Lateral Thinking (Paperback)

~ Edward De Bono (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

This book, which is now internationally known and a bestseller, is a textbook of creativity. It shows how the habit of lateral thinking can be encouraged and new ideas generated. The author has worked out special techniques for doing this, in groups or alone, and the result is a triumph of entertaining education.

About the Author

Edward de Bono has had faculty appointments at the universities of Oxford, London, Cambridge and Harvard. He is widely regarded as the leading authority in the direct teaching of thinking as a skill. He originated the concept of lateral thinking and developed formal techniques for deliberate creative thinking. He has written sixty-two books, which have been translated into thirty-seven languages, has made two television series and there are over 4,000,000 references to his work on the Internet.

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Books (June 1970)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140137793
• ISBN-13: 978-0140137798
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,949,547 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good book, but less in contents, November 24, 2005

By	Priya (India) - See all my reviews

This is one book where the author spends 70 % of the time in telling "why" should you ever consider Lateral Thinking. In between this justifications there are few good ideas.

De Bone has given some interesting ideas that should be looked closely and practised by everyone, like the ones given below.

1. Look at the problem from a different angle (try reversing the problem)
2. Don't stop when one solution is found and keep looking for better ones for some more time
3. Try rearranging and jumping forward in solution seeking process even if the intermediate steps sounds illogical
4. Try to delay judgment so as to let new ideas grow
Place two irrelevant things in the mind for some time and analyze it, this might create an opportunity to look at the problem differently
5. Don't challenge an idea to find if it is right or wrong but look if it can add any insight at a different angle
6. Remove No and replace it with a new word (here he suggests using PO) that would challenge the statement and generate new ideas rather than rejecting an irrelevant one
7. Remove the cliché patterns my removing or looking deep into the labels

Looks more of a teacher's manual rather than a thought provoking book, might be of interest if you are planning to get new idea to teach your kid.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The bare Bonos, April 23, 2000

By	p h noble (England) - See all my reviews

The strength on the book is how concise De Bono manages to be. Written in an unpretentious style the reader's own thoughts are sparked and finishing the book leaves you wanting more. I can see that it is simplistic but I doubt whether writing more words on the subject would be helpful to the reader. In fact I think it would be detrimental as we wouldn't want to drill into the reader's mind landscape too heavily!

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Useful who like to think., May 17, 1999

By A Customer

It's a book written on serious things in a very light style. Sometimes we are very near to hear a tellerstory and soon after we are close of a professional dealing with mind and differents ways to learn. Its very interesting and usefull for professors, teachers and persons that love work thinking.