Creativity for PR

Week 4: Lecture 7 : 17th October 2017

Lateral Thinking & DeBonos 6 Hats

Carolyn Freeman
 What were going to do today:

How do we learn & how do our brains organise information?

Lateral Thinking what is it & how does it work?

De Bono & his 6 hats

What is the deal with agencies and Lateral Thinking?

How do we learn?
 How does our brain organise information?
Our senses are bombarded with new information every second
If we did not automatically filter this information, it would be difficult to
function properly

This is how we
would feel if we
did not filter all
the incoming
sensory
information
 How do we learn?

Sensory filter
Stimulation of senses sensory detection

Our brains are designed to:

filter relevant sensory information to reduce sensory overload & let in
relevant information
organise information into routine patterns by learning what stimuli invokes
specific actions and reactions & using these patterns to interpret new sensory
data
move us on from learning the same activity over and over again to learned
behaviour becoming automated e.g. driving a car (highly skilled activity)
Source: (1) xxx
 Why do we learn automated behaviour?

Energy efficient we dont have to keep on learning / doing the

same thing over and over again

We can do things without thinking about them and do two

things at once boiling the kettle while talking to a friend

Allows us to make head space to learn new things, actions,

processes we can block out things we already know and focus
on new information

Makes us more proficient at tasks - practicing the basics of any

sport or skill, helps us move on to refine our speciality
 Downsides of Automated Behaviour:
Makes us a little lazy in the way:
We see things
We think about things
We think about others

We expect things to be a certain way

LBFS accidents

It takes conscious effort to change this automatic

behaviour & to think in a different way
Logical v Lateral Thinking
 Two forms of Directional Thinking
(according to DeBono)

Logical thinking
Vertical / Analytical thinking and equates to us saying things that
make sense and fit within our experience and what weve seen or
said done before
Lateral thinking
Thinking outside of the box & thinking of unusual ideas
by:
changing the concepts
change our perceptions,
change constraints,
change rules Watch on your own later
in order to develop new ideas - that would not have
been expected in our usual behaviour in our usual
thinking
 Characteristics of good logical thinking:

Uses structure and reason to evaluate a

situation and come to a decision
Relies on facts and data
Applies systematic, sequential decision-
making using specific steps
Decision making not typically impeded by
emotional impulses
Really good tools for science and maths
disciplines
 Characteristics of good lateral thinking:
Interested in finding a good idea to be able to create a
better idea that has greater value

Involve suspending logical, linear thinking

Breaking out of patterns to explore an issue in new ways

from new angles

Both an attitude and method of using information

Aims at breaking old patterns in order to liberate

information

Never a judgement
 Is creativity /
the ability to think laterally
nature or nurture?
 I asked this in week 1, but I will ask you again

On a scale of 1 to 10

1 5 10

Creativity Creativity
is inherent is learned

where would you place the average

human, in terms of creativity?
 We were all born creative
(with a few exceptions)

Pre-school:

How many of us made up stories?

How many of us made up our own rules while playing

games with others?

How many of us did free drawing of family, pets,

holidays, stories?

These activities were not considered high culture, but

they were still very creative

Most of us were proud of our creations, because our

parents considered them art and praised us for them
 We learned how to think logically

At school most of us:

Were taught to obey rules

Were expected to follow a time table

Were given formulas to learn for maths

Had to learn spelling and grammar rules

Were not allowed to think outside of the box

Not obeying the rules and being different could result in

peer alienation or some form of authoritarian punishment
 And this thinking still follows us

We replicate this socio-culturally learned behaviour into:

Our university lives

Our working lives

Weve been taught NOT to be creative, because:

 Creativity and abnormal behaviour
are closely linked

Creativity is about:

breaking the rules

seeing things from a new perspective

thinking differently to what is normal

 But, creativity is also highly prized in the
corporate and agency world because:

Lateral thinking & Creativity

seeing things in a new way
innovation

Innovation
growth & improved
competitiveness
improved profitability
What is Lateral Thinking?
 Lateral Thinking
A term coined in 1967 by Edward de Bono, a Maltese
psychologist, physician and writer

Methods of thinking concerned with changing concepts

and perception

Many problems require a different perspective to solve

them successfully

Is not a magic formula, but rather:

An attitude
A habit of mind To watch in your own time

Uses reasoning that is not immediately obvious

 Lateral Thinking & Problem Solving
A search for alternatives relaxation of rigid controls of vertical thinking

