HISTORY IN THE MAKING
I am one of the very few people in history to have had a major impact on the way we think - rather than on what we think. For the first time in history it has become possible to see creativity not as a mystique process but as the behaviour of a self-organising information system formed from neural networks. From the same basis I have developed the deliberate tools of lateral thinking. The term 'lateral thinking' is now part of the language and the tools are in use with individuals and organisations around the world.
My background is in medicine and psychology. I was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford and have held appointments at the Universities of Oxford, London, Cambridge and Harvard. What is unusual is the very wide span of my work. I have worked with many of the major corporations in the world (IBM, Exxon, Du Pont, AT&T, Siemens, NTT, Prudential etc) and also with six year old school children. I have been invited to lecture in 52 countries and have written a large number of books with translations in 34 languages. In some countries my work on the teaching of thinking as a direct subject is widely used in schools.
My Six Hats method of constructive thinking is rapidly supplanting the traditional argument type which is so lacking in constructive, creative and design energies.
Edward de Bono
