How to Create a Culture of Innovation

Today, few people would describe AT&T as a particularly innovative (or for that matter, particularly admired) company. But once upon a time, Bell Labs was a bastion of innovation.

In fact, Jon Gertner describes Bell Labs in its heyday as "the most innovative scientific organization in the world." He points to a number of conscious decisions that fostered an innovative, collaborative environment:

1) Physical co-location - AT&T intentionally put various unrelated teams in the same place, which encouraged cross-disciplinary conversations. This interaction was further enhanced by the building architecture, which encouraged researchers to mingle.

2) Empowerment - Bell Labs gave its researchers the autonomy to pursue their ideas without senior managers breathing down their necks.

3) Time -AT&T realized that sometimes, it's important to let ideas percolate for a while. They gave time to their scientists, without worrying overmuch about instant results.


Gertner's article is quite good - you should read the whole thing. The one thing he fails to describe is Bell Labs decision-making processes. I'd like to know how they analyzed their projects and made decisions - did they employ a process akin to, for example, the Six Thinking Hats? How did Bell Labs evaluate their results? And ultimately, what led to their decline?

Innovation Week in New York City: Feb. 7-10

It's not too late to register for the upcoming Innovation Week in New York, Feb. 7-10!

We're offering a variety of innovation programs, including Six Thinking Hats on Feb. 7, Lateral Thinking on Feb. 8, and the full Course in Creativity on Feb. 7-8, which covers both Six Hats and Lateral Thinking. This programs will give you a solid grasp of in Dr. de Bono's tools, and you'll receive plenty of practice with their application. You'll leave ready to apply Six Hats and Lateral Thinking to your own organization and context.

We also offering trainer certification in Six Hats, Lateral Thinking, and the Course in Creativity. After this intensive, four-day program (Feb. 7-10), you'll be prepared to teach the de Bono methods in your own organization. 

Are you already a de Bono trainer? If so, This is also a convenient opportunity to re-certify, or save 15% when you certify in a new course.

Register online for Innovation Week in New York, or call us at 515.278.1292.

Stop Arguing With Yourself

Gabrielle Gawne-Kelnar is an Australian therapist who discovered Six Thinking Hats at a recent workshop. She has written a nice summary of the experience, with a good overview of the Six Hats and their usage. Worth a read.

Edward de Bono to Speak at Learning Technologies 2012

Dr. Edward de Bono will be a keynote speaker at Learning Technologies 2012 conference in London on 25-26 January. It promises to be a great event for professionals in the field learning and development. See the conference brochure for full details.

The Bias Against Creativity

Corporate creativity is a hot topic, and innovation determines whether a company lives or dies. So why do people reject creative ideas?

Jennifer Mueller, Shimul Melwani, and Jack Goncalo have a theory. In their new paper, The Bias Against Creativity: Why People Desire But Reject Creative Ideas, they explore the idea of covert biases, and they find that uncertainty produces a subconscious hostility towards creativity.

To quote the authors, "Because there is such a strong social norm to endorse creativity and people also feel authentic positive attitudes towards creativity, people may be reluctant to admit that they do not want creativity." The authors conclude that "we cannot assume that organizations, institutions or even scientific endeavors will desire and recognize creative ideas even when they explicitly state they want them. This is because [organizations] may [extol creativity] in ways that promote uncertainty by requiring gate-keepers to identify the single 'best' and most 'accurate' idea, thereby creating an unacknowledged aversion to creativity. In addition, our results suggest that... the field of creativity may need to shift its current focus from identifying how to generate more creative ideas to identifying how to help innovative institutions recognize and accept creativity."

Edward de Bono on BVO

Dr. de Bono was recently on BVO, the Business Voice. In this half-hour interview, he addresses the difference between innovation and creativity, why the business sector has been particularly quick to recognize the importance of thinking, what the internet age means for thinking, and more. Highly recommended.

Creativity Quote of the Day

"Man's mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimension." - Oliver Wendell Holmes

Creativity Quote of the Day

"Anyone can be creative provided they learn and develop their skills." - Edward de Bono

Meetings Don't Have to Be a Waste of Time

I recently had dinner with a friend who wished the new company she works for would incorporate the de Bono thinking systems, specifically Six Thinking Hats, into all of their meetings. She has one weekly meeting in particular that lasts two hours or longer. The group inevitably gets derailed discussing details unrelated to the topic at hand. Arguments ensue and the group leaves frustrated, with no action steps laid out.

We hear this a lot.

Everyone has participated in meetings that are plagued by personal attacks, low energy and boredom, competition, power plays, groupthink, rushed decision making or indecisiveness, and lack of follow through.

You know your meeting is heading in the wrong direction when no one has defined a clear focus. Why are we having this meeting? How long will the meeting last? How much time will we spend on each part of the agenda? How will we ensure everyone participates? Who will take what action after the meeting? These are the types of "Blue Hat" questions we ask at the beginning of meetings that use the Six Thinking Hats process.

When used as a meeting management tool, Six Thinking Hats gives teams a process that directs everyone towards the same objective. In Six Hats meetings you "unbundle" your thinking so you can focus on one type of thinking at a time (idea generation, etc.).

Six Hats meetings are particularly effective in neutralizing employee rank. There are also frequent requests for every person to contribute, which ensures you get the best thinking from everyone, even individuals who tend to be more introverted. Oftentimes clients will report that their typical meeting times are reduced by 50-75% once their teams are trained in the Six Hats process.

Six Thinking Hats can be used with all levels, and helps teams get to the right solution quickly and with a shared vision.

We'd love to hear from you!
What frustrates you most about meetings? What strategies have you used that resulted in more productive and effective meetings?

Use Six Thinking Hats for Success in Facilitating Virtual Meetings

Does your organization use virtual meetings to save time and money?

Recent research by CWT Travel Management Institute reveals that while the use of virtual meetings is on the rise, many people feel that virtual meetings cannot match the quality of face-to-face meetings in terms of attention and interaction between participants.

Using Edward de Bono’s Six Thinking Hats® to facilitate meetings offers improvement in both of these areas.

Click to read: Use Six Thinking Hats for Success in Facilitating Virtual Meetings

Quote of the Day

"If you wait for opportunities to occur, you will be one of the crowd."
- Edward de Bono

Innovation Week April 4-8, 2011

Make 2011 the year you invest in innovation training to help boost your organization's productivity and profits. Join us at the de Bono Consulting corporate headquarters in Des Moines for the following training seminars.

April 4: Lateral Thinking
Deliberate, systematic process that sparks creative thinking
7 Lateral Thinking tools lead to innovation in process, product, and problem solving.

April 5: Six Thinking Hats
Organize and maximize individual and team thinking
Learn how to enhance meeting effectiveness by methodically channeling group attention in six key directions. Six Thinking Hats is our most popular course and will quickly become an indispensable organizational tool!

