Dr Edward de Bono (1933-2021)

Edward de Bono’s ideas are central to my cognitive development over the past decade, a shift away from ‘traditional’ (vertical) to parallel and lateral thinking – fundamental to an ethos that continues to guide my decision-making today. His ideas reinforced my lifelong notion that operacy – the skill of doing – aligns with entrepreneurial, artisanal thinking and superior service and quality; too much focus on numeracy and literacy skills at the expense of real-life exposure creates fragility and subpar interaction.

As humanity enters a new epoch in which personal expression devoid of consequence and communication based on winning an argument is the norm, we still have much to learn/gain from mentally processing everything in six colours before deciding anything: White (facts and information), blue (the bigger picture), red (emotional response), black (negative response), yellow (positive response) and green (innovative application). In other words: remove all cognitive biases from your palette of immediate responses to create a better world.

Image: Zhao, R. (unknown year) Edward in Malta at PONT – small [Online]. Available at https://www.debono.com/about-and-contact (Accessed 20 June 2021).