Opportunities: A Handbook of Business Opportunity Search [Paperback]

Edward de Bono (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics); Reprint edition (March 1, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140137815
• ISBN-13: 978-0140137811
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,238,524 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.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Among the best in the genre, in which I can count only a handful of well written books on deliberate opportunity search!, September 25, 2006

By 

Lee Say Keng "KNOWLEDGE ADVENTURER/TECHNOLOGY... (Ho Chi Minh City/Singapore) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Opportunities: A Handbook of Business Opportunity Search (Paperback)

Surprising, there isn't a single review of this wonderful book, which I would seriously consider to be among the best in the genre. Unfortunately, within this genre, there are only a handful of well written books on deliberate opportunity search, which would include Michel Robert's Innovation Formula.

Most of de bono's many books touch on the betterment of human thinking. This is the only odd one that focuses on opportunity search. (There is, in fact, another one of his which focuses only on the exploration of success principles. I have reviewed it earlier & it's entitled 'Tactics.')

There are four principal parts in this book:

- Introduction;
- People, Attitudes & Opportunities;
- The Opportunity Audit;
- Thinking for Opportunities;

Each part is packed with workable ideas & valuable insights.

Unlike most business books, the Introduction of this book is more than an introduction. On its own, it's a real gem as it gives a detailed preamble of the varied concepts of opportunity search, opportunity space, opportunity audit, opportunity team, idea sensitive areas, opportunity map, making distinctions & generation of ideas.

The remaining three principal areas are goldmines of strategies & tools to assist a deliberate opportunity search. The Opportunity Audit is the best I have read so far. The If-Box Map is a quick & powerful tool to apply, in spite of its simplicity.

de Bono defines an opportunity as "a course of action that is possible & obviously worth pursuing." He makes some very interesting observations in this book:

"The reasons that many opportunities pass us by is a perceptual one - we do not recognise an opportunity for what it is. An opportunity exists only when we see it."

"Everyone is surrounded by opportunities. But they only exist once they have been seen. And they will only be seen if they are looked for."

That's why I have always maintained that perceptual sensitivity to the world at large is a very important skill for all of us in today's rapidly-changing, technology-savvy world.

Additionally & very interestingly, he offers possible reasons why we often missed our opportunities:

- We simply cannot see the opportunity;
- We can see the opportunity, but cannot see any possible way of evaluating it;
- We can see that it is a worthwhile opportunity, but cannot see how it can be achieved;
- We can see that it is a worthwhile opportunity & even how to achieve it, but nevertheless it is not for us;
- We can see the opportunity, but can also see huge problems with people, resources & money;
- We can see that it is a worthwhile opportunity, but we have better use of our resources & efforts;
- We can see that it is a worthwhile opportunity, but in our opinion the risks are too great/rewards too small;

This book is definitely - & undoubtedly - worth pursuing. Instead of waiting for opportunities to knock on your door, I strongly suggest readers to go out there & search deliberately for opportunities, with the aid of this book!