April 4-5: Course in Creativity
Combines and integrates Lateral Thinking & Six Thinking Hats
Learn powerful methods that will enable you to lead effective meetings, rigorously evaluate ideas, manage risks, maximize opportunities, and drive innovation.

April 5-8: Focus on Facilitation
Learn Advanced Facilitator Tools & Become an Accredited de Bono Facilitator
Focus on Facilitation is the optimal application course for leading group innovation.

Visit our de Bono Events Calendar or call 866.621.3366.

Innovation: Tubeless Toilet Paper from Kimberly-Clark

Kimberly-Clark estimates that the 17 billion toilet paper tubes produced each year in the U.S. generate 160 million pounds of trash. According to a recent USA Today article, the company will launch tube-free Scott toilet paper. This innovation removes an unnecessary element of their product to help the environment and reduce material costs.

Quote of the Day

"Companies can't predict the future, but they can build organizations that will survive and flourish under just about any possible future." - Lowell Bryan

Lowell Bryan is an author and director at McKinsey & Company

Halloween 2010: Top Costumes, History, Myths, More

Did you know . . . There are some 36 million potential trick-or-treaters (children aged 5-13) in the U.S., according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

National Geographic News presents the facts on the history of Halloween, highlights this year's most popular costumes for adults and kids, and features fun stats on record-breaking pumpkins.
Click to get the white hat info you need to amaze your friends at this year's Halloween party!

Share your creative costume ideas by clicking the comments link below.

Edward de Bono's Idea to Replace Parking Meters

Edward de Bono argues that if you want to shorten the time people park in one spot you should simply legislate to require them to keep their car headlights on whenever they’re parked. No need for meters, easy to police, and you’re guaranteed they will keep their stay nice and short!

Contribute your thoughts about this idea by clicking the Comments link below.

The Need For Innovation Skill Development

Once a month MSEL (Master of Science in Executive Leadership) at the University of San Diego provides a forum to the community featuring exceptional guest speakers presenting information on a variety of relevant and stimulating topics. Barbara Stennes, de Bono Consulting's CEO, has more than 15 years of experience working with teams motivated to increase results through innovation. Barbara will present "The Need For Innovation Skill Development" at MSEL's event on November 9.

Barbara will provide tips on how to identify barriers to innovation and provide an interactive overview on thinking skills such as: Six Thinking Hats, Lateral Thinking, Power of Perception, and more.

MSEL PRESENTS Barbara Stennes:
Tuesday, November 9, 2010: 8:00 am –9:00 am
Check‐in and breakfast begin at 7:15 am
University of San Diego
Mother Rosalie Hall Room 102
www.sandiego.edu/msel

Event Details: The Need For Innovation Skill Development
Register Online by Friday, Nov 5: Register Online

de Bono Global: South Africa Events

de Bono Consulting CEO and President, Barbara Stennes, will meet with Edward de Bono at the Annual International de Bono Thinking Systems Distributor meeting, October 11-13 in Cape Town.

Dr. de Bono will also be speaking at the Progress Conference in Cape Town on October 14. The Progress Conference will feature ways to leverage the minds of your employees, colleagues, and customers to facilitate PROGRESS.

Innovation Week: Get Certified in Lateral Thinking & Six Thinking Hats

We've received a lot of requests recently from trainers who'd like to certify in more than one of the de Bono Thinking Systems without having to travel to multiple certification events. To meet this need, we've put together an intensive week-long event, November 1-5, which will provide the learning and credentials required to train your employees in our 2 most popular programs, Lateral Thinking and Six Thinking Hats.

This new certification event combines core content from de Bono tools, methods, and frameworks to foster a comprehensive understanding of how the thinking systems work together and separately.

Click to learn how you can certify in Lateral Thinking & Six Thinking Hats November 1-5 in Des Moines, or call 866.621.3366 for more information.

Bonus: Attendees will also learn the Focus on Facilitation tools at no additional charge!

New Case Study: Emerson Scroll Compressors LLC Plant Gets Measurable Results

The Challenge: Growth Creates Communications Roadblocks

The Solution: Teach and Apply de Bono Communication and Problem-Solving Skills to Rekindle Honest Interaction Between Managers and Employees

The Results: Emerson Scroll Compressors generated ideas that were good for the environment & their bottom-line within the first year:
- Reduced scrap by 20%, resulting in an annual savings of $48,000
- Saved the plant $130,000 in utility costs in one year

Total Savings: Read the new de Bono case study . . .
Plant Managers Use Innovative Communication Tools to Tap Strengths of Straight-Shooting Workforce

de Bono Events: September Virtual Training Series

Our September training calendar is packed with great opportunities for you to learn Edward de Bono's Thinking Systems - without having to leave your desk.

Simply spend 2 hours with us one day a week, for three consecutive weeks.

Visit the links below or call Natalie Jenkins at 866.621.3366 to learn how these powerful thinking systems can help drive business strategies and innovation at your organization.

Six Value Medals: September 1, 8, 15
Learn 6 tools for values-based decision making that will help you scan for values, prioritize, and ensure that top values are addressed every step of the way. The perfect tool for choosing which creative ideas will deliver the desired value.

Six Thinking Hats: September 7, 14, 21
Six Thinking Hats is a thinking management tool that opens the door to innovative thinking, thorough decisions, easier problem resolution, improved communication, and more efficient and productive meetings. Learn specific techniques that will keep your meetings focused, efficient, productive, and results-oriented.

Power of Perception: September 15, 22, 29
10 thinking tools will help you become a strong and confident decision maker. Learn to accurately weigh risks against rewards, and uncover hidden opportunities.

View all de Bono training events.

Defining Learning Transfer

In their recent newsletter, Fort Hill Company defined Learning Transfer as the "process of putting learning to work in a way that improves performance . . . it takes place over time, involves multiple steps, and is influenced by a number of factors; it is not a 'one and done' event."

Read the complete article.

New de Bono Case Study: Plant Managers Use Innovative Communication Tools to Tap Strengths of Straight-Shooting Workforce

Using the de Bono thinking tools leveled the playing field between supervisors, engineers, and frontline workers at the Emerson Scroll Compressors LLC plant in Ava, Missouri.

Communication improved and positive energy began to flow. The de Bono thinking systems are now used for idea generation whenever they encounter something they don’t know how to deal with. The tools are embedded in various lean manufacturing processes such as Six Sigma and Total Preventive Maintenance.

The Six Thinking Hats methodology is used routinely in performance reviews of hourly workers and in so many other applications that it's difficult to track all of the results that can be attributed to the use of this practical and innovative problem-solving system.

Read the complete de Bono Case Study.

The Creativity Crisis

The need for proven creativity tools and techniques is greater than ever . . .For the first time, research shows that American creativity is declining. Read the Newsweek article that discusses what went wrong and how we can fix it.

