosophy, lecturer at Oxford, London, Cambridge and Harvard universities. He has been called "the father of thinking about thinking". He has written over 70 books translated into 40 languages. De Bono's methods are taught in thousands of schools and are required courses in many countries. The thinking tools developed by the scientist are used by IBM, Apple Computers, Nokia, Bank of America, Procter & Gamble and many others.

This book will help anyone and everyone cope with information overload. Filtering, correctly evaluating and assimilating the necessary information is what is necessary and important in the 21st century. Six frames, six shapes - like six unique tools for working with information. Short, specific and very effective!

BBK 88.351 UDC 159.955

Publishing rights obtained by agreement with Ebury Press.

in any form without the written permission of the copyright holders.

ISBN 978-0-09-192419-5 (eng.) © Translation into Russian by Leader LLC, 2010

ISBN 978-5-49807-396-5 © Russian edition, design

Six figures of thought - read online for free full version (full text)

GOAL. Shape: triangle

Triangles have three vertices. A horizontally elongated triangle can represent an arrow pointing in a particular direction. This direction is the goal. With the help of a triangular frame, we strive for a result in the search for information.

We are constantly surrounded by information. More often than not, we don't even need an informative target. But sometimes we care about ourselves final goal search. And it is very useful to have a clear idea about this goal.

OBSERVATION

You walk down the street towards the supermarket to buy yourself something for breakfast. This is your clear goal. And then you notice the emblem, which was hung upside down. She gets your attention. And you wonder: is this a consequence of negligence or a good way to make you notice the emblem? - after all, you really paid attention to her.

You notice a shop window displaying clothes exclusively purple. It caught your attention, just like the designers intended.

Something grabs our attention, we look, we notice it.

We can wait until our attention is attracted or attracted to something, but we can control our attention ourselves. And the second option, not so difficult: you can independently direct attention and at the same time be open to notice something bright.

Attention control is what we do with our will. Direct your attention as if you were directing a spotlight on something.

On the way to the supermarket, you can set a goal - to notice what color small shops are painted. But is there any logic in this? Maybe all tobacco shops are the same color? Maybe it's the color that draws attention? Or just an artistic decision of each individual shop owner? What color attracts the most attention? Or perhaps there are colors that contribute to a better memorization of information?

Or you can focus your attention on the shoes of passers-by. Is it possible to walk all day in these seemingly very comfortable shoes? Do shoes indicate the possible status and income of the wearer? You can pay attention to whether the shoes are polished or not. Does such a small thing affect the overall perception of a person?

As soon as you decide to focus your attention on something, you immediately begin to ask different questions and immerse yourself in thoughts. Thus, you are looking for some generalizations. And you can look for and vice versa - exceptions to these rules.

When and what you want to pay attention to is up to you. But you need to be able to clearly and clearly tell yourself what you would like to pay attention to. If you are able to choose an object for attention yourself, then you take from the outside world exactly the information that interests you, and not that which was specially prepared and provided to you.

TIME PASSING AND DISTRACTION

Often we take in information to pass the time or distract ourselves from something. For example, we read newspapers at breakfast because we eat alone or because we do not want to enter into a dialogue with anyone.

Or reading newspapers while waiting in the doctor's waiting room. Simply because there is nothing else to do. We read magazines while flying. Again, because there is nothing else to do. We watch TV in the evenings simply because we don't want to do anything at all.

AWARENESS

Even if you perceive information as entertainment or as a way to kill time for you, you will still agree that this is an exercise in exploring the world around you. You watch TV or read newspapers to find out what's going on. Knowledge allows you to take part in conversations or discussions, to act as their initiator.

For example, you are traveling, but information has reached you that on the day of your arrival at the airport there will be a strike of employees. By the way, this happened to me once. In the same way, you can find out that the country you would like to visit or have already planned to visit is in political turmoil.

In general, observing the general situation in the world is a part of our life. Because we need it. But, unfortunately, you can spend a huge amount of time searching for the information you need, because the information flow surrounding us from all sides is truly huge. Who knows, what if some TV program on this topic or an article in a newspaper called "What you need to know this week" will help in your search.

As a result, we spend many hours every week searching for the necessary information that is personally useful to us, and also learn about what is happening around us in general.

INTEREST

You must be interested in what you read. For example, you might be interested in a story about a man who was so fat that workers had to be called in and part of the wall of his house had to be torn down to get him outside. Or you might be interested in the story of a woman who wanted to divorce her husband because he was actually only sixty-five years old, not ninety-five, as he claimed.

Such interest is due to the fact that, having learned the beginning of a story, one always wants to know how it will end - this is an interest caused by natural curiosity.

GENERAL INTEREST

But there is a so-called general interest, and it has nothing to do with your personal interest. For example, one of the articles you read claims that one in four women in the world is beaten by her husband. Did you know about it? And in Russia, husbands and cohabitants allegedly kill 85,000 women every year. Of course, you may doubt it.

Or another example: maybe you are wondering that in Australia there are frogs that "eat" their own eggs, and already in their mouth they develop frogs.

SPECIFIC INTEREST

If you are in the economic sector, you are most likely interested in the securities market. And surely you are interested in the opinions of authoritative experts and politicians about the present and future of the economy.

If you watch your health, you will be interested in even a little information on this topic. So, the Finns claim that drinking a lot of coffee leads to the early onset of arthritis. And in another report, you can find information that excessive consumption of tea increases the risk of developing Alzheimer's by forty-five percent. But to believe or not to believe such information is up to you.

If you are interested in cars, then you will be interested to know that the Indian company Tata has introduced new model which costs only two thousand dollars. Or your interest will be attracted by a new hydrogen-powered hybrid car.

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Without out-of-the-box thinking and new concepts, moving forward is impossible.

Edward de Bono

The prerequisite for the emergence of the method was the belief that human thinking in the process of life gradually becomes one-sided, acquires stereotypes. This is due to many factors: cultural and social environment, religion, education, instilled ideas about logic, morality, etc. In addition, thought processes are also associated with the mood of the person himself, his emotions, intuition.

Based on all of the above, E. de Bono proposed 6 ways that can disrupt the state of thinking and decision-making that is habitual for the brain. They are based on the consideration of any problem from different angles. It would seem, what could be easier? But here is just the first fly in the ointment - these ways of organizing thinking, "hats", are not natural. The technique first needs to be learned and only having received the necessary experience, “try on” for yourself.

