What do we mean by the term thinking skills? Is it context, need perception? Is it the type of thinking that produces profit, makes people feel valued or perhaps betters a cause? And why do we need good thinkers?

Thinking skills Thinking is the process of considering or reasoning about something. Skill is the ability to do something well, showing expertise. Thinking is essential to make sure strategies stick. Post Office group people director Neil Hayward recently explained how it is easy to fall into the trap of adopting ‘product push mindset’.

“Someone shows us something bright and shiny, and irrespective of circumstance, we try and fit it into our organisation, even though the circumstances of our organisation might be completely different”.

Similarly, Dr Edward de Bono once said,

“Removing the faults in a stage-coach may produce a perfect stagecoach but it is unlikely to produce the first motor car”

There are two messages here.

• If you value a perfect stagecoach, there is merit in spending time perfecting it.
• If you are looking for something completely different, stop perfecting the stagecoach.

Neil went on to add,

“If something is being designed to work in the organisation, there has to be an end user and customer. It has to be taken through ideation, design, testing, piloting and rollout. It has to connect the whole function end-to-end.”

Dr de Bono’s tools equip individuals and teams with the thinking skills, tools and frameworks they need to think creatively and design products to meet the needs of organisations, employees and their customers. Dr Edward de Bono is a world leading authority on thinking skills. Creator of the famous Six Thinking Hats ®, Lateral Thinking and many other workshops he has authored over 80 books published in 35 languages. Holst is Dr Edward de Bono’s partner in Europe. Click here for more information about Dr de Bono and his tools. Would you like to change how people think? Consider adding Dr Edward de Bono’s tools to your portfolio and become a certified de Bono trainer. [traininglist slug=”six-thinking-hats-accreditation-3-days”] [traininglist slug=”six-thinking-hats”] [traininglist slug=”lateral-thinking”] [traininglist slug=”lateral-thinking-2-days”] [traininglist slug=”power-of-perception”] [traininglist slug=”power-of-perception-2-days”] [traininglist slug=”focus-on-facilitation”]  ]]>