Creativity (in terms of new ideas and new perceptions) is not a mystical gift but a learnable skill. The formal and deliberate processes of lateral thinking are all based on a consideration of the behaviour of information in a self-organising system, such as the nerve networks of the human brain - for which we should be most grateful. They also form asymmetric patterns: the route from A to B is not the same as the route from B to A.

The formal techniques of lateral thinking include: provocation and movement; challenge; concept fans and concept triangles; random entry, etc. They are so powerful that in one afternoon on company (under the guidance of Carol Ferguson in South Africa) generated 21,000 ideas using just one technique. In Singapore, Peter and Linda Low ran a workshop from which came eight patents.

For formal training in the method, please contact distributors listed under www.debonothinkingsystems.com