De Bono, Edward

Edward de Bono (1933–) revolutionized concepts about thinking, developing the term lateral thinking and the “Six Hats” method of thinking. His concepts and strategies have influenced business and education. He contests the notion that general intelligence automatically leads to creative thinking.

Born in Malta, de Bono made a noteworthy transition through the educational system, skipping grade levels in basic education, obtaining a medical degree from the Royal University of Malta, attending Christ Church College in Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, gaining honors in psychology and physiology, a DPhil in medicine, and completing a PhD at Cambridge. He held faculty appointments at Oxford, London, Cambridge, and Harvard, and his accomplishments include the first Capire Prize in Madrid for contributions to mankind, director of the Cognitive Research Trust (CoRT) at Cambridge, Order of Merit in Malta, and an $8.5 million grant from the Andrews Foundation to create the de Bono Institute in Melbourne as a world center for new thinking.

CoRT hallmarks his contribution to education. The trust produces school materials based on de Bono's concept of lateral thinking: recognizing dominant ideas that affect perception of a problem, searching for multiple ways of looking at things, relaxation of rigid thinking, and the use of change to encourage other ideas. He embraces the use of low-probability ideas, which are unlikely to occur in the normal course of events.

De Bono credits his metacognition to the background in medicine, focusing on self-organizing systems. He explained his reasoning in an April 2000 interview in which he argues that individual disciplines each bring a limited view to a problem. He cited the importance of an underlying system from which one can derive a variety of mechanisms and interventions. This supports his Six Hats method of thinking, which requires users to approach problems using research, intuition, cautious logic, optimistic opportunity, free-flowing creativity, and holistic overview.

While writing over 62 books and working with corporations and governments, de Bono works consistently with education. Thousands of schools on virtually every continent use his books and techniques. He created educational television series in Great Britain and Germany, trained teachers in Moscow's Academy of Sciences, addressed the Education Commission of the States, and has lectured in over 52 countries about thinking and education. Yet he is sometimes critical of both basic and higher education. Higher education, because of its nature, may rely too heavily on accuracy and evidence, thus stifling creativity. Basic education, as it becomes more institutionalized, also becomes more change resistant.

De Bono manages an international network of 950 accredited instructors who serve governments, companies, and educational institutions. He continues to write, recently authoring The De Bono Code Book, addressing the manner in which language limits perception in communication. He engages in online teaching and maintains a Web site.