Read The Creativity Crisis

Thinking as One Key to Organization Health - An Interview with de Bono Master Trainer, Lynda Curtin

Recently de Bono Consulting, interviewed Lynda Curtin, one of only 37 de Bono Master Trainers worldwide and the product development manager on the highly acclaimed Focus on Facilitation workshop, regarding her upcoming involvement with the Health Work & Wellness Conference, Thinking Organization’s Succeed!

The Health Work & Wellness Conference was established in 1997 to bring together a community of like-minded individuals interested in creating positive, healthy change in their organizations.

Lynda, your keynote “Power-Up Your Organization’s Thinking” is opening the Health Work & Wellness Conference September 30th in Vancouver, Canada. One does not normally make the connection between Thinking and Health Work & Wellness, what can you tell us about the connection?

I was thrilled when Deb Connors, President of Health Work & Wellness contacted me to discuss keynoting this conference. She set the theme of the conference to be "Thinking Organizations SUCCEED!" As de Bono practitioners this is our main focus--equipping people to become excellent lifelong thinkers. Organizations are made of people. People think. What could be more rewarding than to work with a group of people emphasizing thinking quality as a working concept for organizational health?

I see that you are also conducting a breakout session titled “Strengthen Your Innovation Instinct with Six Thinking Hats®” on October 1st. Why do you feel it is important to learn new tools that promote effective thinking skill development like the Six Thinking Hats for organizational health?

Healthy organizations depend upon the ability of their employees to be effective thinkers. This means employees are able to think broadly, clearly, thoroughly, creatively, and critically about any challenge they are faced with. It means employees are able to suspend their biases and explore each challenge with an open-mind before deciding on a solution or course of action. It means they are not locked into one way of doing things. It means they are willing to listen to and include the thinking of others not just their own thinking.

de Bono's Six Thinking Hats is one thinking tool that encourages effective thinking. It's been around for 25 years. I suppose this classifies it as a new tool in the area of leadership and management development. As time moves forward we learn what we didn't know and this often leads to the development of new tools and the improvement of old tools. If we aren't learning new tools how do we expect to continue to be successful and satisfied?

What do you say to people that say they already know how to think?

It's interesting--no one has ever confessed that to me. But, if they did, I would likely ask them: "How do you know?" "Where did you learn to think?" "What thinking tools do you use?"

Two of your de Bono colleagues are presenting case studies at the conference. Michael Campbell is presenting Optimal Decision Making With Six Value Medals and Stuart Morgan Symmetrical Thinking: Achieving Innovative Collaboration Through Maps, Models and Stories. What do you find most exciting about these particular case studies?

I am particularly excited about Michael Campbell's case study application of the Six Value Medals tool. Searching for value is a huge challenge in most organizations today--and finding new value that no one else is leveraging is one of the key factors in the search for value--competitive edge. Everyone is asking, "What's the value?" It's such a big question and it's vague. It can be difficult to answer. de Bono's value screen with the Six Value Medals tool is enormously helpful in directing thinking attention to help find value from a variety of angles.

Stuart Morgan is doing great work in industrial design. I am very interested to learn more about how he has integrated Focus on Facilitation and Six Thinking Hats into his overall process. I think this is one of the strengths of de Bono Thinking System tools. They easily compliment and strengthen current processes and approaches. His team won an innovation 2009 award which I am sure was very satisfying for them.

Lynda, you have been involved in teaching and applying thinking skills to business since 1992, which makes you a real pioneer in the innovation skills arena. What are the biggest changes you have seen over the years regarding innovation in business, and where do you see it heading in the future?

When I started out in 1992 businesses, for the most part, weren't focusing on creativity and innovation as a key driver of business success. There was a huge emphasis on Quality. Well, as de Bono practitioners we knew that Quality was impossible without creativity and innovation. Most businesses have now caught up with this thinking. There is a tremendous focus on innovation today for a wide variety of reasons. The challenge in many companies continues to be the "how." How do we become more innovative? The intention is there. The tools are lacking. So, this is a big change. de Bono Thinking Systems methods certainly help move innovation along.

In the future I think we will see a shift to Robust Thinking which encompasses all aspects of thinking, not just critical and creative thinking. Deb Connors has recognized the need to explore, learn about, and discuss this shift with her conference focus on organization health requiring effective thinkers--Thinking Organizations SUCCEED!

New Video: Could de Bono's Six Thinking Hats Help Politicians Think?

Time to Think: WHO-TV 13 News Video

Time to Think

Check out the article WHOTV.com posted following last night's segment on the news:
TIME TO THINK: Metro company offers help for gridlock by teaching politicians to think

Teaching People How to Think

Watch the interview on WHO-TV 13 News tonight at 10 where I discuss how Edward de Bono's proven tools help teach people how to think. Click to view a short video teaser.

Barbara Stennes

Innovative Facilitation Tools Help Advance Strategic Community Initiatives for Long-term Economic Impact

We're excited to announce our new Six Thinking Hats Case Study that demonstrates the power of Edward de Bono's proven innovative facilitation tools . . .

In 2006, Mary Bula was hired to serve as the sole director for the Growth Partnership division of the Erie (Pennsylvania) Regional Chamber and Growth Partnership (ERCGP). With no additional staff to turn to, Mary knew that success would depend on effectively engaging and leading volunteers from the private sector. She also knew that it was imperative to form strong collaborations with elected officials from various government bodies in order to best address regional challenges and capitalize on opportunities . . .

In evaluating how she could best lead the Growth Partnership, Mary identified one skill area that would be critical to success: expert group facilitation. She was aware that people from the private sector think very differently from those working within government agencies, a fact that can cause difficulties, misunderstandings, and delays. But she had faith that these differences could be tapped to strengthen a coalition, rather than hampering its efforts.

Click to read the complete Edward de Bono case study to learn how just four days of intensive training in de Bono's Six Thinking Hats and Focus on Facilitation techniques led to amazing results for ERCGP.

Ignorance is Not Bliss

Edward de Bono is currently in Australia, where he's a keynote speaker at the Happiness & Its Causes conference. In an interview published in the Sydney Morning Herald, Dr. de Bono discusses his views on happiness, the old saying that "ignorance is bliss," and why humans should purr like cats.

Interview to Air Next Week on WHO-TV 13 News!

Yesterday I was interviewed for a story that will air next week on WHO-TV 13 News. The following is from Dave Price's May 4 Blog Post:

"I don't want to give away all of my story for next Monday night at 10. But today's interview was fascinating. I haven't been this intrigued by an interview for a while . . .Today, I talked with a CEO of a metro company that teaches people how to think. Yeah, I know, some people may think this is a bunch of bull puckey. But they get governments, non-profits, businesses, chambers of commerce, etc. to get together and re-invent the way they think their approach to problem-solving. Our conversation was tremendously interesting. My only complaint is that she had so much good stuff, it will never all fit into our story! But that's a good problem to have. Actually, it's a great problem to have."