The 6 hats method is a psychological role-playing game. A hat of a certain color means a separate mode of thinking, and by putting it on, a person turns on this mode. This is necessary to form a holistic opinion about the problem, since, as mentioned above, we most often think about it, which does not contribute to the completeness of the picture. Also, the de Bono technique allows you to resolve work confrontations and disputes. The ability to look at the subject of discussion from different angles is the key to success. The technique itself requires focusing on various aspects, which means it develops. As a conclusion, we emphasize that, globally, six hats can be applied in any field related to mental work.

How to use the tool

E. de Bono, speaking about the practice of applying his method, notes the following. Decisions are born out of controversy, and in it the opinion that is more successfully defended, and not the one that takes into account the interests of the entire team or possible advantages, often wins. Based on this observation, the author of the technique proposed a significantly different approach - parallel thinking, where six hats are a tool to achieve it. The bottom line is that the problem should be considered not in the struggle of arguments and ideas, but in their unity. In other words, the technique implies choosing the best not by clashing ideas in order to choose the most powerful and viable, but their parallel peaceful coexistence, in which they are evaluated sequentially, independently of each other.

Figuratively, the application of the technique of six hats can be represented as a drawing with multi-colored pencils. A colorful picture is obtained only when you use the entire gamut of colors. So in the case of the de Bono method - a complete vision of the situation comes after all six hats have been put on in turn:

white hat. When trying on this headgear, we focus on the data at our disposal. We are trying to understand what information is missing, where to find it, how to use it already known facts and conclusions to solve the problem.

The white hat is, in fact, a retrospective method of cognition that is used to identify cause-and-effect relationships and patterns in the development of phenomena.

red hat. Putting it on, we turn on intuition and feelings. What is your inner voice telling you? Intuitive guesses and sensations at this stage are very important, because they allow you to judge emotional background and attitude to the problem through the prism of human feelings. If the discussion is collective, it is important to try to understand the answers of other people, the driving forces and background of the solutions they proposed. To do this, everyone needs to be truthful and sincere, not to hide their real feelings and experiences.

Black hat. In it you have to be a pessimist, but with a healthy dose of criticism. The proposed solutions to the problem are evaluated for possible risks in the future, further development of difficult and unforeseen situations. Try to find weaknesses in each idea and pay attention to them. The black hat should be used primarily by those who have already achieved success and are used to thinking positively, because it is often such people who tend to underestimate the expected difficulties.

yellow hat. It is the opposite of black and implies an optimistic, positive outlook on the problem. Highlight strengths and benefits of each solution. This is especially important if all options seem rather gloomy.

green hat responsible for creativity, the search for unusual ideas and extraordinary views. No assessments of previously proposed solutions, only their further development by any available means (, and other activation tools).

blue hat not directly related to decision making. It is put on by the leader - the one who sets goals at the beginning and sums up the work at the end. He manages the whole process - gives the floor to everyone, monitors compliance with the subject.

More details about each hat and related actions and rules.

Examples of using the six hats method

How does the technique work? Let's look at an example with a simulated situation taken from one English-language forum.

Some construction company planned to build a new office building, but was not sure of the eventual success. They decided to hold a meeting on this subject, resorting to the method of six thinking hats. While trying on the white hat, the participants analyzed the state of the market, studied reports and economic forecasts, as a result of which they established a downward trend in the number of vacancies. office space and an increase in the number of companies interested in leasing.

At the same time, some of the participants, wearing a red hat, expressed misgivings about the proposed design of the building, considering it ugly and questioning bold predictions about the relevance of demand. With a black hat, the company representatives considered the likely risks if economic growth forecasts do not materialize and a cyclical downturn sets in. Possible losses from the situation were calculated if part of the premises remains unrented.

However, wearing the yellow hat, the participants came to the conclusion that the possibility negative consequences minimal, since forecasts are confirmed by real macroeconomic indicators, and the design of the building can be changed to make it more attractive to potential clients. When working with the green hat, suggestions and ideas were collected about architectural details, it was decided to make several floors with increased comfort and service forVIP-companies. Throughout the discussion, the chairman with the blue hat kept an eye out for criticism of ideas and switching between hats.

This is how the algorithm works with this technique. There are more specific examples: in particular, the six-hat method was successfully applied by the Australian brand of swimwear and sports accessories "Speedo" to solve the problem of protruding parts of swimsuits, which reduced the speed of the swimmer.

Edward De Bono's system of thought created in the second half of the twentieth century and contains revolutionary views on structure thinking, as well as opportunities to improve its effectiveness, the development of human creativity. The system includes scientific, educational and applied aspects.

Edward De Bono famous psychologist and writer, an expert in creative thinking. De Bono was born in 1933 in Malta. The creator of the system of creative thinking studied medicine, psychology, physiology in the course of his studies and work at Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard universities, etc.

Among the most famous De Bono's works water logic", "Lateral thinking", "Teach yourself to think", "The birth of a new idea", "Serious creative thinking", "Six Thinking Hats", "I'm right - you're wrong".

In 1969 it was published key book by Edward de Bono, Mind mechanism", in which he proposed a new approach to assessing perception, based on the model self-organizing information structures. One of the world's leading physicists, Nobel laureate Murray Gell-Mann, said that this book was a decade ahead of the work on the theory of chaos, nonlinear and self-organizing systems.

Based on this approach, Edward de Bono created the concept lateral thinking and practical methods its application. Traditional thinking is associated with analysis, judgment and discussion as the leading evaluative mechanism. In a stable world, this was enough, because by identifying typical situations, it was possible to develop for them standard solutions. However, in today's fast changing world, there is a great need for new thinking - creative, constructive that allows you to create new ideas and ways of development. The techniques proposed by Edward de Bono are precisely the tools for such new thinking.

These techniques are actively used in business and have been implemented in largest international corporations - IBM, Du Pont, Prudential, AT&T, British Airways, British Coal, NTT, Ericsson, Total, Siemens. thousands schools around the world use de Bono's teaching programs (in the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Great Britain, China, India, South Korea and other countries).

De Bono states that education is still focused on loading the student with the maximum amount of knowledge and facts, but does not teach him to think. More precisely, it teaches one-sided thinking, paying attention mainly to critical thinking. Critical thinking necessary, but, not owning other tools, a person falls into a trap, he is not able to objectively consider all aspects of the problem, generate new ideas, and focus on the practical result of thinking.

De Bono noted the importance of the process of perception in thinking. At school, people are used to abstracting from perception - they receive tasks with a ready input information. But life is not like that. Here the solution of the problem depends entirely on the initial perception of the problem. This observation is especially valuable in interpersonal relationships. In most cases, each of the participants in the discussion is right, but based on his own perception, which is based on his principles, values, upbringing, knowledge, etc. Given this, the focus should not be on persuading the opponent, but on effective interaction that allows developing creative proposals that satisfy the true interests of the parties.

