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The notion of being able to read your bank balance on a "virtual ATM" led me to think of the concept of withdrawing "virtual cash" from such a machine. This virtual cash could be used on the internet for payment as an alternative to credit cards which would be safer and more versatile. The technical aspect is beyond me, but could the data for cash in hand be stored in an email box for example?
©Robert Sanders & Edward de Bono Creative Team 1999

I have found that when I want to spell check a memo that really requires to have no spelling mistakes (such as a CV) it is more effective to spell check reading backwards because it avoids me being distracted by the meaning of the text. I can therefore focus better on the spelling.
©Roland Vachet & Edward de Bono Creative Team 1999

When getting a passport type photo taken in a photo cabin hold a A4 sheet of white paper below your chin out of view from the lens. This will reflect light upwards giving more pleasing shadowing, even getting rid of double chins! Considering passports can last up to 10 years it’s worth trying to get a good photo!
©Paul Hughes & Edward de Bono Creative Team 1999

How to keep your large plants watered when you are on holidays:

• Fill the deep end of your bath with a few centimetres of water.
• Place a damp towel along the bottom of the bath, reaching from the deep end to the shallow end.
• Place your plant pots on the towel in the shallow end.

The plants will pull water as needed along the towel from the deep end. And you get to come back to a green home (or bathroom at least!).
©Paul Hughes & Edward de Bono Creative Team 1999

How to keep your small plants watered when you are on holidays:

• Place a bowl of water close to your plant.
• Insert one end of a straw in the soil of your plant and the other end intothe bowl.
• The water will be sucked into the soil as needed.

Green, well-watered plants welcome you when you come home!
©Paul Hughes & Edward de Bono Creative Team 1999

Here in Holland almost every one cycles, even on the coldest winter mornings. I am not used to this, perhaps it’s because when I was growing up in Ireland I only ever cycled on the warmest summer months (ok, so I didn’t cycle much!). When I have to cycle here in the cold, I place a newspaper on mychest/front under my jacket. It keeps me insulated and warm. An old trick that works wonders and you’ve got something to read at traffic lights!
©Paul Hughes & Edward de Bono Creative Team 1999

Getting a sore throat? Sit comfortably with your back straight and hands on your knees. Stick your tongue out as far as possible a number of times, stretching the muscles in your throat. Feel a noticeable difference in a few hours!
©Paul Hughes & Edward de Bono Creative Team 1999

There were vines on my roof top when I purchased my factory. They etched into my ceiling and water dropped into my factory. Now I have planted some flowers on the roof. It is now clean and tidy, provides much needed relaxation for the brain, and the chance to breath fresh air together with the beauty of nature.
©S. C. Mok (Hong Kong) & Edward de Bono Creative Team 1999

If you have a job that seems to lead to highs and lows (such as sales), record your successes at night on a portable dictaphone so that you can listen back to them when you're in a lull. This helps take away the feeling of negativity or lost ability that may otherwise affect you.
©Graham Heddle & Edward de Bono Creative Team 1999

Problem: The toothbrush holders holes are too big and the toothbrush drops through so the bristles get dirty etc.
Solution: Wrap a rubber band or hair tie around the handle of the toothbrush so it can't drop through.
©Tom Paton & Edward de Bono Creative Team 1999

For people who cannot read the street signs at night, attach a low range transmitter to the sign post so that when a car drives past, a receiving unit in the car will pick up the transmission, which is a verbal signal saying what the name of the street is.
©Anthony (California) & Edward de Bono Creative Team 1999

If you have to divide something between 2 people, you follow the principle of : he who divides first will choose last. The same applies for N people. The division is performed by #1 next #2 etc till #(N-1) Each is assumed to fairly assign 1/N. Next the choosing takes place. #N is first, next #1, then #2 etc.
©Wout Perquin & Edward de Bono Creative Team 1999

I always use the following example to illustrate the power of lateral thinking. You are somewhere on the globe. You go 1km South, 1km West, 1km North and you are back where you started from. Where are you ?
Most people will easily say : I am on the North Pole.
Now you ask : is there any other place on the globe with identical characteristics?
Most people are now caught in the solution attractor trap, because there is only one North Pole. But some might come with the answer : I am on a parallel 1 km North of a parallel with a length of 1km. I did not find the 2nd solution myself. And the book in which the problem was presented did not mention a third solution either. But having read about lateral thinking I was convinced that there had to be a 3th solution as well. I did not only found a 3th solution but an infinite number of solutions. Because all parallels 1km North of parallels of 1/2km, 1/3km, 1/4km etc. are valid solutions. And this makes that on the globe there are : 1+I+I*I (were I means infinite) places with the given characteristics. Which is a lot more than one will find if one gives up searching after the first spot is found.
©Wout Perquin & Edward de Bono Creative Team 1999

Cars get an additional light in the middle at the front. It turns red when the car brakes. Now we can see from both the rear and the front whether a car is braking. This might increase overall traffic safety.
©Wout Perquin & Edward de Bono Creative Team 1999

In Belgium The Post offers a service for people who move. They will forward all your mail to your new address. A better service would be if they return the mail to the originator with a sticker that says
THEY ARE MOVED, THEIR NEW ADDRESS IS ...
In this way all people that send mail to you are notified.
©Wout Perquin & Edward de Bono Creative Team 1999

If you fight with cockroaches (they have a habit of visiting me occasionally), and during your dinner one is running in the kitchen, use hairspray (preferably mega hold). It will slow him (her?) immediately and you can do with him/her whatever you want. And it will not spoil hair a lot!
©Eriks Burkevics & Edward de Bono Creative Team 1999

If you are out of time but still want to drink some coffee, cool down your cup in cold water before pouring coffee in it. It will be drinkable rather quickly. My mother's suggestion was to put a spoon (preferably silver) in a cup - metal warms up and cools down much more quicker than ceramic so it gives away heat. The same concept applies when you have frozen meat - you should put it on a saucepan.
©Eriks Burkevics & Edward de Bono Creative Team 1999

When during mobile conversation I am asked to give someone's phone number from the SIM cards memory, I am reading it from the display keeping the phone in front of me like microphone, then I ask if everything was clear.
©Eriks Burkevics & Edward de Bono Creative Team 1999

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