More details to come!

Barbara Stennes

Edward de Bono's weekly message: Complacency

We are very concerned with 'problem solving.' Major foundations such as the Bill Gates foundation or Warren Buffet pour money into such areas as HIV. All this is very worthy. But it neglects the point that the major problem is our complacency with matters which do not seem problems at all. These are matters which could be greatly improved by more direct attention. Two obvious examples are education and thinking. Both are centuries out of date. We are so satisfied and complacent that we never make multi-million dollar efforts to change things for the better. Teaching thinking as a separate subject in school raised performance in every subject by between thirty and one hundred percent.

Edward de Bono
25th April 2010

BCG 2010 Innovation Survey

The Boston Consulting Group just released their annual innovation rankings. Before we get to the winners, it's worth highlighting some of their findings.

Very encouragingly for those of us in the innovation industry, they write, "Our survey revealed that, after a moderate retrenchment in 2009, companies have recommitteed to pursuing innovation in 2010. They have pushed it back to the top of their priority lists and plan to boost their innovation spending - despite the stagnant economy."

BCG also finds a small shift towards innovation in developing countries, particularly China, India, and Brazil. These countries are starting to embrace innovation as a means of moving up the value chain and fostering economic growth.

And who were BCG's winners this year? Their list of most innovative companies contains a few perennial contenders but also at least one newcomer:

1. Apple
2. Google
3. Microsoft
4. IBM
5. Toyota
6. Amazon
7. LG
8. BYD
9. General Electric
10. Sony

Edward de Bono's weekly message: Language and Usage

Language and usage may be to blame. We have come to believe that design is mainly a matter of aesthetics - of making something look beautiful. But a medical treatment, a car park, an evening meal, a political campaign can all benefit from a design effort. Like creativity, design is a skill that can be taught and learned. It can be practised at school. Many years ago, I used to run a design exercise in an education magazine. The results were snown in two books, "Children Solve Problems" and "The Dog Exercising Machine."

Edward de Bono
15 April 2010

Innovation in Cardboard

Who would have guessed that the cardboard box might be ripe for innovation? Standard shipping boxes are rectangular, which creates a lot of wasted space when you're packaging an unusual-shaped object. The Universal Packaging System lets you fold a cardboard box into precisely the right shape, eliminating this waste. It's a terrific idea.

Moreover, there's a broader lesson to be drawn here: innovation can flourish anywhere. Cardboard is staid. It's boring. It predates the Industrial Revolution. Cardboard is arguably the least sexy product on the planet.

You might expect that over the last 200 years, we would have perfected the cardboard box. After all, if there were any improvements left to be made in cardboard box technology, somebody would have discovered them long ago, right?

Wrong. The Universal Packaging System is a great reminder that ideas frequently coast along unchallenged, simply because people assume there's no better way to do it. But turning a critical eye towards even the most mundane object can yield surprising rewards.

Edward de Bono Presenting at Happiness Conference

With the help of the world's top psychologists, scientists, philosophers, and thinkers, the Happiness & Its Causes Conference explains practical strategies to enhance the happiness of yourself and others.

Over 50 speakers including creativity expert, Edward de Bono, will discuss the latest, ground-breaking research into happiness and present practical wisdom, real-life inspiration, and personal stories.

Learn more about the May 5-6 Happiness & Its Causes Conference in Sydney.

Edward de Bono in Australia

The Australian has just published an excellent feature about Dr. de Bono, which covers his upbringing, his life, his work, and his aspirations. Highly recommended.

In related news, Dr. de Bono will deliver a keynote address at next month's Happiness & Its Causes conference in Sydney.

Edward de Bono's weekly message: Design Thinking

So we developed a culture of education which was intended to 'find the truth.' This is excellent. But 'thinking to create value' is equally important - but totally neglected. It is neglected from kindergarten level up to and including universities. It is only if you are going to be an archtect or graphic designer that you pay any attention to design.

Edward de Bono
2 April 2010

What collaborative systems or software are you using within your project teams?

Values-Based Decision Making Results

A new case study surveys the experiences documented by GMAC employees who use Edward de Bono's Six Value Medals as a framework for values-based decision making.

Check out the case study and join the conversation:
How does your company assess values when making decisions?

Edward de Bono's Power of Perception Virtual Training Starts April 13

Edward de Bono's Power of Perception Will Teach You To:

• Look beyond the boundaries of self-limiting perspectives to uncover hidden opportunities
• Quickly and accurately weigh risks against rewards, helping you become a strong and confident decision maker
• Assess all angles before making a decision and use "what if" thinking to avoid costly mistakes

Our new virtual format allows you to learn the Power of Perception tools over the course of three days without the need to travel. Each training module is two hours, making it easy to fit into your workday.

The last day to register for the April 13-15 Power of Perception Workshop is Wednesday, April 7.

Minister of Thinking

During Edward de Bono's recent trip to India, he spoke with LiveMint about the ongoing use of the Six Hats and the need for governments worldwide to create a "minister of thinking" position. The full interview is available here.

Starbucks Sponsors Betacup Contest to Redesign Coffee Cup

As Fast Company reported online last Tuesday, 58 billion paper coffee cups are thrown away unrecycled, every year.

Starbucks would like to serve all of its coffee in re-useable or recyclable cups by 2015, so they're sponsoring a Betacup contest, which kicks off April 1.

They'll award $10,000 to the winner and $10,000 will be split among the next best five. Now is the time to use your lateral thinking skills!

Read more about the contest, view the Betacup video, and submit your idea between April 1 and June 15 to help reduce landfill waste.

Edward de Bono's weekly message: We Need to Add...

Complacent, adequate, sufficient all imply that something is not wrong or bad. Our normal language and thinking behaviour does not have a convenient way of saying: "That is excellent but not enough." Or we might need to say, "That is excellent, but that is only part of the picture." When I talk about the need for better thinking, I sometimes assume that I am attacking existing thinking as being wrong. It is not wrong. It is only wrong when it assumes that it is sufficient. We need to add perceptual thinking, creative thinking, design thinking and exploratory thinking.

Edward de Bono
25th November 2009

EACI's Creativity Walk of Fame

Edward de Bono was just awarded the inaugural membership of the Creativity Walk of Fame by the European Association of Creativity and Innovation. Congratulations, Edward!

Edward de Bono's weekly message: No natural limit

There is no natural limit to traffic - which is increasing everywhere. There is no natural limit to communication which is also increasing rapidly. The excellence of the communications channels does not ensure that what goes through those channels is of high value. Perhaps we need some simple code for communication. This might distinguish five areas: reply; vital; important; useful; fun.

Edward de Bono
30th October 2009

Edward de Bono's weekly message: Rush to Design

In conflict situations we rush to judgement. In courts of law we rush to judgement. We never seek to design a way forward.