De Bono notes that the still widespread orientation exclusively to the logical principles proposed by the ancient Greek philosophers is not able to effectively solve problems. contemporary issues. In contrast, he offers his own - water logic (instead of the traditional stone one). For example, according to accepted logic, a statement can be either true or false. And the water logic is more flexible - the glass may not be completely filled with water - "it is half full, and it is half empty." It is important that water logic has a serious practical use. De Bono believes that she is the future. He rightly notes that the dominance of stone logic led to the flourishing of science and technology, but did not advance human relations at all - until now, conflicts are resolved through force due to the inability to agree, to look at the problem more broadly.

Consider one of the simplest and most effective methods of thinking proposed by De Bono − six hats. The advantage of this method is that it can be used for both group, so with individual thinking, and you can learn it in just half an hour. It is no secret that a person, thinking about any problem, tries to "embrace the immense" - at the same time looking for new ideas, analyzes their logic, tries to abstract from emotions, draws conclusions, etc. It turns out chaos from which it is very difficult to extract something truly valuable. De Bono singled out six main types thinking, each of which he designated with a hat of a certain color. He suggested using these types sequentially in the process of thinking - by analogy with taking off and putting on hats. The description of each hat illustrates it. functionality:

Red Hat. Emotions. Intuition, feelings and forebodings. Feelings do not need to be justified. What are my feelings about this?

Yellow Hat. Advantages. Why is it worth doing? What are the benefits? Why can it be done? Why would it work?

Black hat. Caution. Judgment. Grade. Is it true? Will it work? What are the disadvantages? What is wrong here?

Green Hat. Creation. Various ideas. New ideas. Offers. What are some of possible solutions and action? What are the alternatives?

White Hat. Information. Questions. What information do we have? What information do we need?

Blue Hat. Organization of thought. Thinking about thinking. What have we achieved? What needs to be done next?

In group work, the most common model is to determine the sequence of hats at the beginning of the session. The sequence is determined based on the problem being solved. Then the session begins, during which all participants simultaneously "put on hats" one colors, according to a certain sequence, and work in the corresponding mode. The moderator stays under the blue hat and oversees the process. Session results are summarized under the blue hat.

Advantages of the method Six hats (to find them you need to use the Yellow Hat):

Usually mental work is boring and abstract. Six Hats allows you to make it a colorful and fun way to control your thinking;

Colored hats are a catchy metaphor that is easy to teach and easy to apply;

The six hats method can be used at any level of complexity, from kindergartens to boardrooms;

By structuring work and eliminating fruitless discussions, thinking becomes more focused, constructive and productive;

The hat metaphor is a kind of role-playing language, in which it is easy to discuss and switch thinking, distracting from personal preferences and without offending anyone;

The method avoids confusion, since only one type of thinking is used by the whole group in a certain period of time;

The method recognizes the importance of all components of the work on the project - emotions, facts, criticism, new ideas, and includes them in the work at the right time, avoiding destructive factors.

Of course, like any technique, Edward De Bono's system of thinking takes time and patience to master: it is necessary to form the habit of thinking by the rules. But in return, the practitioner will receive:

increasing the efficiency of your thinking and, as a result, the decisions you make;
enjoyment of the thought process.

For development of creative thinking I De Bono advises:

Get away from clichés and established thought patterns;
Doubt what is allowed;
Generalize alternatives;
Grab new ideas and see what happens;
Find new entry points to push off from.

If our business is in a hat,

If our body is in a hat,

Even if thoughts are in a hat,

So, the hat is the whole point!

Remember Antoine de Saint-Exupéry: as a child, he painted a huge boa constrictor that swallowed an elephant and rested peacefully after such a hearty dinner? The boy showed his drawing to each new acquaintance, both adults and children, in order to find among them a person who could understand him, a kindred soul.

He did not succeed in finding such a person among adults. And this is not surprising. Although very sad.

The boa constrictor drawn by Saint-Exupery, in the womb of which the "eaten" elephant was peacefully resting, outwardly very much resembled a hat lying on the table, which led adults to incorrect conclusions.

This image of a hat, which is actually not a hat at all, but something under which elephants lurk and in general the most amazing things happen that remain invisible to others, haunted me throughout the entire period of work on Edward de Bono's book The Six Thinking Hats.

These hats, huge as cupboards, and completely invisible to anyone but ourselves, reminded me of a solid shell, inside which, in the recesses of our consciousness, our thoughts-judgments-beliefs boil-boil. I see how this or that “thinking” hat covers each of us entirely, turning into a new person, with new character traits and a new perception of the environment.

I don’t know to what extent I managed to convey my figurative impressions to you, but there is no doubt that the book will do it incomparably better than me and leave a mark on your mind for a long time. She really deserves to try on the thought-hats she offers to each of us.

A. Zakharchenko

Born in Malta, Edward de Bono began his education at St. Edward's College, continued at the Royal University of Malta, and completed it brilliantly as a Nominal Scholar at Oxford University, from which he graduated summa cum laude in psychology and physiology with an honorary degree doctor of medical sciences. He now also holds a PhD from the University of Cambridge and regularly receives invitations to lecture at the Universities of Oxford, London and Harvard.

Dr. Edward de Bono is widely recognized as a leading authority on the development of practical thinking skills. He introduced the concept of “lateral thinking” into science, which was later included in the Oxford Dictionary of Modern English, and developed a system of scientific methods for developing human abilities for active creative search – “balanced thinking,” as he called it.

He has written forty-five books, translated into twenty-seven languages, and made two scientific films for television programs. He lectured in forty-five countries around the world and spoke at major international symposiums, and in 1989 he was invited to take the chair of the Committee of Laureates. Nobel Prize. Leading industrial corporations, such as IBM, NTT (Japan), Du Pont, Prudential, Shell, Eriksson, McKinseys, Ciba-Geigy, Ford and many others, addressed the methodology he developed for the development of balanced thinking.

Dr. de Bono is currently leading the implementation of an extensive special curriculum that he has developed for general education educational institutions and designed to promote the development of creative thinking skills in children. This program has long been recognized in official circles and has found the widest application in many countries of the world.

Dr. de Bono is the founder of the Institute for Research on Creativity and Cognition (began in 1969) and the International Forum of Creative Workers, bringing together representatives of many professions and leaders of leading enterprises in the world industry. In addition, he founded the International Community of Creative Workers in New York to help UN member countries develop new ideas.

The next work of Dr. de Bono brought to your attention is based on the fact that consciousness is, first of all, a system of self-organizing information.

