Six Thinking Hats: Popular Penguins

Edward de Bono studied at Christ Church, Oxford, as a Rhodes Scholar. He holds a PhD from Cambridge and an MD from the University of Malta. He has held faculty appointments at the universities of Oxford, London, Cambridge, and Harvard.

In 1967, de Bono invented the term “lateral thinking,” and his name has since become synonymous with creativity and new thinking for millions worldwide. He has written sixty-two books, translated into thirty-seven languages, and his advice is sought by Nobel laureates and world leaders.

De Bono is widely regarded as the foremost authority on the direct teaching of thinking as a skill. He originated the concept of lateral thinking and developed formal techniques for deliberate creative thinking. He has delivered lectures in fifty-two countries and addressed major international conferences. In 1989, he chaired a special meeting of Nobel Prize laureates. Leading global corporations such as IBM, DuPont, Shell, Ericsson, McKinsey, Ciba-Geigy, and Ford have sought his instruction in thinking. The International Astronomical Union has named a planet after him, and a group of South African university professors recognized him as one of history’s 250 greatest contributors to humanity.

Dr. de Bono runs the most widely adopted program for the direct teaching of thinking in schools, now implemented in numerous countries. His significant contribution lies in his understanding of the brain as a self-organizing system, from which he designed practical thinking tools. His work is utilized in corporate boardrooms and by four-year-olds in schools alike. His “Six Hats” method offers Western thinking a constructive approach, moving away from adversarial debate. His methods are employed in elite gifted schools, rural schools in South Africa, and Khmer villages in Cambodia, owing to their simplicity and practicality.

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