Design is putting together what you have in order to deliver the value you want.

Design is every bit as important in real life as analysis, yet design is nowhere in education outside graphic design, etc.

Design should be a key part of education from the youngest age upwards. I used to run a design competition for youngsters. The range of concepts used by them was very impressive. One day I should write a book ‘Design for education’ to be used in all classes.

Learn Blue Ocean Strategy in London

The Blue Ocean Strategy Simulation, October 13-14 in London, will teach you the principles, methodologies, and tools of the bestselling strategy book.

In a rich, interactive simulation, teams will manage a company facing vicious competition in a declining industry. Using Blue Ocean thinking, you will re-define the industry, launch innovative new products, and learn to make the competition irrelevant.

Learn to apply Blue Ocean thinking to your own business. Get more info and register online for the Blue Ocean Strategy Simulation.

Is Google Losing Its Vaunted Culture of Innovation?

Google is frequently lauded as amongst the most creative companies in the world. This week's Economist describes how Google, like every large organization, has struggled to retain its culture of innovation during its exponential growth from a startup to a hegemon.

Scenius

Kevin Kelly has a nice overview of Brian Eno's concept of "scenius", or collaborative genius. I imagine that Dr. de Bono would approve of Eno's pithy turn of phrase. He would certainly agree with Eno's observation that collaboration enhances innovation. The best new ideas come from groups of individuals who interact and respond to each other, rather than from a solitary genius working in isolation.

Women - Small and Mid-Sized Businesses - Multimedia

Edward de Bono will open next month's "Women - Small and Mid-Sized Businesses - Multimedia" conference in Warsaw, Poland.

The conference's goal is "to present to the SMB sector, especially to women managing their own companies the ways of introducing new (creative) solutions for organisation, management, offered services or products or for the applied technologies, to show methods for project team-building and for applying lateral thinking." The conference is part of the EU's Year of Creativity and Innovation program.

Edward de Bono's weekly message: Design in the curriculum!

Schools are all about knowledge and analysis. So are universities. Most human thinking is based on analysis which allows us to identify standard situations and then we can apply the standard behaviour or solution. This is like a doctor in a clinic diagnosing the disease and then prescribing the standard treatment.

This behaviour is excellent and most useful. But it is ebne. Design is equally important. Yet design does not figure on the curriculum in schools and universities.

I used to run a design competition in an education magazine. There was a very good response even from youngsters as young as four years old.

Edward de Bono
5th August 2009

Edward de Bono's weekly message: New book

My latest book (published July 2nd) is called 'THINK: before it is too late'. In it I suggest that the biggest problem facing humanity is not climate change but inadequate thinking. We are very complacent and even proud of our thinking. We can land men on the moon. WE can tap atomic energy. We have the internet, WE have supersonic flight etc. We have done very well in the area of science and technology because we have developed 'thinking for finding the truth'.

I have suggested the new word 'ebne' which means excellent but not enough. Our existing thinking is ebne but not enough. We have never developed 'thinking for creating value'.

In conflicts we rush to judge who is wrong and seek to punish that party. We do not try to design a way forward.

Edward de Bono
20th July 2009

Coke Freestyle

Coca-Cola is rolling out what looks to be a groundbreaking new drinks dispenser: Coke Freestyle. Your standard fountain machine at any fast-food joint has six or eight different types of fizzy drinks - Coke, Diet Coke, Cherry Coke, Sprite, etc. Instead of trifling 6-8 options, the Coke Freestyle machines will give consumers more than a hundred flavors.

At first blush, this might seem like a new version of the cable TV problem: "Five hundred channels and nothing on." But Coke Freestyle is actually a terrifically innovative development.

First, it offers huge scope for new product development. It is expensive and time-consuming to develop new drinks, pilot them in various test markets, and (maybe) roll them out nationally. Freestyle bypasses this entire process, allowing Coca-Cola to test hundreds - even thousands - of new products simultaneously. The cost of a new drink is minimal - just slap a different bag of syrup in the machine, update the machine's software with the new recipe, and that's it. And because each machine via the Internet to Coca-Cola's IT systems, the results of these experiments are available to managers in real-time.

Second, Freestyle enables regional differentiation. Maybe Peach Coke will be popular in Georgia but a flop everywhere else. Similarly, whilst the nation as a whole might shun Java Coke, it could be a huge hit with Seattlites.

Third, Coca-Cola can observe how tastes change throughout the day. For example, Freestyle has led Coke's managers to discover a surprising, mid-afternoon increase in sales of caffeine-free and sugar-free drinks. This valuable insight will drive some of their marketing decisions, enabling them to better target consumers in the post-lunch lull.

Finally, Coke Freestyle facilitates better inventory management. The dispensers monitor their own inventory levels, signalling store managers when a bag of syrup starts to run dry. In other words, Coca-Cola is applying the just-in-time management philosophy to its drinks machines, which allows the company to tie up less capital.

In short, the new dispenser is a huge advance for the fizzy drinks industry.

Edward de Bono's New Book

Edward de Bono's latest book is now available: Think! Before It's Too Late: 23 Reasons Why World Thinking Is So Poor.

At present, it's available only in the UK. So far, there's no word on a US release.

Innovation in Public Transportation

Could a secret weapon against climate change be hiding in the mountains of South America? According to the New York Times, maybe so.

Yesterday's edition includes a fascinating article about public transportation in Bogota. The Colombian capital - a city of some 9 million people - has implemented a high-speed bus network called TransMilenio ("TransMillenium"), which has simultaneously slashed passengers' commute times and reduced the city's fuel use by 60%.

How? In a sense, the network is a bus-subway hybrid. In other words, the city has taken the speed and efficiency of subways and the low costs of buses, combining them to create a completely new model.

TransMilenio operates with dedicated lanes; it doesn't share pavement with cars, trucks, or motorcycles. It is also designed to transfer large numbers of passengers very quickly (as opposed to traditional buses, where passengers board individually). Finally, the stations are large and centrally located (unlike traditional buses, which stop for passengers every 2-3 blocks). As such, TransMilenio moves large numbers of people very quickly through the city, and it doesn't get gridlocked during rush-hour traffic. A bus system is also significantly cheaper to build and operate than a subway system.

It's a terrifically innovative solution to a universal problem, and cities around the world are studying and adopting the TransMilenio model. If rapid-transit bus networks become commonplace, the decreased fossil fuel consumption could make a sizable dent in the climate change problem.

Des Moines Innovation Summit

de Bono Consulting CEO and President, Barbara Stennes, is gearing up for the Innovation Summit for Business Leaders in Des Moines on July 23.

The interactive and engaging event will explore the skills needed to become more innovative, and how to engage your workforce in strategic innovation during challenging times. Attendees will also participate in the Medici Game, led by simulations expert, Dan Topf.

Learn more about the Innovation Summit.

Register for the Innovation Summit.

