(continued...)
Beneficial Effects
What sort of effects would one expect from training in creative
thinking? The 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles were a great
success. So much so that the organizer, Peter Ueberroth,
was chosen as the Time magazine "Man of the Year." In an
interview in the Washington Post (September 30, 1984) he
was asked how he had generated the new ideas needed to make
the games a success. The whole interview is about his use
of lateral thinking. He had learned these techniques in
1975 at a one-hour seminar I had given to the Young President's
Organization in Boca Raton, Florida. It is not often that
a short lesson has such a powerful effect nine years later.
This sort of effect is possible because the techniques are
simple to learn, practice, and remember. They can be used
deliberately when a new idea is needed.
In 1987, I did a lot of work for the industrial products
division of DuPont. They subsequently bought several of
my videos and sent people to a "train the trainers" session
of mine. This is what David Tanner had to say about the
effects: "At DuPont we have many good examples of how our
technical people have applied Dr. de Bono's lateral thinking
techniques to successfully solve difficult problems. This
has resulted in reduced operational costs and in accelerating
movement of new products to the marketplace."
In general I have found three levels of effect:
| 1
. |
A
change in attitude toward creativity. A willingness
to look for further alternatives, the acceptance of
provocation, willingness to try and listen to green
hot thinking, and willingness to re-examine things that
have always been done one way. |
| 2. |
Use
of the label of lateral thinking. Willingness to point
a finger at a specific focus and to ask for lateral
thinking. Willingness to pause and see if there might
not be a totally different approach. Tentative use of
techniques-in particular the random word technique. |
| 3. |
Fluent
and deliberate use of lateral thinking techniques. Skill
in setting up provocations using movement and organizing
concepts with the concept fan. |
At first, the specific techniques and even the six hats
system seem strange and artificial-that is an important
part of their value. Creative thinking is different from
normal thinking. It is not just normal thinking that is
more free. Once the methods are used, then the switch to
the different mode of thinking takes place. Attitude then
follows from the use of the methods.
It is not enough to be innocent and uninhibited and to
have a creative attitude. The normal behavior of the brain
in perception is to set up routine patterns and to follow
these. In order to cut across patterns we can use deliberate
techniques (provocation, movement, random entry). These
techniques can be learned, practiced, and used deliberately.
The Six Thinking Hats system is a convenient way of switching
thinking, and particularly for making time and space for
creative effort.
This article was reprinted with the permission
from The Journal for Quality and Participation, Vol.
11-3. ©The Association for Quality and Participation