In the world of hats - in the stream of thoughts

Is it possible to improve the efficiency of your thinking?

In January 1985, The Times magazine named Peter Ueberrouth the Person of the Year, thanks to whom the Los Angeles Olympics were a huge success. As a rule, holding events of this magnitude costs hundreds of millions of dollars for their organizers. But the Los Angeles Municipal Foundation did not have to "spend money" at all on their organization. On the contrary, the Olympics-84 brought the city more than 250 million dollars in net profit! The extraordinary success of the Olympic Games depended in large part on the new concepts and creative ideas brilliantly put into practice by Peter Uberrouth.

How was it possible to achieve this amazing result? How should such issues be approached?

In an interview with The Washington Post on September 30, 1984, Peter Ueberrouth admitted that he used lateral thinking when developing a new approach to solving a problem.

There are hundreds of other examples that demonstrate the effectiveness of the method of balanced thinking. I would not like to waste time on their detailed consideration. I see my task not in this at all. My task is to develop such methods and offer them to the attention of my future followers. And it is up to people like Mr. Uberroute to master them and choose their area of application. They join the ranks of talented entrepreneurs, providing the method of balanced thinking with the widest distribution.

In ability think the basis human activity. Regardless of whether this ability is well or poorly developed in each of us, we all regularly experience dissatisfaction with the results we have achieved in this area. Probably, this is a common property of a person of a normal level of development: whatever he is, he always wants to become even better. As a rule, only people who are completely satisfied with their thinking abilities are convinced that the purpose of thinking is to prove their own innocence, which gives them another reason to amuse their pride. If we are inclined to believe that the possibilities of thinking are only limited to this, then we simply console ourselves with illusions about our superiority in this area. We are sincerely mistaken, and nothing more. The boundaries of the purpose of this "gift of evolution" extend much wider, and understanding this circumstance is one of the mandatory tasks of every person.

The main difficulty associated with the process of thinking lies in overcoming the disorderly, spontaneous flow of our thoughts. We try to cover with our thoughts at the same time a lot, if not all, - we try to “embrace the immensity”. Every minute doubts and worries, logical constructions and creative ideas, plans for the future and memories of the past are crowded in our minds. It is as difficult for us to navigate in this whirlwind of jumping thoughts as it is for a circus performer to juggle with multi-colored balls and hoops flashing before his eyes. But you can learn both.

People's lives are permeated with communication: conversations, meetings, discussions, letters, telephone conversations. Even our thoughts are often in the form of a dialogue. Discussing this or that issue, striving to come to a certain decision, conclusion, opinion, we habitually give various arguments, defending our point of view, arguing, proving our case.

One often wonders: why do people understand each other so poorly? We talk about facts, and in response we hear an unreasonable outburst of emotions, or we are bombarded with a stream of arguments where everything seems to be so clear and there is nothing to talk about. As a result, time is lost, relationships are broken, important points in the discussion are missed, and the optimal decision is not made.

Is it possible to optimize and structure communication in a group, in a team, between individuals? Is it possible to communicate without “bumping foreheads”, without arguing to the point of hoarseness in anticipation of the birth of truth, but to think in unison, consistently moving from one aspect of the problem under discussion to another?

Efficient Thinking

Ability to think creatively, think outside the box, use effectively thinking skill is the key to success in all areas of life, and one of the most important components of business. You can compete endlessly in the areas of price and quality, but these are the standard approaches available and used by your competitors. Only a company that is dynamic, flexible, ready to accept risks and uncertainties, and quickly respond to changing environmental conditions can survive and be successful in the face of fierce competition, oversaturation and hyper-fragmentation of markets. Effective thinking is the key resource that is used when other options have been exhausted or do not lead to the desired result.

And we are not talking about the development of some irrational mystical gift, special inspiration or insight. It is about making the most of the resources available to each employee of the company. thinking resources . And this can be learned. After all thinking is a skill , tools for the development and practical application of which are available to everyone. It is these tools, which allow using the possibilities of thinking to the fullest, that the participants of exclusive training seminars master Schools of Effective Thinking by Edward de Bono.

Method "CoRT »
(a fragment dedicated to this method is taken from the blog www.kolesnik.ru)

Today I'm going to talk about CoRT, the first half of the Edward de Bono Thinking course I took in October at Oxford.
CORT is basic course de Bono on teaching thinking skills. (Think about these words. The very idea that you can seriously teach someone to think at first seems absurd.) Who is Edward de Bono, in a nutshell (see his biography below). Let me just say that this is a man of incredible productivity, capable of writing such a book as Lateral thinking, in an airplane during a flight from one country to another.

They say that a separate subject for teaching thinking is not needed, because thinking is already part of the process of studying any subject. (It would be more honest to say a by-product of this process). However, in reality, with traditional learning, only thinking of a certain type is in demand - analytical, critical, ordering. Other types of thinking, such as creative thinking, remain behind the scenes. (More on this in my post on education by Charles Handy.) Besides, thinking is too often replaced by knowledge : why think when you can just remember the right answer?

Created by Edward de Bono in the mid-1970s and now included in the curricula of thousands of educational institutions around the world, CoRT aims to fill these gaps in the traditional education system. Unlike the study of the content of our thinking, which is devoted to ordinary subjects, CoRT, like de Bono's subsequent courses, focuses on the process of thinking . Edward emphasizes that the mind (it is no coincidence that in Russian this word has the same root as skill), unlike natural mental abilities, can be developed. The power of the car is determined by the engine, but how it will drive depends entirely on the driver. Similar intelligence is the potential of thinking, but you need to be able to use it . CoRT is designed to teach this skill.

One of the differences of the de Bono system is well expressed by the slogan train, not teach. Precisely because everyone can think, the teacher ceases to be an inaccessible bearer of knowledge that the student does not possess. His role is not to “broadcast”, but to train.
Last but not least, de Bono's training helps develop self-respect, confidence in one's ability to think and solve problems on one's own. In our era of ever more rapid and inconsistent change, the importance of this factor cannot be overestimated.

The essence of the CoRT method- in that attention is consciously directed to various aspects of thinking . These aspects are crystallized into specific tools, which are then applied in practice. As a result, the student develops the appropriate thinking skills, and the tools fade into the background over time.

For example, an open approach to evaluating an idea, involving consideration of all its aspects, crystallizes in a tool called PMI (Plus Minus Interesting). Applying PMI, the student seeks to see both the pros and cons, and the interesting aspects of the idea. It is not easy to teach an open approach in general (what is succinctly and untranslatably called open mind in English). Making a PMI is very easy.

