Letters to Thinkers: Further Thoughts on Lateral Thinking [Hardcover]

Edward De Bono (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Virgin Books (September 24, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0245545751
• ISBN-13: 978-0245545757
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,224,335 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dr. Edward de Bono is regarded as the leading international authority in the field of conceptual thinking and also the direct teaching of thinking as a skill. He originated the concept of "lateral thinking," which is now officially recognized in the Oxford English Dictionary-and which contributed to the success of the 1984 Olympic Games. He was a Rhodes Scholar at oxford and has held faculty appointments at the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, London, and Harvard.

He has written twenty-seven books, which have been translated into twenty languages. These include: Opportunities; Lateral Thinking for Management; Future Positive; Atlas of Management Thinking; Wordpower; Children Solve Problems; Tactics: The Art and Science of Success; Conflicts: A Better Way to Resolve Them. He has also made a ten-part BBC series called "De Bono's Thinking Course" and two other television series.

Dr. de Bono's instruction in thinking has been sought by many of the largest corporations in USA, Canada, Europe, and the rest of the world. These include: IM, Exxon, Shell, BP, Unilever, Procter & Gamble, Prudential, General Foods, Bell Telephone, Northern Telecom, Monsanto, DuPont, and ICI. He has given seminars all over the world, from Helsinki to Buenos Aires, from Toronto to Tokyo.

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5.0 out of 5 stars The dose of genius we all need to ensure we may think for another day., November 29, 2005

By 

David Chirko (Sudbury, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Letters to Thinkers: Further Thoughts on Lateral Thinking (Hardcover)

Edward de Bono, author of "Letters to Thinkers" (taken from a periodically published series of practical letters to readers, 1982-4)--the book I am reviewing, is unequivocally one of the world's foremost living psychologists. What makes, for example, a true philosopher--who deals with issues of thought a priori (before the fact), through reason, molding a new methodology; or, a great psychologist--who deals with similar matters a posteriori (after the fact), i.e., the scientific observation of experiential behaviour in order to ascertain motivation, is the development of their own unique system of thinking, endorsed by a cogent argument, explained and utilized by applicable argot. De Bono's system(s) achieve all of these feats, because, philosophically and/or psychologically--where the concept of thinking is the cynosure, he, more than just about anybody else taught us not just what, but how, to think in a groundbreakingly creative way, as illustrated in the aforementioned book, wherein the revolutionary approach to cognition is launched.

De Bono first says, in the book's Introduction, "The horror of the simple," "Only the simple-minded are upset by the simple." He explains that mediocre minds want simple matters expressed in a complex manner to impress--even if they still don't fully comprehend something; giving them a specious security. The author says that such minds are reactive, making these thinkers describers, who merely respond to whatever issue they are confronted with, in lieu of pro-active, making such thinkers doers who actually identify what mode is apropos for the moment and problem. De Bono calls such a simpler approach parallel thinking, which is coordinated, cooperative and expeditious. Here different sides don't need to acquiesce and there is no disputation, for they can always alter the argument to one of six modes, exemplified in his gem of a book, "Six Thinking Hats": the blue hat orchestrates what the rest of the hats do; the black hat is for what is negatively logical; the yellow hat, for what is positively logical; the white hat, for pure information; the red hat, for any unjustifiable feelings; and the green hat, for creativity. With all this in mind, the simple entails three paramount facets: 1. it can be effectively acted upon; 2. any asseveration can be uttered simplistically; and 3. what is obviated may not have previously been so obvious. He maintains that any creative notion must have been originally logical, but that the arduousness arised when our language system was incorrectly applied to perception, which was, after all, generally logical.

De Bono's book is then divided into thirty chapters, where he demonstrates his techniques of thinking and invites the peruser to do simple exercises with copious, simple diagrams, through a plethora of topics, like: different ways of thinking; problems; negativity; concepts, ideas; creativity; conflict; unemployment; and banking.

Space precludes me from adumbrating all of the scintillating points Edward de Bono makes in "Letters to Thinkers," however, the chapters piquing my psychological fancy most and therefore the crux of the entire book, as well as the segments I found most intriguing were, first of all, the 8th, "The PMI," wherein he describes a scanning process, with the three capital letters in the second word of the chapter's title respectively denoting the plus, minus and interesting, aspects of non-judgementally mapping a way to think, so that we can explore new situations, instead of customarily defending our beforehand judgements.

Next, in the 23rd chapter, "Does lateral thinking work?" the author shows that lateral thinking is a more efficacious tool in forming new--even if evolved out of context--concepts (which analysis is inadequate without) and perceptions. This is because lateral thinking, perhaps de Bono's most stellar triumph, uses PO, the very facet of provocation, which is the prereason, arational, anti-judgement type of creative approach, wherein abundant, fresh patterns/alternatives/paths are incessantly and insightfully sought--whether or not they're required. Now, contrast this with commonplace--but complementary, vertical thinking, which employs NO, a rejection instrument of reason, logic and judgement, pursuing only rightness--by eschewing other paths to obtain only the most auspicious ways of dealing with an issue; and YES, which is the quintessential tool of the belief system. PO occupies an interim between the two aforementioned limited formulations. In fact, the author says in his masterwork book, "Lateral Thinking": "The need for lateral thinking arises from the limitations of the behaviour of mind as a self-maximizing memory system." Therefore the values of any proposal viewed from various positive and negative points is important, and the creative thinker must forge ahead with this newly acquired data, instead of resorting to rote memory of previously obtained facts.

Lastly, in the 29th chapter, "What do you expect creativity to do for you," de Bono emphasizes that creative thinking need not always pertain to sheer problem solving, but may lead to more design/opportunity oriented thinking. For instance, he uses the example of a manager's employees who entertain new methods of accomplishing tasks and establishing products to bolster productiveness, not realized before in the workplace. In turn, the fostering of fresher ideas galvanizes everyone involved for future endeavours.

In closing, I should say that Peter Ueberroth's marvelous success with lateral thinking, when applied to running the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, was perhaps the greatest endorsement of de Bono, his books and ideas. So, to learn more about creativity, as well as parallel, lateral and vertical thinking, you should purchase this stupendous volume, "Letters to Thinkers" by Edward de Bono, for your psychology library soon, for it is the dose of genius we all need to ensure we may think for another day.