Airline Innovation

Ryanair, Europe's leading discount airline, has an innovative idea for air travel: standing room only.

I'm pretty sure that the Onion had this idea years ago, but I can't find in their archives.

Edward de Bono's weekly message: Perception

It is not possible to pay attention to everything at once. In a market there are different stalls so that you need only pay attention to one thing - once you have chosen that thing. The CoRT programme so widely used in schools provides frameworks for directing attention. It is incredible that education has never realised that attention and perception are a much more important part of thinking than logic. Yet such things are completely absent in education. Many years ago, David Perkins at Harvard showed that ninety per cent of errors of thinking were errors of perception. Goedel's theorem shows how from within a system you can never logically prove the starting points - which remain arbitrary perceptions.

Again it may be that the Church influence on thinking neglected perception because in Church thinking matters of faith replaced actual perception.

Edward de Bono
20th June 2009

Cement Your Reputation as a Leader of Innovative Thinking

To celebrate the European Year of Creativity & Innovation Edward de Bono, currently European Ambassador for Thinking 2009, has launched an online competition to find his greatest students.

All creative thinkers who use de Bono methods are invited to submit their success stories in a very creative way—by blogging on one of Edward de Bono’s newest websites. Find out more at http://www.debonosociety.com/profiles/blogs/edward-de-bono-launches-online.

Note: de Bono Consulting will be happy to help any client or trainer in our U.S. network write your story. Just follow these easy steps:

1. Call 515-278-1292 to arrange an interview time.
2. Spend 15 to 30 minutes on the scheduled phone interview with our writer, Kathy Myers, co-founder of de Bono Thinking Systems
3. We’ll develop your story and send it back to you for your editing/approval.
4. Then follow the directions at the website above to post the story as a blog.

Can't think of a success story? The contest is open until the end of December, 2009. Call us to talk about designing an application of the tools, executing, and documenting the results this fall. We'll support you each step of the way!

For examples of de Bono success stories, order my book, Innovation Case by Case. The book includes 20 accounts of situations where de Bono thinkers applied the tools and achieved notable results.

-Barbara Stennes, de Bono Consulting

Training Magazine Top 125 Contest

Training magazine is now accepting applications for it's Top 125 contest. Visit http://www.trainingmag.com/msg/training/top125/index.jsp for details and to apply.

Inhalable Chocolate

Here's an innovative new product: inhalable chocolate.

Innovation and the Economic Crisis

The OECD has released a new report, Policy Responses to the Economic Crisis: Investing in Innovation for Long Term Growth, which documents the relationship between innovation and economic growth. Specifically, the OECD asks how the recession is likely to affect those factors that are most important for long-term economic growth and development, such as innovation and entrepreneurship.

Not surprisingly, they find that companies are cutting their investments in innovation, such as R&D. Other metrics of innovation, such as venture capital investment, show similar trends. This is in line with historical trends, as innovation expenditure generally tracks GDP growth. The problem, of course, is that innovation is precisely one of the drivers of economic recovery. As more firms slash their budgets for innovation, the more difficult it will be to claw our way out of the recession.

But the picture is not entirely bleak. If history is any guide, economic crisis also spurs innovation, in the sense that inefficient companies go bankrupt and scrappy startups pioneer new business models. It's likely that the seeds of tomorrow's Fortune 500 companies are being planted right now.

The report describes other mechanisms by which the crisis is affecting innovation, such as world trade, human capital, and clean technology. Furthermore, it analyzes the policy responses of individual OECD member countries to the crisis, in terms of the size and focus of their various stimulus packages.

It's an excellent report. Do have a read.

Edward de Bono's weekly message: A deliberate creative focus

Our economic system has sort of evolved. Any new inventions have generally regularised something that was happening anyway. It is generally felt that the impact of any new idea would be so strong that new ideas are risky. Indeed, it could be argued that the creative idea of securitising mortgages was the cause of the present economic crisis.

On my website www.debonopost.com I put forward an idea which will eventually become inevitable. But I do not see it happening for many years.

Perhaps there needs to be a world congress on economics with a direct and deliberate creative focus. Perhaps there needs to be an understanding that 'tinkering' will not always be sufficient.

Edward de Bono
12th June 2009

Edward de Bono's weekly message: A different sort of Logic!

Our habits of thinking are too much judgement based and not enough design based. This arises from the origin with the GG3 (Greek Gang of Three). When this thinking came into Europe at the Renaissance the Church ran schools, universities and thinking in general. What the Church needed was truth, logic and argument to prove heretics wrong. So we developed an excellent thinking system for 'finding the truth' but we never developed thinking 'for creating value (design)'.

Our language also forces us to use judgement. We need to judge whether something is a 'chair' before we can us the word 'chair'. We cannot easily say 'a sort of thing for sitting on'. So everything ends up in sharp edged boxes. To these we can then apply the logic of Aristotle. Sooner or later I am going to develop a very different sort of logic.

Edward de Bono
6th June 2009

Are You Focused Yet?

As promised, here are two more tips on Staying Focused from Mike Michalowicz’s Toilet Paper Entrepreneur website.

While reviewing today’s tips, I checked out Claire Tompkins’ blog at http://www.cluttercoachblog.com and found an amazing array of resources for becoming more organized.

I’ve also been receiving Mike’s updates on the number of hits the Staying Focused list has received. Here is one synopsis he sent to those of us whose tips were posted:

“The post got over 100 views.... A MINUTE.... during the 8 hours of peak traffic time. So far we have over 14,000 unique visitors to the Stay Focused post.

Also, we are on the front page Google for search terms ‘staying focused’ and ‘ways to stay focused’, and are 2nd page Google for many other terms. And the post only went live two days ago!”

It interests me to see that so many people are searching for help on focusing their attention, since this is such a core concept underlying all of Edward de Bono’s thinking tools. Focus is a very powerful tool for creative thinking, a fact that may surprise you. In his book Serious Creativity, Dr. de Bono wrote, “Skilled focus with a little creative skill is probably better than poor focus with great creative skill. So the importance of focus should not be forgotten—especially as it is relatively easy to develop the focus habit.”

Order Serious Creativity by Edward de Bono

Master powerful tools for focusing your attention and energy by enrolling in a de Bono training class. As Edward de Bono said, we can make it easy for you to develop the focus habit.


Today’s Tips on How to Stay Focused

Words of Wisdom
Post a focus statement above your desk.
Examples: It’s the economy, stupid –James Carville.
Just do it –Nike.
It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop –Confucius.

Thanks To: Claire Tompkins of Clutter Coach http://www.cluttercoachblog.com

Get Into The Spirit Of It
I stay focused, when it’s difficult to do, by getting into the spirit of the subject matter through what I wear and how I set up my space when writing or preparing a speech. If I’m working on a Western, I’ll wear boots and jeans and have a figuring horse by my computer. If writing a spiritual book, I might have a Bible and my teddy-bear-angel next to my computer. I try to make it fun - and act AS IF I’m totally in the spirit of the subject matter.