All CoRT tools are associated with one or another practical side of thinking. Most of them have short abbreviations (PMI, CAF, AGO, C&S, etc.). They may sound a little artificial, but this artificiality is deliberately introduced: the phrase "evaluate the idea in terms of its positive, negative, and interesting properties" is too vague to work. The tool should have a clear, simple, and unique name.

Consciously determine the structure of your thinking does not mean reducing your freedom. Edward makes a very important distinction between the two types of structures. The first includes structures that prohibit or restrict something. To the second - structures that make life easier (hammer, cup, wheel, alphabet) and which we can use at our discretion. In fact, such structures not only do not limit a person, but in one way or another create him.

Why CoRT Works
Back in the late 60s Edward de Bono drew attention to the first stage of the thought process - the stage of perception, which precedes the second stage - the stage of "information processing" - and essentially determines it . Humanity has developed many excellent techniques for working with the second stage, but they can only be applied when we (most often unconsciously) have already decided how we will look at the situation, that is, we have accepted what we saw in it.

All the novelty and effectiveness of de Bono's approach originates in understanding what happens at the stage of perception . Traditionally (and this is reflected in the computer device) we considered memory as a storage of information, to which something is attached that uses this memory(warehouse and storekeeper, hard drive and processor). However, in his basic book The Mechanism of Mind, Edward convincingly showed that this was not the case. Information organizes itself in perception , creating special structures - patterns. As an example of a pattern as a unit of a memory device, Edward cites a plate of gelatin, on which spoon after spoon is poured hot water. Water from the first spoon forms a depression. Water from the second partly flows into this recess and makes it even deeper. Continuing on in the same way, after a while we will see something like a channel with a main depression formed in the place where the first spoon was poured. Information organized itself and contains instructions for self-decryption .

Working with perception, we significantly expand the possibilities of our thinking, because we can consciously generate points of view and choose perspectives . It is a constructive and creative dimension of forward thinking.

CoRT Thinking Lessons
The CoRT lessons are a kind of framework that allows you to focus on one aspect of your thinking at a time, instead of trying to generally “think better” or delve into discussions.
The course consists of six parts of ten lessons each: Breadth, Organization, Interaction, Creativity, Information & Feeling, Action. The fundamental parts are Breadth and Creativity. Each lesson is devoted to the practice of one tool of thinking. The explanation takes literally a few minutes, because all the tools are very simple; the rest of the time is devoted to practice.
Interestingly, some English teachers teach the language using CoRT. Instead of taking various topics as working material (tourism, everyday life, weather, history, etc.), they study CoRT with the appropriate selection of tasks, thanks to which students get the opportunity to think and speak in a foreign language, practicing not only descriptive side of the language, but also its mental and communicative aspects, which is much more effective.

In general, the scope of de Bono's methods is extremely wide. . Now, for example, an adaptation of CoRT is being created to work with drug addicts. Due to his incredible productivity, which I already mentioned, Edward is constantly creating new techniques and their variations. An online course, Effective thinking, has recently been launched, using CoRT tools. For organizations, there is a new Simplicity course. There is a course on lateral thinking and a course on DATT (Direct Attention Thinking Tools, also based on CoRT). And, of course, the famous Six Hats.

Course "Lateral Thinking"

Traditional approaches, template solutions, knurled paths - is it good or bad?
In fact, it's good - because the habitual type of thinking gives us the opportunity, without hesitation, to do many things, not to waste time on automatically worked out actions.
And, in fact, it’s bad - because, being the only possible way of thinking, the standard approach deprives us of a lot of alternatives, fresh ideas, breakthroughs, discoveries, opportunities for development and change.
A few years ago, the winner on the Russian market was the one who possessed either large material (finance, equipment, access to cheap raw materials) or administrative resources. Today, the situation is changing dramatically, and the human resource and its ability to implement innovations, quickly respond to changing environmental conditions, determine the concept and strategy for further development come to the fore.

The human resource requires development, and, above all, the development of its most demanded skill - thinking. No, we are not talking about adding another hundred or two grams to the existing brain mass. We are talking about the most effective use of those mental possibilities that a given individual has.
Often we struggle to solve a problem for a long time, wait for inspiration, create special conditions for ourselves, switch, in the hope that insight will suddenly descend on us. And when a solution is found, we are amazed at its simplicity and obviousness. “Why did we have to spend so much time and effort to see what lies on the surface? Could this decision have been reached in some other way? Can. This is what lateral thinking tools are for.
The term "lateral thinking" (or "lateral thinking"), once coined by Edward de Bono, has now become an integral part of the English language.

Six Hats of Thinking Course

The Six Thinking Hats is probably one of the most popular thinking methods developed by Edward de Bono. This method allows you to structure and make much more effective any mental work, both personal and collective.
Legends are usually made up around the history of the creation of original techniques. The Six Hats of Thinking method also has it. Its author is Edward de Bono was born in Malta. He grew up a modest boy, not distinguished by good health and strength, and his playmates usually ignored his suggestions. Edward was very upset and wanted all his ideas to be listened to, and it would never come to arguments and fights. But when there are many opinions, and the arguing are in different weight categories (for children, the one who is stronger is usually right, and for adults, the one who is higher in rank), it is difficult to find such a way of discussion in which all proposals will be heard, and the decision of all satisfies. Edward de Bono started looking for such a universal algorithm. When he matured, he came up with an original method to increase the efficiency of the thought process.

What usually goes on in a person's head when he thinks? Thoughts swarm, huddle together, one idea contradicts another, and so on. De Bono decided to divide all these processes into six types. In his opinion, any problem necessarily causes a surge of emotions in a person, makes him collect facts, look for solutions, and also analyze the positive and negative consequences of each of these decisions. Another type of thinking is related to the ordering of ideas. If the chaos that reigns in the head is put in order, put the thoughts on the shelves and make them flow in a strict sequence, then the search for a solution will become faster and more productive. The de Bono technique allows you to consistently “turn on” different types of thinking , which means it puts an end to disputes until you turn blue.

To make the technique better remembered, a vivid image was needed. Edward de Bono decided to associate mindsets with colored hats. The fact is that in English a hat is usually associated with a type of activity - the hat of a conductor, a policeman, etc. The phrase "to wear someone's hat" means to engage in a specific activity. A person, mentally putting on a hat of a certain color, chooses at the moment the type of thinking that is associated with it.

The Six Hats technique is versatile - for example, it is used in meetings to structure group work and save time. It also applies individually, because heated debates go on in the head of each person. In fact, it can be used to structure any creative process where it is important to separate logic from emotions and come up with new original ideas.

