The Online de Bono Thinking Skills Course
At last! A distributed on-line learning course designed by Edward de Bono. The course is divided into three parts or modules that teach the powerful thinking tools and creativity techniques developed by Dr. de Bono.
The aim of this course is to train people in thinking and to give them 'self esteem' in their ability to think. This leads to self confidence. This type of thinking is important to the entrepreneur and the emphasis is on this approach.
"Thank you very much for this excellent course. To be honest I did not expect it to be as effective as it turned out to be. Very useful in all areas of life and work. I would certainly recommend this course to others.
I would definitely want to do some tutoring with material that is as good as this.
I've got a master's degree from the local business school majoring in information processing. It occurred to me that this course in Effective Thinking is probably much more beneficial for me than four years at the business school. The emphasis on perception nicely balances the analytical approach of academic university education. Perhaps success in business depends more on perception than processing?"
- Jukka (Finland)
THE EFFECTIVE THINKING COURSE
The course consists of three modules:
- Basic Thinking Tools
- Thinking Situations
- Creativity and Lateral Thinking
This module consists of sections on:
1. Are you a thinker? This section looks at your self image as a thinker and at thinking skills
2. P.M.I. Analysis of Plus, Minus and Interesting points. This is a powerful tool for considering new ideas
3. A.G.O. The examination of Aims, Goals and Objectives. A.G. O. is used to clarify thinking , for example, when considering new initiatives
4. CAF. CAF involves a structured process to the Consideration of All Factors. It is often used when considering situations prior to developing ideas. CAF helps ensure that no possibilities have been overlooked.
5. O.P.V. O.P.V. is an extension of CAF that gets you to consider Other People's Views. Almost any thinking activity involves other people, at least indirectly: choices, decisions, plans, and so forth. O. P. V. tries to get the thinker inside the heads of those involved.
6. FIP. FIP is a basic tool like the others. It provides a deliberate instruction to you (or to others) to focus directly on priorities (in general or at a particular moment). FIP stands for First Important Priorities.
7. A.P.C. A. P. C. is another of the convenience tools that we can use with ourselves or with others in order to direct our minds to carry out some task. A.P.C. involves looking for the Alternatives, Possibilities or Choices (whichever is appropriate) in that situation.
8. C. & S. " C" stands for Consequences, " S" stands for Sequel. Doing a " C&S" means focusing upon and spelling out the consequences that might arise from a decision, course of action or change of any sort.
This module consists of sections on:
1. PLAN AND ACTION: Getting things done, making something happen, implementation, carrying something out. Thinking is involved not only in arriving at a decision but also in carrying it out. Planning is usually an essential part of getting something done.
2. DECISION AND EVALUATION: Judging the value of an option. Is this worth doing? Making decisions and making choices. Why decision making can be so difficult. Decision-making as necessity and opportunity.
3. PROBLEM-SOLVING AND DESIGN: Finding solutions to problems, and designing solutions to problems. In a sense any design task is also a problem-solving task because there is something to be achieved and no obvious way of achieving it
4. COPING AND ORGANISING: Coping with confusion and mess. Creating order out of chaos. Organising different elements so that the whole works- a common enough real-life situation.
5. NEGOTIATION AND CONFLICT: Two party situations. Each side trying to get what it wants. This extends from win/win or mutual benefit negotiation to argument and conflict.
6. COMMUNICATION AND PERSUASION: The transfer of information. The transfer of perceptions. Getting other people to see what you want them to see. Clarity of communication. Opening up perceptions in persuasion.
7. EXPLORATION AND DISCUSSION: Making a map of the situation. Getting as much information as possible. Investigation, hypothesis and hypothesis testing. Explanation: what is going on? Discussion with the purpose of exploring a situation: different information and different views.
8. OPPORTUNITY AND INITIATIVE: "Greenfield" thinking. Much of our thinking is reactive: we are forced to think about something. In this Section we look at initiatives: we set out to think about something because we want to. Looking for opportunities.
This module consists of sections on:
1. THE NEED FOR LATERAL THINKING: Realising the need to improve the quality of our thinking. Application of thinking to different areas.
2. BASIC LEVEL CREATIVITY: The cure for arrogance and the deliberate search for alternatives: concepts and explorations. The mechanics of new routes.
3. JUDGEMENT AND MOVEMENT: The difference between perception and processing. Patterning systems, and the concept of idiom. humour, logic and lateral thinking.
4. ESCAPE: The first technique of lateral thinking.
5. STEPPING STONE: The second technique.
6. RANDOM JUXTAPOSITION: The third technique.
7. THE TREATMENT OF IDEAS: Constraints, shaping, using and harvesting.
8. FOCUS: How to define the creative thrust. The creation of idea sensitive areas for the generation of creative thinking.
EFFECTIVE THINKING: BACKGROUND
In this course you will use basic thinking tools and develop skills in their use by practising them on the sort of problems that you might encounter in real life. You will then be able to apply the tools to scenarios that you may face in your studies, at home or in the workplace.
This course is based on thirty years' experience in the teaching of thinking to thousands of youngsters and adults. These have included top scientists, engineers, designers and architects and also senior executives of many of the largest corporations in the world (Shell, IBM, Du Pont and Bank of America among others).
The course is on the CoRT Thinking Programme (CoRT stands for Cognitive Research Trust) which is the most widely used programme for the teaching of thinking worldwide it has been developed by Dr. Edward de Bono.
EFFECTIVE THINKING: FOR WHOM?
The course is primarily designed for adults for their own use, and possibly for younger people, such as families. The depth to which the course goes for basic thinking and creativity 'tools' makes it ideal for learning thinking skills and for providing a substantial foundation for the understanding and use of the rest of Dr de Bono's work.
EFFECTIVE THINKING - MAKING THE MOST OF IT
The course promotes a "systematic" approach to the development of thinking skills. In other words it walks you through a step by step process, starting with the introduction of thinking tools and then systematically considering thinking situations before going on to explore creativity and lateral thinking. The result is a highly effective programme that will improve your thinking abilities.
EFFECTIVE THINKING - WORKED EXERCISES
In each section there is a number of exercises. Some of the exercises are 'self-assessed' and others are 'tutor-assessed'. In both cases the exercises need to be submitted. In both cases a sample answer will be sent to the participant and if the exercise happens to be the last exercise in a section then the next section will be sent together with the sample answer. This is only a sample answer and is by no means the only appropriate answer as in 'thinking situations' there are many alternatives even when using similar tools. It is a condition that all exercises are worked in a proper and significant manner. All exercises must be worked and in the right order otherwise sample answers etc may be withheld.
EFFECTIVE THINKING - OPERATIONAL
These modules are basic foundation modules and as such should be taken in sequence. A participant can take one or more modules. A personalised digital certificate will be given to each successful participant for each module. A physical certificate will be awarded to successful participants in all three modules. Once a participant completes all three modules they will become 'de Bono Certified Effective Thinkers'.
It is suggested that each module would take about 7-12 hours to complete.
EFFECTIVE THINKING - TUTORS
The Effective Thinking Course is administered by two Master Tutors that have been personally trained and certified by Dr. Edward de Bono. All other tutors have been trained in the thinking tools and creativity techniques of Dr. de Bono using his style and training methods developed over years being the foremost expert on the direct teaching of thinking as a skill.
VISIT EFFECTIVE THINKING WEBSITE
Visit www.effectivethinking.me to enrol today.