Thanks To: Linda Seger of Script consulting, seminars, books

Find all 63 of the Staying Focused tips at http://www.toiletpaperentrepreneur.com

A Marketplace for Creativity?

BootB is a new website with an interesting premise: a marketplace for creativity.

Some users ("Builders") go to the BootB in search of creative ideas. Builders might be anyone: Fortune 500 companies, start-up entrepreneurs, artists or writers looking for inspiration, anybody. They write a project description, offer a fee for the best idea, and post the description.

Other users ("Creatives") go to BootB in search of project briefs. Like builders, creatives can be anyone - from New York advertising agencies to Bolivian high school students. They browse the projects, select the interesting ones, and submit their ideas.

The builder then reads through all the submissions and selects the best idea. The winning creative collects the fee.

It's a nice way to centralize creativity. One drawback, however, is that BootB relies on quantity of ideas, not quality. There's no feedback mechanism that would allow people to break out of their habitual thinking patterns into truly innovative solutions (the Six Thinking Hats and Lateral Thinking techniques are, of course, examples of such a mechanism).

Nonetheless, we're glad to see BootB's efforts to encourage and reward innovative thinking. BootB is an innovative concept in its own right, and we wish them success.

Focus Tips

At de Bono Consulting we are always looking for information that will help our clients and colleagues. Recently Mike Michalowicz, author of the best-selling book The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur, asked selected consultants how they stay focused on top priorities during downtimes. I responded and was one of 63 people whose ideas were chosen to appear on his web site http://www.toiletpaperentrepreneur.com/.

I was pleased to be included, but even better, I collected many other interesting ideas on how successful people manage their time and attention. It's daunting to read the whole list at once, so I've decided to supply two tips per week in my blog posts, along with other information that you might find interesting. (Please do check out Mike's site, as well--he is a great resource.)

Subscribe to our RSS feed so you don't miss a thing. Comment on my blog posts to help me provide the kinds of information you will find most valuable. And thanks for staying connected with de Bono Consulting.

How To Stay Focused

Fear–Plain and Simple
In the heart of every successful entrepreneur, you’ll find fear. Nothing helps you focus quite like it. Harness it. Because if you aren’t able to focus, buckle down and accomplish what needs to be done for your business and your clients (in that order) – you’re finished. Game over.
Thanks To: Joyce Wilden of Buzz Biz Public Relations

Shut and lock the door.
Turn off the phone. Turn off e-mail until the task is done.
Thanks To: Will Limkemann of Siqua Group Limited

Incandescent Innovation

Over the past ten or so years, incandescent light bulbs have fallen out of favor. New designs - such as the compact fluorescent bulb - are far more energy efficient. In fact, the European Union is in the process of phasing out traditional incandescent bulbs, and many countries around the world are following suit.

But the New York Times reports that incandescents may have a new lease on life. Several groups of scientists - from university researchers to lighting corporations - have discovered new techniques for dramatically increasing the energy efficiency of traditional incandescents. Their ideas involve pulse lasers, reflective coatings, and more. Whether next-generation incandescents can keep up with their eco-friendly replacements remains to be seen - but the race is getting more interesting by the day.

Edward de Bono's weekly message: Difficult Times / Problem Solving

There is a difference between difficult times and a problem. With difficult times the universe of action is changed. All logics are only relevant in their particular universe - just as the universe of a patterning system is different from a language universe. The recession at the moment qualifies as a difficult time so a rather different thinking is required from traditional problem solving. Values become even more important. Problem solving usually implies a return to the situation before the problem. That is not possible for an individual or a corporation.

Visitors to this site might like to visit www.debonosociety.com which is intended to bring together people who are using my work.

"Innovation: Case by Case" at ASTD International Conference & Expo

Barb Stennes' book Innovation: Case by Case will be available at ASTD's International Conference and Expo. The book offers twenty case studies of well-known organizations - such as Boeing, ABN AMRO, Motorola, and 3M - that have used the de Bono thinking tools to solve critical problems.

Driving Innovation with Social Media

In a nice post, BookmarkDevil paraphrases Guy Kawasaki and Michael Axelin's suggestions for using social media to drive innovation. Social networking sites - e.g., Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and their ilk - are used primarily for non-commercial purposes; after all, there is a reason that they are called social networking.

But these tools also have commercial applications, and companies are increasingly trying to capitalize on them. The applications include marketing and consumer outreach, new product development, team collaboration, online brainstorming and innovation, and more.

As every business leader knows, innovation is critical to success, and social networking offers multiple tools for any organization to become more innovative. For executives who want to know more, BookmarkDevil's post is a good place to start.

Espresso and print-on-demand

One of the most exciting innovations I have seen recently is the Espresso Book Machine. In essence, the device is a large printer that can that can print a single copy of virtually any book in only a couple minutes. Think of a vending machine with some two million books inside.

This is the type of innovation that could potentially disrupt the entire publishing industry. What Microsoft did for computers, what Skype did for telecommunications, OnDemandBooks could conceivably do for books.

The publishing industry’s historical business model is “print, ship, sell.” Publishers print the books, which are delivered to bookstores and eventually sold to consumers. Like in any retail environment, inventory management is critical. If a bookstore stocks too many copies of a book, it risks unsold inventory. If it stocks too few, it misses out on sales. Another variable is the number of different books to stock. Large inventories mean (1) typing up lots of capital and (2) renting expensive warehouses or retail stores. On the other hand, large inventories also mean that a store is likely to have whichever book a particular consumer wants.

The bookstore wars of the last thirty years reflect advances on this front. In the good ol’ days, every town had a corner bookshop. The 1980s gave us chains like Waldenbooks and B. Dalton, which featured centralized purchasing and inventory management systems. The 1990s witnessed mega-stores Borders and Barnes & Noble. With fewer (but significantly larger) retail locations, these mega-stores could manage inventory even better. They also became “destination” locations and encouraged shoppers to linger and browse. And of course, the internet age spawned Amazon, which dispensed with the storefront altogether. While innovative in its own way, Amazon nonetheless needed a large technological and logistical infrastructure. What’s more, they manage their inventory as carefully as any other retailer.

The Espresso Book Machine is different. Print-on-demand flips the entire business model on its head: “sell, print.” First the consumer buys the book, and then it is printed. Meanwhile, shipping is eliminated altogether.

Suddenly, inventory management – the most difficult problem faced by every retailer – is a non-issue. The bookstore always has exactly the right number of books in stock – never too many, never too few. Whatever book the customer wants is always in stock. Moreover, the store faces zero inventory cost, which frees up capital. The store can “stock” millions upon millions of titles without needing large stores or warehouses. And shipping costs are eliminated altogether.

