Edward De Bono

Edward de Bono (born 1933) is a Maltese psychologist, physician and writer. De Bono writes prolifically on the subject of lateral thinking, a concept he pioneered and now holds training seminars in.

Related Topics:
1933 - Maltese - Psychologist - Physician - Writer - Lateral thinking

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Born in Malta, De Bono studied at St Edward's College and subsequently gained a medical degree from the Royal University of Malta. Studying at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, he gained an honours degree in psychology and physiology and a D.Phil in medicine. He went on to complete a PhD at Cambridge, and to faculty appointments at Oxford, London, Cambridge and Harvard. He is married with two sons, and lives on the Channel Islands.

Related Topics:
Malta - St Edward's College - Royal University of Malta - Oxford - Rhodes Scholar - Cambridge - London - Cambridge - Harvard

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In 1969 De Bono founded the Cognitive Research Trust (CoRT) which continues to produce and promote material based on his ideas.

Related Topics:
1969 - Cognitive Research Trust

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He has written "62 books with translations into 37 languages". He has spent the last 30 years teaching thinking, including working with governments, corporations, organisations and individuals, speaking publicly or privately on many matters. He has started to set up SITO - the 'Supranational Independent Thinking Organisation' based in Malta, which he describes as a "kind of intellectual Red Cross".

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De Bono has detailed a range of 'deliberate thinking methods' - applications emphasizing thinking as a deliberate act rather than a reactive one. He uses a clear and practical writing style. Avoiding academic terminology, he has advanced applied psychology by making theories about creativity and perception into usable tools. He does not reference others' epistemology, preferring instead to build upon his own (the main tenets in his book The Mechanism of the Mind (1969) underpin all his subsequent work). This self-referential style has helped define the published genre of popular psychology.

Related Topics:
Applied psychology - Creativity - Perception - Epistemology - Popular psychology

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De Bono's work has become particularly popular in the sphere of business - perhaps because of the perceived need to restructure corporations, to allow more flexible working practices and to innovate in products and services. The methods have migrated into corporate training courses designed to help employees and executives 'think out of the box'/' think outside the box'.

Related Topics:
Business - Corporation

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De Bono has a network of trainers who administer officially-trained De Bono thinking methods, but many other trainers will use them or parts of them even when not specifically trained.

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