Be the best of what you are.

Be the best of what you are. If you're a cactus, don't try to imitate a rose. Be an awesome cactus instead.

Napoleon Hill talks about "The Secret" to Think & Grow Rich

Click & Grow Rich

Edward de Bono on creative thinking

Edward de Bono, renowned expert on creative thinking, talks about creativity and about thinking outside the box.

Put your thinking hat on: How Edward de Bono's ideas are transforming schools

Teaching children how to think has brought academic success to schools in Manchester. But will techniques pioneered by the guru Edward de Bono catch on?

Rapt in thought, the four-year-old is taking part in a discussion about improving playtime. With a scowl of concentration, he clutches on to Patsy, the black-hatted teddy, and says: "A football hit me in the face once."

This is the reception class at Ditton Primary School, near Widnes, and the teacher, Jackie Timmis, has asked him about the negative aspects of football.

His classmates have already made it clear they recognise what facts are – it is what Fred, the white-hatted teddy, encourages. Red-capped Fifi puts them in touch with what they feel about an idea. Patsy is fixed on the negatives, yellow-clad Hal on the positives, while cuddly Ivor is as fertile with creative ideas as his green hat. Blue-hatted Bella is "the boss" organising their thinking.

They don't know it, but they are using Edward De Bono's structured thinking technique, the Six Thinking Hats, that colour codes different ways of tackling a question, to give them a framework for problem-solving and exploring ideas. The hats have been turned into teddies, given the pupils' age.

These are advanced concepts for such young children but Ditton Primary is an accredited Thinking School, committed according to the head teacher, Carol Lawrenson, to creating "little thinking creatures".

This scene at Ditton may be played out in classrooms across the UK in the next few years, if thinking guru Edward de Bono succeeds in introducing the key concepts of his thinking framework, the Six Thinking Hats and lateral thinking, into the national curriculum.

The Edward De Bono Foundation has just set up the world's first university-based Centre of Serious Creativity and Constructive Thinking at Manchester Metropolitan University's Crewe campus. And Ditton is an exemplar school. Manchester Met is the largest university for the teaching of education in Europe, so work has already begun to teach academics De Bono's concepts via four-day courses in order to disseminate this to teachers. Manchester's academies are already showing significant interest in taking on the concepts.

Chief executive of the De Bono Foundation UK, Bob Rawlinson, is passionate about the need for a change from what he considers an overly Socratic to a more creative approach to thinking and learning in schools. "All my life I've believed in the development of people to get the best out of them," he says. "I believe passionately that this should be done at the earliest possible age to inspire children to achieve."

Research evidence obtained by the De Bono Foundation suggests his tools can have a positive impact on academic achievement and behaviour. As part of the Government's New Deal job-finding programme, teaching youngsters the De Bono thinking systems for only six hours improved their employment rate by 500 per cent.

Ditton Primary has been using the De Bono methods for the past six years alongside several other thinking methods – Hyerle's Thinking Maps, Art Costa's Habits of Mind and Spencer Kagan's Co-operative Learning – powered by Carol Lawrenson's vision to turn out children equipped to think for the 21st century: "We want our children to be respectful, responsible, resourceful, good creators and successful in whatever intelligences they show," she says. "That is more important than success in Key Stage 3."

Her school in one of the most deprived boroughs in the country, is also always in the top 15 per cent of primaries in the country for academic results. Bullying is rare and there have been only 11 disciplinary incidents since February 2008. Before the introduction of the thinking tools that figure would have represented a half term.

Traditional subject areas have been thrown out. Thinking books replace exercise books. The curriculum is taught entirely in seven themes such as problem solving and reasoning, creative development or knowledge and understanding of the world. But all subjects are taught with creative thinking tools at the fore. Images of the coloured hats crop up all over the school and lessons are peppered with references like "let's apply some green hat (creative) thinking" or "White hats on – what are the facts?" At the end of 2008, Ditton and two other nearby nationally-accredited thinking schools formed a consultancy – Halton Thinking Schools (HATS) – to train other schools.

According to Professor Chris Husbands, of London's Institute of Education, research evidence confirms the importance of teaching thinking. Ten years ago, the national curriculum gave few opportunities to teach it, not so now. He cautions, however: "The most important thing in determining the quality of education is the quality of teaching."