How it works, or full-color thinking in six colors

The Six Hats is based on the idea of parallel thinking. Traditional thinking is based on controversy, discussion and clash of opinions. However, this approach often wins not the best solution, but the one that was more successfully promoted in the discussion. Parallel Thinking is constructive thinking various points visions and approaches do not collide, but coexist.

Usually, when we try to think about solving a practical problem, we run into several difficulties.
First, we often do not tend to think of a solution at all, instead confining ourselves to an emotional reaction that predetermines our future behavior.
Secondly, we experience insecurity, not knowing where to start and what to do.
Thirdly, we try to simultaneously keep in mind all the information relevant to the task, be logical, make sure our interlocutors are logical, be creative, be constructive, and so on, and all this usually causes nothing but confusion and confusion.

The six hats method is a simple and practical way to overcome these difficulties by dividing the thought process into six different modes , each represented by a hat of a different color.
In full-color printing, colored plates are rolled in turn, overlapping each other, and at the output we get a color image. The six hats method suggests doing the same for our thinking. Instead of thinking about everything at the same time, we can learn to operate on different aspects of our thinking in turn. At the end of the work, all these aspects will be brought together and we will get "full-color thinking".

The white hat is used to draw attention to information. In this mode of thinking, we are only interested in the facts. We ask questions about what we already know, what other information we need, and how we can get it.
If a leader asks his subordinates to put on their white hat- this means that he expects complete impartiality and objectivity from them, calls for laying out only bare facts and figures, as a computer or a witness does in court. At first, this way of thinking is difficult to get used to, because you need to clear your statements of any emotions and light judgments. "Four of our partners refused to take our products." “Competitors have reduced prices by 20%, and we do not have the necessary margin of safety for this”

The black hat allows you to give free rein to critical assessments, fears and caution. It protects us from reckless and thoughtless actions, indicates possible risks and pitfalls. The benefits of such thinking are undeniable, unless, of course, they are abused.
Thinking in black hat designed to represent everything in a black light. Here you need to see flaws in everything, question words and numbers, look for weaknesses and find fault with everything.
“Does it make sense to release a new model if the old one doesn’t work well for us?” “To me, these figures seem overly optimistic and inconsistent with the state of affairs. If we rely on them, we will fail.” The "mission" of the black hat is to map as many risk areas as possible.

The yellow hat requires us to turn our attention to looking for the merits, advantages, and positives of the idea in question.
yellow hat- the antagonist of black, it allows you to see the benefits and dignity. Mentally putting on a yellow hat, a person turns into an optimist, looking for positive prospects, but he must justify his vision (by the way, as in the case of a black hat).
"It is unlikely that he will come, but still we must invite him to the opening of our exhibition." "We will be able to implement this project because we have enough funds and we have the ability to provide marketing support." But at the same time, the thought process in the yellow hat is not directly related to creativity. All changes, innovations, consideration of alternatives take place in a green hat.

Under the green hat, we come up with new ideas, modify existing ones, look for alternatives, explore possibilities, in general, give creativity a green light.
green hat is the creative search hat. If we have analyzed the merits and demerits, we can put on this hat and think about what new approaches are possible in the current situation. In a green hat, it makes sense to use lateral thinking methods.
Head of International Projects at MTI Svetlana Pylaeva:“Tools of lateral thinking allow you to avoid formulaic approaches, take a fresh look at the situation, and offer many unexpected ideas.”
“Suppose we make hamburgers square. And what can it give us? “I had an offer to work on Saturdays, and make Wednesday or Thursday a day off. Could you put on your green hat and contemplate what that prospect might lead to?

In red hat mode, session participants have the opportunity to express their feelings and intuitions about the issue at hand, without going into explanations about why this is so, who is to blame and what to do.
red hat worn infrequently and for a short enough period of time (maximum 30 seconds) for the group to express their emotions. The facilitator periodically gives the audience the opportunity to let off steam: "Put on your red hat and tell me what you think of my proposal." Unlike, say, a black and yellow hat, you don’t need to justify your emotions in any way.
"I don't want to know how prepared this candidate is, I just don't like him."

The blue hat differs from the other hats in that it is designed not to work with the content of the task, but to manage the process of work itself. In particular, it is used at the beginning of the session to determine what needs to be done, and at the end to summarize what has been achieved and identify new goals.
blue hat controls the process of thinking, thanks to it all the actions of the participants in the meeting tend to a single goal. For this, there is a leader or leader of the meeting, he wears a blue hat all the time. Like a conductor, he directs the orchestra, gives commands to put on this or that hat. “I don't like your approach to business. Put aside your black hat for a while and put on a green one."

How does this happen

In group work, the most common model is to determine the sequence of hats at the beginning of the session. Regarding the sequence in which to change hats during the meeting, there are no clear recommendations - everything is determined specific situation based on the task at hand.
Then the session begins, during which all participants simultaneously “put on hats” of the same color, according to a certain sequence, and work in the appropriate mode. The moderator stays under the blue hat and oversees the process. Session results are summarized under the blue hat.

Svetlana Pylaeva: “The main rule during the discussion is not to wear two hats at the same time and control yourself all the time. For example, at the moment of putting on a green hat, one must be clearly aware that specific solutions are being sought. You can’t delve into their shortcomings - for this there will be a time for a black hat. In addition, some managers who have not fully understood this technology, force one participant to wear the same hat all the time during the meeting. This is wrong, hats of different colors should be worn in turn, unless the leader may prefer his blue hat to everyone else.

Hat changing rules

The most commonly used option is the following.
The facilitator briefly introduces the concept of hats to the audience and points out the problem. For example, something like this: “The department has had its budget cut. What to do?". It is advisable to start a discussion in a white hat, that is, it is necessary to collect and consider all the available facts (the department does not fulfill the plan, employees cannot boast of diligence, etc.). The original data is then viewed from a negative perspective - with a black hat, of course. After that, it is the turn of the yellow hat, and positive aspects are found in the discovered facts.

Once the problem has been looked at from all angles and material has been collected for analysis, it's time to put on the green hat to generate ideas that can amplify the positive points and neutralize the negative ones. The leader, mentally sitting in a blue hat, carefully controls the process - whether the group has deviated from the given topic, whether the participants are walking in two hats at the same time, and also periodically allows them to let off steam in the red hat. New ideas are again analyzed in a black and yellow hat. At the end, the discussion is summed up. Thus, the streams of thought do not intersect and become entangled like a ball of wool.

