Edward de Bono

Edward de Bono's Thinking Course

There is a good selection of videos by Edward de Bono & others on this page which are all about thinking ..

Very recommended, when you have some time to sit down & watch them, please remember to make mind-maps ... and share them if you can, in class.

Also see The 6 Thinking Hats page in this e-book

If any of these videos disappear, search here

Please not the audio on these videos is very quiet so you might need to attach an external speaker if you have one.

Lecture 1 - Thinking is a Skill

Part 1

Edward de Bono dedicated his whole life (and very successfully) to developing thinking tools. His web is here:

www.edwarddebono.com

& there is a ning (social site) for people interested in this work, here: www.debonosociety.com & DeBono's Latest Thinking here: newmillenniumthinking

Edward de Bono is regarded as the global leading authority in the field of creative and conceptual thinking. An MD, PHD and Rhodes Scholar, he has authored 72 books in 41 languages.

His instruction in thinking has been sought by major corporations such as IBM, Microsoft, Shell, Prudential, GM, Ford, and Citicorp to name a few.

His work is in use in thousands of schools worldwide, and mandatory on the curriculum in some countries.

He is the originator of the term 'Lateral Thinking' and the very popular "Six Thinking Hats" framework.

Based on an understanding of how the brain works as a self-organising information system, Edward de Bono has designed specific thinking tools to maximize the creative process.

www.bit.ly/DeBonoPMIs

PMIs (Plus, Minus, Interesting)

One of the simplest tools is the PMI:

simply listing the Plus, Minus & Interesting (neither plus or minus) points of a question.

We usually do this unconsciously or in our heads whenever we have to take a decision, but in doing the process in a written, clear & open way, we make sure we are being thorough.

These are adaptations we've designed in to make our designing & group work more effective, as permaculture designers:

If we adapt the 'voting' to also make us more conscious of the relative 'weights' that we give to each decision element, then the process is even more thorough.

When we do this in a group, it is suprising how quickly and easily decisions can be made, or at least the real issues of contention exposed, as everyone openly writes down for everyone to see the particular elements of their decision, as well as how important they are relative to each other.

Once complexity can be handled in a visual way, it tends to help us think better, and communicate better.

This is a simple online excel document which you can copy & use for your individual or group decision excercises.

It allows for 3 main options with a limitless number of elements to be examined by up to 11 people, and you can also adapt it to whatever specific needs you have.

The voting will appear in the first page of the file, summarizing the various options.

Part 2