EDWARD DE BONO'S MESSAGE
6th April 1998

The Edward de Bono Conference - Malta

3rd - 7th August 1998

From all over the world trainers in my work and members of the Creative Team are coming to Malta from 3rd August to 7th August for the first ever meeting of such people. The idea was suggested by my brother, Peter, who runs this website. The response has been much better than I had expected.

The invitation is now also extended to those who do not fall into the above categories but who are particularly interested in my work - in business or in education. The purpose of the meeting is to provide a meeting between people who have been active in helping others to use the simple frameworks of thinking that I have developed over the years. The meeting is not a training session nor is it a conference on thinking. I shall, of course, be sharing my experience, vision and hopes with those who attend, but it is not a formal training session as such.

At this point in time many people have built up a considerable experience in the use of these methods. There is much to share - and much to learn from others. Many different styles of teaching may all be equally effective. There is also much to discuss in how both educators and people in business react to the idea of teaching thinking directly and explicitly. There is now enough material to show that teaching thinking is both possible and powerful - at all levels: from illiterate miners to top executives in the world's largest corporations.

I want people to come to this meeting in order to feel that they are part of a group which is doing something useful in the world. At the end of the day the quality of our future will be determined largely by the quality of our thinking. After a seminar I gave in Istanbul a TV interviewer said that people were becoming increasing tired of the various 'isms' (Marxism, capitalism etc. etc.) and that perhaps teaching people to think for themselves was as important as the 'isms' which told people what to do.

Anyone who comes to this meeting will know that teaching thinking is highly effective and is not difficult. All that is required is the will to do it.

Edward de Bono
5th April 1998