“Kozma Prutkov said that a specialist is like a flux - his fullness is one-sided. This statement perfectly illustrates the "Six hats of thinking" method, - says Alexander Obrezkov. - The disadvantage of a specialist is that he usually wears a certain hat, and at the meeting these "fluxes" interfere with each other. And the de Bono method allows you to focus the discussion in the right direction.” For example, "neutralize" a person who is naturally prone to excessive criticism. Having mastered the concept of hats, he will not indiscriminately kill ideas with his remarks, because he knows that in twenty minutes it will be his turn to put on black hats, and he will save his ardor.

“The allegory with hats has another very important advantage: the technique allows you to avoid becoming personal,” Mr. Obrezkov continues. “Instead of the usual “What are you yelling about and criticizing everything?” the employee will hear a neutral but equally effective phrase: “Take off your red hat and put on a green one.”
This will relieve tension and avoid unnecessary negative emotions. In addition, at meetings, usually someone is silent, but the technology, when everyone wears a hat of the same color at the same time, forces everyone to express their opinions.

According to experts, the Six Thinking Hats technique helps to make the meeting several times more effective. Unlike other concepts of group work, de Bono's method is so imaginative that it is well remembered, and its main ideas can be stated in half an hour. All other systems require a trained moderator, and during the meeting, he alone knows what he is doing, and those whom he manages, in fact, turn into blind performers and do not understand what is happening. True, the Six Hats method still requires skill development and control from the blue hat - the leader.

Advantages

Here are some of the benefits of the method found by Edward de Bono during his time under the yellow hat.

Usually mental work is boring and abstract. Six Hats allows you to make it a colorful and fun way to control your thinking.

Colored hats are a catchy metaphor that is easy to teach and easy to apply.

The six hats method can be used at any level of complexity, from kindergartens to boardrooms.

By structuring work and eliminating fruitless discussions, thinking becomes more focused, constructive, and productive.

The hat metaphor is a kind of role-playing language, in which it is easy to discuss and switch thinking, distracting from personal preferences and not offending anyone.

The method avoids confusion, since only one type of thinking is used by the whole group at a certain period of time.

Some studies give reason to believe that in different modes of brain functioning (criticism, emotions, creativity), its biochemical balance is different. If so, then some sort of six-hat system is essential, as there can be no one “biochemical recipe” for optimal thinking.

As already mentioned, the "Six Hats" can be used for any mental work in a variety of areas and on the most different levels. On a personal level, it can be, for example, important letters, articles, plans, problem solving. In solo work - planning, evaluating something, designing, creating ideas. In group work - holding meetings, again assessment and planning, conflict resolution, training. For example, IBM used the six hats method in 1990 as part of a training program for 40,000 of its managers around the world.

EDWARD DE BONO

Edward de Bono was born in Malta in 1933. During the Second World War, he studied at St. Edward's College (Malta), after which he began to study medicine at the University of Malta. He was awarded the prestigious Rhodes Scholar, allowing him to continue his education at Christ Church College, Oxford University, where he received honorary degrees in psychology and physiology, as well as a doctorate in medicine. He received another doctorate from the University of Cambridge and a doctorate in clinical medicine from the University of Malta. At various times, Edward de Bono held faculty positions at Oxford, Cambridge, the University of London and Harvard.

Dr. Edward de Bono is one of the very few people in history who can be said to have greatly influenced the way we think. There are many reasons to call him the most internationally known thinker.

· Dr. de Bono has written many books. His books have been translated into 34 languages (all major languages plus Hebrew, Arabic, Bahasa, Urdu, Slovenian, Turkish).

· He was invited to give lectures in 52 countries of the world.

· At the University of Buenos Aires, five departments use his books as part of their required course. In Singapore, his work is used in 102 secondary schools. In Malaysia, his work has been used to teach in science schools for 10 years. Thousands of schools in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Republic of Ireland and the UK use Dr. de Bono's Thinking Education Programs.

· At the International Conference on Thinking in Boston (1992) he was presented with an award as the person who first developed methods of direct teaching of thinking in schools.

· In 1988 he was awarded the first Capira Prize in Madrid for his significant contribution to the heritage of mankind.

· Dr. de Bono is distinguished by the fact that his work resonates with a wide variety of people.

· At the special invitation of the delegates, Dr. de Bono delivered an address to the Commonwealth Legal Conference (former British colonies) in August 1996 in Vancouver (2,300 high-class lawyers, judges, etc. from 52 members of the Commonwealth, as well as other invited countries such as China). His speech at the previous Conference in Auckland was noted as one of its highlights.

· Dr. de Bono has worked with many of the largest corporations around the world, such as IBM, Du Pont, Prudential, AT&T, British Airways, British Coal, NTT (Japan), Ericsson (Sweden), Total (France), etc. . In Europe's largest corporation, Siemens (370,000 employees), his methods are taught to employees at all levels, as a result of a conversation between Dr. de Bono and a senior management board. When Microsoft company held its first marketing conference, Dr. de Bono was invited to give a plenary talk to five hundred senior managers.

· A special contribution of Dr. de Bono is that he managed to put such a mysterious area as creativity on a solid basis. He showed that creativity is one of the necessary characteristics of self-organizing information systems. His seminal book, The Principle of Mind Action, was published in 1969. It showed how the neural networks of the brain form asymmetrical patterns that form the basis of perception. One of the world's leading physicists, Professor Murray Gell-Mann, said that this book was ten years ahead of the fields of mathematics related to the theory of chaos, nonlinear and self-organizing systems.

· On this basis, Edward de Bono developed the concept and tools of lateral thinking. It is worth noting that his results were not buried in academic texts, he made them practical and accessible to everyone, from five-year-olds to adults. A few years ago, Lord Montbatten invited Dr. de Bono to speak to all of his admirals. Dr. de Bono was invited to speak at the very first Pentagon conference on creativity. At the UN Social Meeting in Copenhagen, he was asked to address the banking and finance group.

· The term "lateral thinking" (or "lateral thinking"), once coined by Edward de Bono, has now become part of the English language to such an extent that it can be heard both in physics lectures and on TV comedy.

· Traditional thinking is associated with analysis, judgments and disputes. In a stable world, this was enough, since standard situations could be identified and standard solutions applied to them. This is no longer the case in a rapidly changing world where standard solutions may not be adequate.

· All over the world there is a great need for creative, constructive thinking, which allows creating new ways of development. Many of the world's problems cannot be solved by identifying the cause and eliminating it. There is a need to create a development path even when the cause remains in place.

· Edward de Bono created the methods and tools for this new thinking. He is the undisputed world leader in what may be the most important field of the future: the field of constructive and creative thinking.