Thinking tools may be a way to improve teaching, but they are very time-consuming in the classroom. Their use is easier in primary schools, but in high schools they only work when incorporated into subjects by committed teachers, says Husbands.

This is what has happened at St Ambrose Barlow Roman Catholic High School in Swinton, Salford, which achieved 88 per cent A*-C passes at GCSE despite having many pupils from deprived homes. It has been designated a National School of Creativity – only the second in the North West.

The head teacher, Marie Garside, has overseen the introduction of a number of thinking tools including De Bono's across all year groups, for several years. The Thinking Hats add power to thinking across the curriculum on issues such as the destruction of the rain forest but the school also used it to work with Salford Council on plans for the regeneration of the deprived area of Langworthy. Eighty six per cent of pupils go on to post-16 education.

"The impact on the school of using these tools is that we now have more confident learners," she says. "Children need a completely new set of skills to deal with data than they did when I started teaching 33 years ago. I want to produce thinkers, not exam fodder.

(By Rachel Pugh/The Independent)

Ever wonder why managers don't think deeply? It turns out, it's not their fault

Donna Nebenzahl, The Gazette

Published: 8 hours ago

"The difficulty lies not so much in developing new ideas as in escaping from old ones."

- John Maynard Keynes

One of the most fascinating developments in Harvard University's online business magazine, Working Knowledge, is the kind of responses that come in when the magazine posts a topic for online debate.

This was the case recently, when the question of why managers don't think deeply was raised by Harvard Business School emeritus professor James Heskett. He referred specifically to Jeffrey Immelt, CEO of General Electric, who had made news after saying publicly he would foster "imagination breakthroughs" by encouraging managers to think deeply about innovations.

Why was this such big news, Heskett asked?

He proposed that a new book, Marketing Metaphoria by Gerald and Lindsay Zaltman, held some answers to the difficulty in promoting deep thinking in the workplace, among them the reluctance to take risks, fear of disrupting the status quo and the cost of changing paths. All amount to fear of failure, basically, and concern that if mistakes are made, the manager who tried to affect change would shoulder the blame.

Plus, of course, the difficulty of thinking deeply when there's no one around with whom to share and develop insights.

But we've got to move into deeper thinking, argue the Zaltmans, because all individuals, whether they're on the receiving end of marketing strategies or workplace ideas, identify with deep notions like balance, transformation, the journey of life, connection and so on.

All of these can be used for understanding a market segment or for resolving a conflict because they focus on what we have in common rather than how we differ.

What, asked Heskett to the online community, "is your organization doing to combat the absence of deep thinking in decision-making?"

"Isn't it obvious?" responded the principal in a consulting firm.

"To rise through middle management to executive positions usually requires that managers display the ability and willingness to deploy the ideas and directives of those in positions of greater authority.

"Those who demonstrate independent thinking are usually perceived as threats. Those who generate thought and use deep or reflective thought in their work world are often discouraged when exposed to requirements of being a middle manager.

"They tend to either be moved around laterally or self select away from hierarchical systems. Hence, what rises to the top levels are very productive and very diligent individuals who tend not to think or reflect and are extremely efficient at deploying other people's ideas."

One project manager put it this way: "Being in this kind of environment for a long period of time is stifling and results in all types of dysfunctionality."

Another response, from a senior business analyst: "In most organizations, management and leadership are task oriented ,rather than business oriented. They are reactive rather, than proactive. Can you blame it on managers alone? Leadership is more responsible for such culture prevailing in the organization.

"To promote creativity you have to create a culture by giving the right incentives to your resources to encourage them to think creatively and with every achievement gain further confidence to think out of the box."

The problem of short-term thinking was often raised among the 134 respondents.

"Companies are always trying to make the next quarter better than the previous," wrote a businessman from Pakistan.

"The action-oriented, transaction-driven corporate world gives very little acceptance to executives being self-reflective," argued a company owner from Australia. "Too swamped by operational tasks, they tend to manage in the moment - it is the doing-trap."

It is these in-the-moment actions that end up blocking change, he wrote.

"So what appears to be resistance or inertia is really a personal assumption that keeps people acting in a certain way."

But there is a new reality in business today, which often makes it impossible for an executive to be in control of a situation.

"In essence, they need the capacity to patiently work with uncertainty, half-knowledge, ambiguity and paradox."

(The Gazette, Canada)

towards excellence>>www.globalpro.com.my

Think better

Why is it important?

