Edward de Bono

He married Josephine Hall-White in 1971 and the couple went on to have two sons.

The European Creativity Association conducted a survey and through the survey it was found that 40% of the people deliberated Dr. de Bono as the utmost influence in the field of imagination more than any other nominee.

The International Astronomical Union named a planet after this author, consultant and inventor in recognition of his contributions to humanity.

Edward Charles Francis Publius de Bono was born in Malta on 19 May 1933.

He studied at the University of Malta, where he obtained his medical degree. He then studied at St. Edward’s College during World War II.

He also studied at Christ Church, Oxford, where he majored in psychology and physiology.

During his college years, he achieved two canoeing records and represented Oxford University in polo matches.

He earned a Ph.D. degree and a DPhil from Trinity College, Cambridge and went on to earn a DDes and an LLD from the Royal Melbourne Institute and the University of Dundee, respectively.

He worked for a brief period of time as a research subordinate at Oxford University. He then accepted a position as a lecturer there. In 1961 however, he moved from there and began teaching at the University of London. Two years later, he accepted the position of assistant director of research at Cambridge University.

In 1967, he published his first book, ‘The Use of Lateral Thinking’, which is considered to be one of his best-works, because in it, he introduced the concept of ‘lateral thinking’.

He then started work on ‘New Think’, which was released in 1968 along with another publication titled, ‘The Five-Day Course in Thinking’.

In 1969, ‘The Mechanism of Mind’ was published which talks about the sustaining prototype of the mind. He then authored a more detailed book titled, ‘Lateral Thinking: Creativity Step by Step’, the next year.

1971 was an extremely productive year for the writer. After building a strong foundation with his ideologies, he authored ‘Technology Today’, ‘Practical Thinking’ and ‘Lateral Thinking for Management’.

He coined and introduced the concept of ‘lateral thinking’, in 1967. This approach helps people solve problems through a imaginative yet incidental approach. This methodology is now used in a number of corporate offices around the world and has proven to be extremely useful in terms of problem identification, problem solving and inducing motivation. Thus, he is known as the father of ‘lateral thinking’.

In 1985, he authored ‘Six Thinking Hats’. This publication is considered to be one of his greatest literary works and provides the readers with effective tools for group discussion and individual thinking. It also provides a more detailed insight into the concept of ‘parallel thinking’ and ‘critical thinking’. This book introduced the concept of the ‘six thinking hats’ method, which Speedo Researchers used in the creation of their swimsuits, thus making de Bono’s ideas presented in the book, extremely popular.