MESSAGE FOR WEEK BEGINNING 20th November 2000

..more code.....

Suppose we did not have or could not use the word 'tomato'. You go to the supermarket and have to find a tomato visually or else explain what you want:

• it is round and red
• it fits into the hand
• it is used in making salads
• the juice makes a good drink
• a sauce is made from it for spaghetti
• it is often grown in greenhouses

Would it not be much easier to say: "I would like a tomato"?

There are complex situations where we have to go through the whole descriptive process because language has not been good at developing words for complex people/interactive situations.

Imagine the awkwardness of a teenager saying to his parents: "Look, I am really in deep trouble and I do not know what to do. I would really like your help and advice. But I do not want the usual sermons and 'told you so' preaching. Is it possible that we could work together on this to find a way forward?" That is both a mouthful and rather awkward to say for most teenagers. It would be much easier for a teenager to say: "Mum, I have an 8/1 here".

Mum rushes off to look in the family copy of the 'de Bono Code Book' (or knows this particular code by heart).

Edward de Bono nmt
19th Novembr 2000
Malta

The de Bono Code website