Creative thinking - in terms of idea creativity - is not a mystical talent. It is a skill that can be practised and nurtured.

Edward de Bono

Categorized in : Thinking Skills Creativity

Most executives, many scientists, and almost all business school graduates believe that if you analyze data, this will give you new ideas. Unfortunately, this belief is totally wrong. The mind can only see what it is prepared to see.

data believe school

It has always surprised me how little attention philosophers have paid to humor, since it is a more significant process of mind than reason. Reason can only sort out perceptions, but the humor process is involved in changing them.

perception mind attention

Every valuable creative idea must always be logical in hindsight. If it were not, we would never be able to see its value.

able creative ideas

I used to think that one day I'd be able to resolve the different drives I have in different directions, the tensions between the different people I am. Now I realize that is who I am. I do feel I'm getting closer to the song in my head. I wasn't looking for grace. But luckily grace was looking for me.

song inspirational thinking

Traditional thinking is all about "what is" Future thinking will... by Edward de Bono

Traditional thinking is all about "what is" Future thinking will also need to be about what can be.

future business thinking

The simple process of focusing on things that are normally taken for granted is a powerful source of creativity.

creativity powerful taken

You do not go out into the street in your underwear, although usually you are wearing underwear. The underwear is not visible but it is there all the time. It is the same with concepts. They are there. They underlie practical things we do- even when we are not conscious of them.

underwear streets conscious

You cannot dig a hole in a different place by digging the same ho... by Edward de Bono

You cannot dig a hole in a different place by digging the same hole deeper

digging holes different

A good design is not a democratic consensus. by Edward de Bono

A good design is not a democratic consensus.

design motivation business

I think there is a danger with young people of being dependent in the sense that they don't acquire any identity or self-image of themselves as thinkers.

self people thinking

Everyone has the right to doubt everything as often as he pleases and the duty to do it at least once. No way of looking at things is too sacred to be reconsidered. No way of doing things is beyond improvement.

sacred real doubt

We need creativity in order to break free from the temporary structures that have been set up by a particular sequence of experience.

creativity imagination order

In the future, instead of striving to be right at a high cost, it will be more appropriate to be flexible and plural at a lower cost. If you cannot accurately predict the future then you must flexibly be prepared to deal with various possible futures.

be-prepared strive cost

Creativity is a great motivator because it mades people intereste... by Edward de Bono

Creativity is a great motivator because it mades people interested in what they are doing.

worthwhile creativity people

Creativity is a great motivator because it makes people interested in what they are doing. Creativity gives hope that there can be a worthwhile idea. Creativity gives the possibility of some sort of achievement to everyone. Creativity makes life more fun and more interesting.

creativity hope fun

A memory is what is left when something happens and does not comp... by Edward de Bono

A memory is what is left when something happens and does not completely unhappen.

criminal-mind doe memories

The solid wealth of insurance companies and the success of those who organsie gambling are some indication of the profits to be derived from the efficient use of chance.

gambling statistics use

A myth is a fixed way of looking at the world which cannot be destroyed because, looked at through the myth, all evidence supports the myth.

support atheism inspirational

I'm in love with this country called "America." I'm a huge fan of America. I'm one of those annoying fans - you know, the ones that read the cd notes and follow you into bathrooms and ask you all kinds of annoying questions about why you didn't live up to that. I'm that kind of fan. I've read the Declaration of Independence, and I've read the Constitution of the United States, and they are some liner notes, dude.

cds country america

One very important aspect of motivation is the willingness to stop and to look at things that no one else has bothered to look at. This simple process of focusing on things that are normally taken for granted is a powerful source of creativity.

powerful taken motivational