· In 1996, the European Association for Creativity polled its members across Europe, trying to find out who influenced them the most. The name of Dr. de Bono was mentioned so much more often than other names that the Association asked the official naming committee of the International Astronomical Union (in Massachusetts) to name one of the planets after him. Thus the planet DE73 became EdeBono.

· In 1995, the Government of Malta awarded Edward de Bono the Order of Merit. This is one of the highest awards, which is awarded to no more than 20 living people at the same time.

· For many thousands, and even millions, of people around the world, the name of Edward de Bono has become a symbol of creativity and new thinking.

· In December 1996, the Edward de Bono Foundation in Dublin, with the support of the European Union, held a conference on "teaching thinking in schools".

· In 1972 Edward de Bono founded the Cognitive Research Trust, a charitable organization dedicated to teaching thinking in schools (CoRT Thinking Lessons).

· Edward de Bono was the founder of the International Creative Forum, whose members were many of the world's leading corporations: IBM, Du Pont, Prudential, Nestle, British Airways, Alcoa, CSR, etc.

· The International Bureau of Creativity in New York, whose task is to work with the UN and UN member countries to find new ideas in international relations, - was also organized by Dr. de Bono.

Peter Ubberoth, whose organization Olympic Games 1984 in Los Angeles saved the Games from oblivion, considered this success the result of his use of de Bono's lateral thinking. The same can be said for John Bertrand, skipper of the 1983 American Cup regatta-winning yacht. Ron Barbaro, president of the Prudential Insurance Company (USA), also credited his invention of the Lifetime Benefit with the use of de Bono's methods.

Perhaps one of the unique features of Edward de Bono's work is its wide range: from teaching five-year-olds to preparatory groups kindergartens to working with the leaders of the largest corporations in the world. His work also covers many cultures: Europe, Northern and South America, Russia, Middle East, Africa, Southeast Asia, Japan, Korea, Australia, New Zealand etc.

· In September 1996, the de Bono Institute, the worldwide center for new thinking, began its work in Melbourne. The Adryus Foundation donated $8.5 million to this cause.

· In 1997, Dr. de Bono was invited as one of the keynote speakers at the first environmental conference in Beijing.

Some of Edward de Bono's recent projects

Edward de Bono is the ultimate itinerant teacher! Almost every week he travels from one part of the world to another, holding meetings with government leaders, educators, business leaders and business people. The following are some of his key projects to give us a sense of the universality of what Dr. de Bono is trying to convey to us: Thinking can and must be taught if we are to meet the needs of a fast-paced and ever-changing world.

· Invited to Moscow by the Academy of Sciences to train teachers through an educational project: ten schools in Moscow are used as laboratories for developing advanced teaching methods. In addition, working with an interpreter, Dr. de Bono gave CoRT Thinking lessons to students aged 7 to 17 at school N 57, one of the best schools in Moscow.

· Met with the Minister of Education of Kuwait at a special meeting of 500 education workers. The Institute for Educational Research of this country is interested in organizing a pilot program using CoRT Mind Lessons.

· Addressed PACRIM, the economic council of influential businessmen and government members of the Pacific Rim.

· Came to Minneapolis to speak before the US Education Commission on direct teaching of thinking in schools. Conducted several trainings for teachers in Minnesota.

· Had a conversation with the Research Council, a group of information managers from the world's top 500 companies, at their meeting in Newport Beach, California.

· Visited Northern Virginia Community University where Liz Grizzard, Dean of Learning Life Development, hosted introductory course in thinking skills.

· Invited to speak at INSEAD, one of Europe's leading business schools, on the occasion of its 25th anniversary.

· Organized a meeting of corporate leaders from the US, Japan, New Zealand and the UK to establish an ad hoc working group. Senior executives from Xerox, Digital, McDonnell Douglas, and Hewlett Packard have joined Dr. de Bono in exploring new strategies to enable us to consciously plan for our future.

· Made a plenary presentation at the Eighth World Conference on Gifted and Talented Children in Sydney, Australia.

· Made a presentation to the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) on the topic "New program: learn to think - think to learn. New strategies effective communication". The report explored theoretical basis teaching thinking, as well as the methods by which thinking skills are currently taught and their relationship to current research in the cognitive sciences.

Awards

· In January 1995, Dr. de Bono was awarded the National Order of Merit by the President of Malta, the highest award, the owners of which can be no more than 20 people living at the same time. Dr. de Bono was born and began his education in Malta.

· In July 1994 he was awarded the Prize of the Pioneer in the field of Thinking at the International Conference on Thinking, held at MIT (Boston, USA).

· In 1992, he was the first person to receive the European Kapira Prize for Excellence.

· Three Nobel laureates have written forewords to Edward de Bono's book "I'm Right, You're Wrong".

· A recent study by the European Creative Association showed that 40% of its members believe that Dr. de Bono has had the most significant impact on the field of creativity. In terms of his performance, he was far ahead of other applicants.

· The US Defense University asked Dr. de Bono to open his very first art symposium by telephone from Helsinki, where he was at the time.

· In 1990, Dr. de Bono was invited to preside over a meeting of Nobel laureates from all over the world. The meeting took place in Korea.

What the world says about Dr. de Bono's work...

· "We at DuPont have amassed many good examples of our technical staff successfully applying Dr. de Bono's lateral thinking methods to solving difficult problems." -David Tanner, PhD, DuPont CTO.

"Given the complexity and rapid pace modern life we must recommend the de Bono course as part of the must-have program for the entire human race." - Alex Kroll, Chairman and President, Yong & Rubican.

· "It is difficult for anyone to fully appreciate the work and experience of Edward de Bono. His views on thinking and the creative process are compelling and thorough" - Jeremy Bullmore, chairman of J. Walter Thompson.

· "Dr. de Bono's course is a quick and enjoyable way to develop your thinking skills. After taking it, you will find that you instinctively apply new skills in your approach to situations."

· "De Bono's work is perhaps the best thing happening in the world today" - George Gallop, founder of the Institute of Public Opinion.

· "I without a doubt know Dr. de Bono and am an admirer of his work. We all live in an information economy, where our results are a direct consequence of what we have in mind" - John Skulley, chairman and president of Apple Computer Inc.

"It is precisely because of the clarity of de Bono's approach that his course of thought is well suited to both elementary school students and business leaders" - John Naisbitt, author of MEGATRENDS 2000.

· "We all stick to our assumptions about the past to draw conclusions about the future ... de Bono teaches us to challenge such assumptions and find creative new solutions to problems" - Philip L. Smith, president of General Foods Corporation.

· "Lateral thinking ... really changed my approach to business problems" - A Weinberg, management consultant from New York.