In my estimation, Edward de Bono is the world authority on creativity. I have read most of his books, and seen him speak at the International Conferences on Thinking. This book will not disappoint you. I was especialy impressed with his explanations of the creative pause, focus, and how to come up with alternatives. His sensitizing techniques are unique and a must read for anyone who wants to optimize their creativity.

I read the review written by someone from New York. I was surprised that he or she had the same feelings about the book as I had. This is a shocking book. On the one hand, it is excellent and teaches people a lot about how to think about a problem. On the other hand, the author is so self-conceited that sometimes I asked myself: if he is so creative, why didn't he invent ANYTHING apart from his own way of making money?
The funny thing is, that I still recommend this book!

Peter Fabri, Budapest, Hungary

By now I think I have read about fifteen of De Bono's books and this is certainly the best. Many of the others seem to be mostly regurgitations of the the same old stuff. Does he get paid by the word? He claims to have written about 25 books, but I think he has to a great extent written one book over and over again. And he seems so pompous and arrogant. How can someone with such arrogance be creative? He never quotes others (perhaps to him there are no others) or cites other works on creativity, even in cases where his ideas were clearly not first his. This is an excellent book, but by an ego-centric author and that unfortunately colors all his writing.

This book is not as famous as SIX THINKING HAT, and the LATERAL THINKING, which is the landmark of de bono. But it is always interesting to read the bono's book. It has great thinking-insights that can help you think and understand thinking better.

There is an interesting about success, which de bono said usually are beacuse of one or more of the 4 reasons: 1.LUCKY, 2.A LITTLE MAD, 3. VERY TALENTED, 4. YOU ARE IN RAPID GROWTH FIELD.

The book talks about success and how you can achieve it. It is an interesting read and should be useful for everybody.
A lot of the materials are based on de Bono's research of a lot of successful people.

Edward de Bono has contributed a lot to our understanding of the human thinking process. He has written prolifically, thus diluting the quality of his writing. Some of his books have been very good -- others have been forgettable. This one is unforgettable.

de Bono intereviewed 50 successful persons across the world, in different areas of human endeavor (sports, business, arts...). Basically this book is a compilation of those interviews -- but, oh, what a compilation! de Bono weaves in and out of the interviews, adding his insights, isolating strands of thought, and putting them together. The result is rewarding, refreshing and thought-provoking.

de Bono's conclusion? You can not become successful by copying others. Identify your own interests and strengths. Work on those. Enjoy your work. Life will reward you.

His unique word-graphs and line drawings add more oomph to an already powerful delivery.

I bought this book about 15 years ago - and started a small book-buying spree in the office. It was a paperback, so I had it bound in leather. I have returned to it again and again, whenever I got stuck in a groove or was up against a dead-end. Each time this book provoked me into a new insight and helped me (magically?) find a new way out...

If there is one book about work that you must read, let it be this one. And if there is a colleague you like, give it as a gift.

As with all of Dr de Bono's books this one is very thought provoking - in fact I have read it a number of times and each time am able to come away with another insight.

Success, Dr de Bono shows, has more than one interpretation but at the heart it is how you define it. The average middle-class father who raises his children in a stable and secure environment yet does not stand out amongst his peers can be viewed as much a success as Bill Gates is.

Dr de Bono analyses the source of success to try and establish if there are certain traits and/or pre-requisites for success. Fortunately he shows that there are not but rather that success is a combination of many factors that combine to open a window of opportunity to each of us, but if we hesitate or insulate ourselves from being open to this opportunity, then it will be forever lost.

A thoroughly enjoyable book that is written in a very readable style. I would recommend this as compulsary reading for anyone that is a teenager or older.

The strength on the book is how concise De Bono manages to be. Written in an unpretentious style the reader's own thoughts are sparked and finishing the book leaves you wanting more. I can see that it is simplistic but I doubt whether writing more words on the subject would be helpful to the reader. In fact I think it would be detrimental as we wouldn't want to drill into the reader's mind landscape too heavily!

It's a book written on serious things in a very light style. Sometimes we are very near to hear a tellerstory and soon after we are close of a professional dealing with mind and differents ways to learn. Its very interesting and usefull for professors, teachers and persons that love work thinking.

