EDWARD DE BONO'S MESSAGE
23rd February 1997

THE CONCEPT AGE

I am in Monterey in California. Tommorrow I address the TED Conference which, I am told, brings together the top thinkers in the area of electronics, information, technology etc.

What I am going to say is that the excellent and much acclaimed "Information Age" is over. We are now moving into the "idea age" or "concept age". Concepts are the 'genes' of ideas.

There was a time when information was the bottleneck. No more. We can get all the information we need. The new bottleneck is 'thinking' and creative thinking in particular.

The analysis of information does not yield new ideas because the brain can only see what it is prepared to see - so you have to be create the idea first as a possibility.

Information and technology can support the value concepts we design - but you have to design them first.

In this new age into which we are moving creative thinking is going to be the key skill that is required.

That is why I set up the Edward de Bono Creative Team^TM in order to bring together creative thinkers.

I have been rather disappointed with the number of creative thinkers on the Internet. Perhaps the people who use Internet are not creative thinkers and do not consider themselves as such. Perhaps they lack confidence in their creative abilities. Remember creativity is not just a natural talent. It is a deliberate skill which can be learnt.

Some people have asked why there should be a subscription fee to the Team. The simple answer is motivation and commitment. The Team is a sort of family. You have to show you want to join. The very fact that some people are reluctant to makes makes an even better index of commitment. The minimum fee is $10 a year or slightly under 20 cents a week! If that is too much for you then I rather doubt your commitment to creativity. Of course, there are much better and more important things on which to spend your money. That is your choice - and probably a very sensible one.

There may be a few people who genuinely cannot afford even such a low fee. If so, get in touch with me and give your reasons. I will pay the fee for you. You then suggest how else you will demonstrate your motivation and commitment to creativity. This offer is not open-ended and may be terminated at any time and without reason.

When the Team or family has grown to a sufficient size then various activities will be directed to team members. For example ideas for new businesses will be suggested from time to time.

From time to time I want to recognise and acknowledge people who have been especially helpful to me in the field of creativity.

At this point I want to acknowledge Phil Bachmann of Australia. He is a brilliant programmer and system designer who has been most helpful and supportive over the years. I first met him when he came to my annual Venice seminar on advanced lateral thinking. Phil can be contacted at 'WCS_OA@msn.com'. Thank you Phil for your support and real help.

The GDP in Singapore is $24,000 per capita. This is more than most developed countries. Singapore has put a lot of emphasis on the importance of 'thinking' as the country's only resource. Each year I talk to about 500 of the country's top civil servants. I have been doing this for several years.

The government had started to put my CoRT Thinking Programmes into all schools but then things got rather bogged down in bureaucracy. In a recent Cabinet re-shuffle the Minister of Education has now been replaced. The new minister has announced that the thinking programme will be in use in all schools by the year 2000. Peter and Linda Low have been especially active in teaching my methods in Singapore and I shall acknowledge them in a future message.

Edward de Bono
19th February 1997