EDWARD DE BONO'S MESSAGE
13th April 1998

Creative Judgement

& On-line Courses

In the next edition of my newsletter (Letter to thinking Managers), which I write with Bobo Heller, I look at 'Creative Judgement'. We normally regard judgement as the enemy of creativity because judgement is always concerned with "what is". Judgement compares anything new with already established patterns. This is an immensely useful habit of mind and allows us to cope with the world. But judgement is usually less concerned with "what can be" because that is novelty, risk and uncertainty. Yet there are many aspects of judgement which can be very helpful in the creative process: for example setting up new frames for judgement.

In the past I have mentioned the possibility of setting up some on-line courses via the net. I have been hestitant about this because it could add a lot of hassle with relatively little response. The last thing I want is more hassle!

In a way the investment of money is a great deal easier than the investment of time and energy. There is the investment of time and energy is setting something up. That is not the main trouble. The real trouble is the continued invcestment of time and energy on a maintenance basis once something has got going. That is a much bigger problem. The simple answer is delegation. That is why the APTT programme for certifying trainers in my work functions so well. The equivalent for on-line courses might be needed.

As I have mentioned before there is a need to design some totally new professions for the future. Universities are never going to do this so there might be a need to set up an on-line academy to do just this.

I shall return to this subject again and might, finally, do something about it.

Edward de Bono
12th April 1998