TRAINING

A TWO DAY LEADING EDGE MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP CREATED BY EDWARD DE BONO

"In any self-organising information system (like the human brain) there is a mathematical necessity for creativity. The excellence of the human brain is due to its design as a non-creative system. We need to use deliberate mental 'software' of Lateral Thinking to develop new concepts. Traditional brainstorming is much too weak."

Why are these seminars on creativity so important for everyone in business?

The reason is competition.  We have refined our products, we have improved our services and we have cut our costs. We all have the same technology and the same information.  On what basis will the victorious emerge? John Nesbitt, author of 'Megatrends' and 'Megatrends 2000' states:
".......in the new information rich, de-centralised, global society, creativity will be increasingly valued in business. Creativity is the corporation's competitive edge".
Give yourself and your organisation the edge you will need. Attend seminars and discover how lateral thinking and my 'Six Hats' method will increase your creative abilities.

Edward de Bono

"A very good programme - has definitely whetted my appetite...."   "Very good two days - excellent tools which can be used in my everyday work....."    "Excellent programme and speakers - invigorating....."    "In DuPont, we have many good examples of how our technical people have applied Dr de Bono's Lateral Thinking techniques to successfully solve problems...."

Why Creativity?

Creativity is a necessary part of human thinking. Without creativity, competence becomes a commodity. Lateral Thinking is the needed intervention in a self-organising information system in order to make fuller use of information. The analysing of information can only yield a very limited number of new ideas because the mind can only see what it is prepared to see. To get more ideas, the mind has to prepare frameworks of possibility before analysing the information. This requires creativity.

Serious Creativity

Many people believe that novelty and wackiness are sufficient for creative thinking. They may be sufficient in the world of advertising; elsewhere, creative ideas also have to be practical. What is needed is the concept of 'Serious Creativity'; that is, creative ideas that address issues and create opportunities.

The Quality of Thinking

People are seeking quality everywhere except in the most important area - the quality of thinking. We need better thinking methods in order to make full use of available intelligence. As organisations reduce the number of people they employed, they need to get the maximum benefit from those remaining, including the quality of their thinking.

Lateral Thinking

In an increasing competitive world, traditional methods of problem solving can only take us so far. We need to go beyond problem solving, we need the ability to generate new concepts and new ways of doing things. Indeed, we must learn to do so on demand, instead of just hoping we'll somehow stumble on an innovative idea.
Lateral thinking will equip you with solid practical methods for challenging current thinking. You'll find out how to harness your own creativity so that it can work for you, when you need it. You"ll learn how to solve problems and generate new ideas to meet the challenges of the concept driven businesses of the nineties and the new millennium.

Lateral Thinking in Action

The British Airways Authority implemented a completely new approach to parking at Heathrow Airport. The idea was developed using Lateral Thinking. The result: lower costs, reduced traffic and improved customer satisfaction.
At Prudential Insurance of Canada the executive team used Lateral Thinking to develop the hugely successful concept of 'Living Benefits'. This revolutionised the insurance industry and helped Prudential lead the market with a unique product.
DuPont uses Lateral Thinking extensively throughout their organisation. For example, they use it to improve their manufacture process for Kelvar, a patented fibre five times stronger than steel. Using Lateral Thinking techniques, their innovation team developed a radical new approach to the process, which produced significant cost savings.

Who will benefit?

This workshop is designed for all executives, managers, professionals and advisors with staff or functional responsibilities. In particular those involved with business development and cultural change

Why your management team should attend

This seminar will dispel the 'creative myth' that creativity is a 'gift' that one is born with. And that those with this 'gift' can simply tap into some magical stream of marvellous creative ideas. Creativity is not a 'gift'. It is a process of thinking.
Sometimes the process is easy, sometimes it is difficult. Fortunately for all of us, Edward de Bono has invented a new process - Lateral Thinking - that makes creativity far easier and more attainable for everyone and, used with the 'Six Hats' method, Lateral Thinking becomes an even more powerful and creative tool.

This seminar is not just for 'creative' people. It is for everyone.

This seminar will be invaluable, no matter how creative or uncreative you think you are. If you consider yourself a creative person, this seminar will add more to your abilities than you ever thought possible.
The seminar is also for people who think they are not creative. These people will discover that the Lateral Thinking methods will tap into and unleash the creative power they never thought they had.
"The main difficulty of thinking is confusion. We try to do too much at once. Emotions, information, logic, hope and creativity all crowd in on us. It is like juggling with too many balls".
This seminar will show that there are practical ways to separate emotion from logic, creativity from information and so on. There are useful techniques to orchestrate your thinking to be more effective and creative.

Workshop Outline

The need for Creative Thinking

	The limits of logical and critical thinking
	Why creative thinking is a learnable set of skills

The Thinking Techniques

	ALTERNATIVES: How to use concepts as a breeding ground for new ideas. Sometimes we do not look beyond the obvious alternatives. Sometimes we do not look for alternatives at all. This seminar shows you how to extract the concept behind a group of alternatives and then use it to generate further alternatives.
	FOCUS: When and how to change the focus of your thinking. The discipline of defining your focus and sticking to it. The attitude of focusing on matters that are not problem areas. How to generate and use a Creative Hit List.
	CHALLENGE: Breaking free from the limits of the accepted way of operating. With Challenge, we believe that the present way of doing things is not necessarily the best. Challenge is not an attack or criticism. It is the willingness to explore reasons why we do things the way we do and whether there are any alternatives.
	RANDOM ENTRY: Using unconnected input to open up new lines of thinking
	PROVOCATION & MOVEMENT: Generating provocative statements and then using them to build new ideas. This session explores the nature of perception and how it limits our creativity. The Provocation techniques are designed to challenge these limitations. Movement is a new mental operation that we can use as an alternative to judgment. It allows us to develop a provocative idea into one that is workable and realistic.
	HARVESTING: At the end of a Creative Thinking session note is only taken of the specific ideas that seem practical and have obvious value. We need to make a deliberate harvesting effort to collect ideas and concepts that are less well developed.
	TREATMENT OF IDEAS: How to develop ideas and shape them to fit an organisation or situation.

THE AIM IS FOR YOU TO LEAVE THE WORKSHOP WITH SKILLS THAT YOU HAVE PRACTISED AND CAN APPLY IMMEDIATELY

	A clear understanding of effective, serious creative thinking far beyond the old fashioned brainstorming
	An understanding of creative attitudes that can be used in business and private life
	specific tools and techniques that can be applied by individuals or groups in a deliberate manner in order to generate fresh ideas for a defined purpose.
	A focused, deliberate event to help recharge your creative potential.