In short, print-on-demand is a radical innovation in the publishing world. It will be very interesting to see how things shake out.

And for those who wants to see the Espresso Book Machine firsthand, it’s available at these locations.

Edward de Bono at the House of Lords

Edward de Bono was recently at the House of Lords, where he led Thinking Evolution, a gathering of experts in a variety of disciplines. Their task? To generate ideas on ways to improve the world.

Edison Awards

The 2009 Edison Awards recently took place. The awards recognize innovation in numerous categories, including:

• consumer packaged goods
• lifestyle & social impact
• living & working environments
• technology
• media & communications
• science & medical
• energy & sustainability
• transportation
• electronics & computers
• industrial design

Winners include Omnipod (an insulin management system), the Trek Madone 5.2 (a racing bike), and Rio Salado College. The Edison Awards also honored David Kelley, founder and chairman of IDEO, and Susan Desmond-Hellmann, Genentech's president of product development, for their lifetime achievements in innovation. Congratulations to all the winners!

Edward de Bono's weekly message: Soccer

I once suggested a change to the rules of soccer. When there is a draw then extra time is played. If there is still a draw there there is a penalty shoot-out. This introduces an element of luck. In addition if one side has a player good at penalty shooting then that side would win.

My suggestion would reflect the whole game. Every time the goalkeeper touched the ball that side gets a minus point. This would encourage attacks on goal and discourage passing back to the goal-keeper. After extra time if the score was stil equal then the side with the least minus points is the winner. This now reflects the whole game.

It may take a long time for this rule to be adopted. Meantime newspaper reporters could report a game as Goals 3 - 1; de Bono 10 - 30. That way people would get used to the idea.

Edward de Bono
18th April 2009

Innovation Climate Survey

InnovationTools recently released an Innovation Climate Survey. They find that, despite the recession, companies are by and large continuing to support innovation efforts.

• Nearly half the respondents reported that in their organizations, the climate for innovation has improved since the economic crisis began. Another one-fourth reported no change. Only one-fourth described a deteriorating innovation climate.
• Nearly two-thirds report that their budget for innovation initiatives has either grown or remained steady. Only one-third of respondents have witnessed cuts to the innovation budget.

The survey describes the areas that companies are prioritizing for innovation (number one: "looking for creative ways to improve or extend your existing products"). There is also a qualitative section which excerpts respondents' comments.

BusinessWeek's Most Innovative Companies 2009

The latest BusinessWeek rankings of the world's most innovative companies are out.

The winners? Naturally, the top ten are dominated by technology and telecommunications firms: Apple, Google, Microsoft, Nintendo, IBM, HP, Research in Motion, Nokia, etc.

But farther down the list, we find a few surprises. Wal-Mart (#10)? McDonald's (#19)? Coca-Cola (#24)?

BusinessWeek has also published its rankings methodology.

Happy World Creativity & Innovation Week!

Today marks the beginning of World Creativity and Innovation Week. In the words of Marci Segal, the co-founder:

World Creativity and Innovation Week April 15 - 21 is a celebration of our ability to get new ideas, use imagination and make new decisions to make the world a better place and to make your place in the world better too. Do what you can, do what you like. There’s only one rule: do no harm.

Since 2002, people in businesses, homes, organizations, schools and communities (106 at last count) in over 46 countries spend the week beginning April 15th (Leonardo da Vinci’s birthday), ending on April 21st to enliven, encourage, enjoy and express their creative spirit.

Imagine the world united through its creativity. Where everyone takes a moment, a day, or the week to generate new ideas to create a brighter future wherever they are.

Here are some examples of ways that people have celebrated, and here are the origins of WCIW.

Miles Davis' Lessons in Innovation

Harvard Business School's Working Knowledge, a publication that previews cutting-edge faculty research, has just published Kind of Blue: Pushing Boundaries with Miles Davis. In this interview, Rob Austin and Carl Størmer discuss the radical innovation inherent in Miles Davis' seminal record, the underlying principles that enabled him to achieve it, and the lessons that today's managers can draw.

Most significant is the language Austin and Størmer use to describe Miles Davis. He was obviously an extraordinarily gifted musician, but they place greater emphasis on his skills as a manager, leader, and collaborator. They describe, for example, Davis' ability to manage the creative process, his efforts to create an top-notch ensemble and establish a productive team dynamic, and his techniques for jolting musicians out of their habitual thinking patterns and into fresh, new terrain. Any manager or business leader will instantly grasp the relevance of these ideas to his or her own situation.

Moreover, fans of Edward de Bono will recognize many of the Six Hats and Lateral Thinking concepts at work. Austin and Størmer don't use the de Bono language, nor do they suggest any connection between Davis and Dr. de Bono. However, it's striking that in his own attempts to create a new musical landscape, Miles Davis intuitively seemed to grasp many of the same principles that Dr. de Bono later explicated.

In short, it's a fascinating interview. Do read it.

Edward de Bono's weekly message: de Bono Society

I have been asked to set up a society for motivated thinkers. This is at www.debonosociety.com. Further details are available at this site. There will be occasional podcasts, tasks, suggestions, instructions, team building etc. There are people who are genuinely interested in thinking. They are not only interested in proving they are right or in showing off but also in developing further skills in thinking.

In the end thinking is the only means we have for delivering human values. Yet no bookshop has a section devoted to thinking. No university has a faculty of thinking. Only a few schools have a subject called 'thinking'. That is because we have been so satisfied with limited traditional thinking.

Edward de Bono

10th April 2009

The Revolution of Creativity - Lateral Thinking Immersion Class

Executives, entrepreneurs, educators, consultants, and others will gather in Boston, June 21-24, for the Creative Problem Solving Institute's annual conference The Revolution of Creativity.

Participants will choose from keynote presentations, 90-minute breakouts, and elective classes focusing on innovation and creativity.

When registering, sign up for the Lateral Thinking for Innovative Leaders Immersion Class. This interactive class, developed by Dr. Edward de Bono, provides a disciplined approach to innovation, idea generation, and concept development.

Register for the Revolution of Creativity

Bring Lateral Thinking Training to Your Organization

The Public Innovator's Playbook

And speaking of innovation as a solution to the economic crisis, Deloitte Research and Harvard's Kennedy School of Government have published The Public Innovator's Playbook, which draws the connection between innovation and public policy. More importantly, authors William Eggers and Shalabh Kumar Singh lay out specific ways in which governments can become more innovative and generate better solutions to today's problems. As they say in the foreword, "The goal of this book is to... help governments become serial innovators."

Here is the press release, which describes the book in more detail. The entire book is available for download from Deloitte or in hard copy via Amazon.

Edward de Bono in Lebanon

Edward de Bono was in Beirut earlier this week, discussing the role of creativity in the economic downturn. Dr. de Bono described his thinking methodology in general, as well specific applications to the economy and to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Lebanese Daily Star covers his visit here.