This is one of the best books I have read. It does not describe the mind in neurochemical or psychological terms, but hits the spot by providing a simple model of how the mind works. From that model, De Bono provides insight on how memory, learning, attention, 'pig-headedness' and insight can occur. He shows how the brain stores information and experience efficiently, but also shows how those storage units can become rules unto themselves, thereby inhibiting further clear thinking. He then describes lateral thinking, as a means of disrupting the learnt rigid patterns that can make people blind to the simplest of ideas. It is curious that this work is not more extensively discussed in texts on psychology. Those texts often describe research on how certain neurons in the brain become selected through use, but do not take the simple step back to this original work by De Bono. Another interesting interpretation of the De Bono work is provided in Cookson's book 'Our wild niche', where he coins the word mindrules (similar to De Bono's d-lines). Mindrules are experience learnt instincts, and have wider connotations for human ecology and adjustment to various niches, both natural and artificial. I recommend you buy the Mechanism of Mind. Then you will almost see how the cogs in your own mind turn. awilliams73@hotmail.com

Mechanism of Mind is one of my most treasured books. It gave me very practical insights into how humans process information. The book is easy enough to understand, and doesn't require any previous knowledge of psychology. It's a fairly serious, engrossing read, though, even with de Bono's nice little explanatory diagrams and simple examples. (I've read six of de Bono's books, and this was the most demanding, and the one I'd only recommend to my most intellectual friends). It compares the brain to an array of a thousand lightbulbs. All the bulbs in the array have a simple device that makes them responsive to light (from an image projected onto the array. Each bulb also has a simple device that makes them "tire" (grow dim) without stimulus). It's fascinating how the array behaves. De Bono explains how it "processes" patterns, easily mimicing brain functions such as attention and diversion, memory and forgetting, pattern recognition (generalization), creativity and insight. This book certainly changed my life. I understand much more confidently how my mind works, and the minds of others.

I am a fan of de Bono's as well, and I truly believe that this is the best book ever written. De Bono is the pioneer of lateral thinking, and this is most certainly a prime example of his genious. I must agree, that this is the most revolutionary peice of literature ever created.

This is the first book of de Bono's that I read and it completely changed my entire thinking and life. I have become an avid reader of all his books and they have influenced me profoundly. I believe that Dr. de Bono is the most revolutionary thinker to have ever existed. He has changed my views of myself, society, philosophy and indeed existence. I believe that the very simple concept expounded in this book is what will make the difference to enable the human race to have a positive future.

In his introduction, Edward deBono says that this may be the first book ever written for the right side of the brain. That is the key to understanding it.

In his inimitable, simple style, Dr deBono lays a path of stepping stone examples across the water for us to gingerly tread on, but all the time intends to transfer an intuitive skill with subtle insight (if skill is the right word).

The pay off is to be able to recognise complex relationships non-verbally, in graphic representation, and thereby think in a multi-dimensional instant.

To acquire this intuitive treasure by means of formal learning is a contradiction in itself, but is the achievement of a man whose understanding of human thinking goes beyond what he has learnt from others.

This is a book that combines "coffee table" accessibility with genuine transference of cognitive power. If you want to broaden your thinking ability, buy it without hesitation.

Most people like to daydream that they are living in a world of baddies and goodies (of course they one of the goodies). But the reality is that you've got to deal with people who don't always agree with you. How well you do this has a significant impact on how happy and productive you'll be. This book has some refreshing ideas on how this can happen. Like most de Bono books, it's like a walk in the park - enjoyable and good for you.

Since I bought CORT Action in 1977, I've used it every year (20 years) to do a plan of my life for the coming year. My 1998 plan is in progress right now. I've also used the CORT Action techniques when worried by dilemmas or confusion. It always is helpful. Often it has brought great breakthroughs that have steered me in the most successful direction. It has certainly saved and earned me thousands of dollars too, as will any good effort put into planning ahead. The book is easy to read and down-to-earth. It's entirely practical. CORT Action includes TEC, a "quick" technique for clarifying one's thoughts, and another PISCO method for a very thorough planning operation. The book is suitable for any application, including business or personal situations. It's a small, concise book. Anyone from about 12-year-olds up could shape their lives much better if equipped with CORT Action.

DeBono counters the misconceptions that creativity and thinking are innate, by providing tools and exercises for thinking. These tools encourage deliberate thinking, and a self-image of "I am a thinker". The techniques provide mechanisms for focusing, looking at alternatives, and deliberate thinking. deBono introduces his term "lateral thinking" and "po" for emphasizing pattern changing and provocation. deBono does not take himself to ponderously, and often sees humor as tool of escaping set patterns (and I was surprised by his "Nor can God have a sense of humor since there can be no surprise .."). In the area of decision science, there are more techniques available (e.g., risk avoidance, regret avoidance, Bayesian). I also am sure some of his more recent books (this one written in 1982) offer additional tools, but this book provides a good foundation.

This book is a collection of pictures drawn by schoolchildren,with the only constraint being that the children had to 'design amachine for exercising dogs'.

It is fascinating to see the different tacks the children took, from conveyor belts to self-contained canine gyms, and the drawings themselves are absolutely delightful, ranging from the cheerfully incomprehensible to the fastidiously neat.

As De Bono points out in his (excellent) afterward, the great thing about children is that they aren't conceptually constrained by much - even the idea that a 'machine' has to save labour. My favourite invention has a dog running on a conveyor belt, surrounded by four armed guards so that he does not run away!

Get this book, any way you can. You won't be disappointed unless you're the grinch himself.