C..C..C…..

Classic de BonoMessage – first published 6th November 2000

Competence in business is essential – but is it enough? If your strategy for survival is that you continue to be more competent than your competitors, is that enough? What happens when your competitiors catch up and also become competent? You cannot really become ’super competent’. Competence is a condition you gradually approach. You can indeed continue to make small improvement – and so can your competitiors.

In the future three things are going to be needed in business. In the English language they all start with ‘C’. So we have the three ‘C’s. Read more

More Design

Edward de Bono’s Message

Our existing thinking is based largely on recognition and judgement. This leads to logic and the search for the truth. While education has promoted analysis, information, logic and argument we have never promoted the thinking concerned with creating value. Read more

Value

Edward de Bono’s Message

Two people looking out of different windows may sometimes see the same thing. Categories are not always distinct boxes separate from each other. In my book ‘Six Value Medals’ I lay out six types of value. These are distinct types. Read more

A deliberate creative focus!

Edward de Bono’s Message

Our economic system has sort of evolved. Any new inventions have generally regularised something that was happening anyway. It is generally felt that the impact of any new idea would be so strong that new ideas are risky. Indeed, it could be argued that the creative idea of securitising mortgages was the cause of the present economic crisis. Read more

A different sort of Logic!

Edward de Bono’s Message

Our habits of thinking are too much judgement based and not enough design based. This arises from the origin with the GG3 (Greek Gang of Three). When this thinking came into Europe at the Renaissance the Church ran schools, universities and thinking in general. Read more

About education

Edward de Bono’s Message

Education is all about knowledge and analysis. There is a complete lack of ‘operacy’ and design. Operacy covers the skill of doing and making things happen. Design is putting together what you have to deliver the values you want. Read more

Out of the box!

Edward de Bono’s Message
The brain is designed to allow incoming information to form itself into routine patterns. Without this life would be impossible.

With eleven items of clothing to put on in the morning it would take seventy six years to go through all the ways of getting dressed – spending just one minute on each. Read more

Positive News Agency

Edward de Bono’s Message
The media, and especially the press, are usually full of negative news: murders, attacks, economic failures etc. It may be that experience has indeed shown that negative matters are of more interest to readers.

Even if this is so, I believe that at least one page of positive news would be welcomed by readers. Readers would turn to this page – even if they found the negative stuff more interesting. Read more

Difficult Times / Problem Solving

Edward de Bono’s Message
There is a difference between difficult times and a problem. With difficult times the universe of action is changed. All logics are only relevant in their particular universe – just as the universe of a patterning system is different from a language universe.

The recession at the moment qualifies as a difficult time so a rather different thinking is required from traditional problem solving. Values become even more important. Problem solving usually implies a return to the situation before the problem. That is not possible for an individual or a corporation.

Football

Edward de Bono’s Message

I once suggested a change to the rules of soccer. When there is a draw then extra time is played. If there is still a draw there is a penalty shoot-out. This introduces an element of luck. In addition if one side has a player good at penalty shooting then that side would win. Read more

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