Today's fast-paced work world means that the ability to think on your feet, react to a range of situations as well as spot an opportunity at five paces are integral to being a modern manager.
We are often required to make quick decisions under pressure, and such decisions must be based on a proper analysis of the facts rather than on conjecture or preconceptions. Sharpening your thought processes will help ensure you know the right thing to do at the right time and help to apply new ways of thinking to situations that arise.
Many of us believe that we have little control over the way we think. This isn't the case, and learning more about how your mind works will also help with self-improvement and career advancement.

Where do I start?

An analysis of your thought processes begins with heightened self-awareness and an assessment of your thinking style and how you usually solve problems. Do you take an analytical approach or does it tend to be more intuitive? Are you experimental? Or is your style more reflective?
If you've never taken one before, perform an online emotional intelligence test. The higher your emotional intelligence rating, the greater your self-knowledge and self-awareness, both of which are key to understanding your thought processes. Similarly, psychometric questionnaires such as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) will help you learn more about your core mental functions.
"Knowing your default preferences and habits, you are in a better position to broaden your thinking skills toolbox," says Phil Smith, senior consultant at business psychology company YSC.
Explore other viewpoints
Avoid taking the path of least resistance. A common trap we all fall into is to simply look for something that confirms what we are doing rather than challenge it.
The 20th century philosopher Karl Popper alerts us to this tendency to look for evidence to support our actions, explains Rachel Short, senior consultant at YSC.
"When often one piece of contradictory evidence would be enough to make us reject our line of thinking and look elsewhere," she says. "We need to challenge our almost automatic tendency to filter out pieces of data that do not support initial assumptions and challenge our own most comfortable assumptions."
Train your brain
Like any part of your body, your brain will respond to exercise. Put yourself in the position of being challenged mentally whenever possible. Take on new tasks, reappraise how you approach existing ones, play devil's advocate in meetings rather than accept the party line and force yourself out of your comfort zone and into situations where you know you will learn something. Look at different perspectives and listen to the points of view of others. Open your mind, be experimental and don't limit your thinking. Above all, don't be afraid to fail as fear will limit your thinking. Stimulate the mind even when not at work whether by reading more or doing a crossword or Sudoku puzzle at lunchtime or even playing computer games.
Record your experiences
Make a note of how you react to significant situations at work and what your decision or actions led to, whether the outcome was positive or negative. When things haven't worked out for the best, are there any trends or traits in your thinking and subsequent actions that you can pick up on? What caused you to approach the problem in this way? Did you make assumptions and base a decision on previous experience rather than challenge what went before. Visualise what the outcome might have been if you'd been more experimental in your thinking. Study the professionals.
While it is easy to get swamped by some of the theories that surround thinking and how the mind works, reading up on the work of experts such as Edward de Bono, who pioneered the concept of lateral thinking, and Tony Buzan, originator of the Mind Map, will further enlighten you as to how your mind works and offer plenty of mental stimulation.
If you only do 5 things
1 Develop your self-awareness.
2 Refrain from looking for affirmation of your theories.
3 Place yourself in mentally challenging situations.
4 Keep a log of the effect of your actions.
5 Devote time to mental activities outside of work.

Expert's view: improving your thinking
What should be done?
Apart from developing self-awareness about your thinking style, set up challenging mechanisms, get others to play devilÕs advocate, test yourself against rigorous standards, raise your goals, take on more challenging problems, take on different kinds of problems, and deliberately try to learn things you normally do not enjoy.
Research shows that the gradual decay of mental ability with age can be significantly slowed by remaining deliberately mentally active.
How can improvements be measured?
One method is to keep track of critical incidents when your thinking has let you down or led you astray, and analyse and reflect on them to see if you can spot any patterns.
Another is to be disciplined about keeping before and after mental records. If you are devoting time to mental training, can you point to the kind of result where you are expecting a difference? Is there a difference?
Top tips:
Don't assume what has worked in the past works now or will continue to work in the future - always look for current supporting (and undermining) evidence.
Beware the sunk-cost effect - don't fall into the trap of investing more effort into shoring up a poor decision when it is rational to cut your losses and start over.
Engage others to challenge and broaden your perspective. Get everyone to brainstorm individually before sharing, as this improves the range and variety of ideas.

by Rachel Short, Senior consultant, YSC