Edward De Bono Quotes
Many highly intelligent people are poor thinkers. Many people of average intelligence are skilled thinkers. The power of a car is separate from the way the car is driven.
There is no doubt that creativity is the most important human resource of all. Without creativity, there would be no progress, and we would be forever repeating the same patterns.
Sometimes the situation is only a problem because it is looked at in a certain way. Looked at in another way, the right course of action may be so obvious that the problem no longer exists.
Companies that solely focus on competition will ultimately die. Those that focus on value creation will thrive.
The winner is the chef who takes the same ingredients as everyone else and produces the best results.
Most of the mistakes in thinking are inadequacies of perception rather than mistakes of logic.
Intelligence is something we are born with. Thinking is a skill that must be learned.
You can analyse the past, but you need to design the future. That is the difference between suffering the future and enjoying it.
Asking a question is the simplest way of focusing thinking...asking the right question may be the most important part of thinking.
Studies have shown that 90% of error in thinking is due to error in perception. If you can change your perception, you can change your emotion and this can lead to new ideas.
An expert is someone who has succeeded in making decisions and judgements simpler through knowing what to pay attention to and what to ignore.
The image that concerns most people is the reflection they see in other people's minds.
We may need to solve problems not by removing the cause but by designing the way forward even if the cause remains in place.
Dealing with complexity is an inefficient and unnecessary waste of time, attention and mental energy. There is never any justification for things being complex when they could be simple.
Creativity is a great motivator because it mades people interested in what they are doing.
An idea that is developed and put into action is more important than an idea that exists only as an idea.
Unhappiness is best defined as the difference between our talents and our expectations.
What the joke displays is a switch in perception. This is important in changing the way we think.
The system will always be defended by those countless people who have enough intellect to defend but not quite enough to innovate.
Sometimes the situation is only a problem because it is looked at in a certain subjective, negative, ungrateful way.
Language is the biggest barrier to human progress because language is an encyclopedia of ignorance. Old perceptions are frozen into language and force us to look at the world in an old fashioned way.
Traditional thinking is all about "what is" Future thinking will also need to be about what can be.
A good listener is very nearly as attractive as a good talker. You cannot have a beautiful mind if you do not know how to listen.
Opportunity ideas do not lie around waiting to be discovered. Such ideas need to be produced.
The simple process of focusing on things that are normally taken for granted is a powerful source of creativity.
Simplicity before understanding is simplistic; simplicity after understanding is simple.
We need creativity in order to break free from the temporary structures that have been set up by a particular sequence of experience.
Some people drift along like a cork on a river, feeling that they cannot do anything except drift, moment to moment. This is an attitude of mind. Everyone can be constructive even in tiny ways.
Every valuable creative idea must always be logical in hindsight. If it were not, we would never be able to see its value.
As competition intensifies, the need for creative thinking increases. It is no longer enough to do the same thing better . . . no longer enough to be efficient and solve problems.
Removing the faults in a stage-coach may produce a perfect stage-coach, but it is unlikely to produce the first motor car.