Looks to get away from patterns

Ignores logical direction and moves sideways by re-forming the patterns

Is an attitude of mind

Search for different ways of looking at things

VISION
INSIGHT THINKING
CREATIVITY
INNOVATION
IMAGINATION
Traditional logic v Lateral thinking
 We are all naturally creative

We just have to learn how to be creative again and

start seeing things again from another perspective

Lateral thinking is a learned thinking style

Once you see a solution, it is difficult to unlearn

what you have seen

Lateral thinking is highly prized amongst agencies

with many starting to do lateral thinking type tests
during their recruitment process
De Bonos 6 Hats Theory
 De Bonos 6 Hats Theory
Changing your perspective when thinking about a
problem

Approaching a problem from a new angle or mindset

A brainstorming technique
Gives group members permission to take on a specific role
without passing criticism or judgement
To watch in your own time:
Edward DeBono explaining his 6 hats approach
 de Bonos 6 hats
Different thinking styles

White Hat Red Hat Black Hat

Data & Feelings, Logical

Information Hunches, Negative /
Intuition Downsides

Yellow Hat Green Hat Blue Hat

Logical Positive Creative Process Control

/ Optimistic
 White Hat Thinking
Data & Information

Questions asking about the

information

Defining the gaps of information you

dont have

The needs

Listening
i.e. what information do we have, what information do we
not have, how are we going to get it?
 Red Hat Thinking
Feelings, Hunches, Intuition,
Emotions

Allows you to signal that this point is a

feeling

You may not know the reasons or details

behind why you feel the way you do

e.g. based on experience in the field

e.g. putting on my red hat this is how Im
feeling(without needing to put forward any
justification or feeling)
 Black Hat Thinking
Logical Negatives / Downsides

All the reasons why something cant be done, why it

wont work, why its not worth doing

What does not fit in terms of:

Facts
Experience
Policies, strategy, objectives
System, regulations
Ethics & values

Very useful function as it:

points out the weaknesses in an idea with the view to
overcoming them
Assesses the feasibility of the idea is it workable, is
it safe

However, if you are negative the whole time, you are

never going to do something new
 Yellow Hat Thinking

Logical Positive

Feasibility

Benefits

Advantages

Savings
 Green Hat Thinking

Creative
Allows us to put forward new:

Ideas

Possibilities (an idea that has not yet

been proved)

Provocations

Alternatives
Allows us to create a micro-culture/climate of creativity
Reverses the natural dominance of the Black Hat
 Blue Hat Thinking
Process Control

Thinking about thinking

Organising the thinking

Asks for focus, summaries, conclusions

and decisions

Ensures the right technique or approach

was used by participants

Planning for action

 What does de Bonos 6 hat theory do?
Changes the way we run creativity sessions

Gives people permission to be creative

Allows people to present ideas/concepts based

on a hunch without having to back-up with
facts

Brings in elements logic and control into the

process to make the session more realistic

Gives employees a shorthand to flag what

conversation they are having
 Critiques of Edward de Bonos work

Critiques

The following two published critiques of De Bono's work emphasize the lack of evidence to support his proposals.
In the Handbook of Creativity, Robert J. Sternberg writes, "Equally damaging to the scientific study of creativity, in our
view, has been the takeover of the field, in the popular mind, by those who follow what might be referred to as a
pragmatic approach. Those taking this approach have been concerned primarily with developing creativity, secondarily
with understanding it, but almost not at all with testing the validity of their ideas about it." Sternberg continues,
"Perhaps the foremost proponent of this approach is Edward De Bono, whose work on lateral thinking and other
aspects of creativity has had what appears to be considerable commercial success."[12]
Frameworks For Thinking is an evaluation of 42 popular thinking-frameworks conducted by a team of researchers.
Regarding Edward De Bono they write, "[he] is more interested in the usefulness of developing ideas than proving the
reliability or efficacy of his approach. There is sparse research evidence to show that generalised improvements in
thinking performance can be attributed to training in the use of CoRT or Thinking Hats tools. An early evaluation of
CoRT reported significant benefits for Special Educational Needs (SEN) pupils.... However, in a more recent study with
Australian aboriginal children (Ritchie and Edwards, 1996), little evidence of generalisation was found other than in the
area of creative thinking."[13]
The views of De Bono on language have been challenged by some philologists (Marco Ferri, 1994) who regard his view
of language as the biggest barrier to human progress as superficial. Ferri argues that a lack of human critical judgement
should be held responsible for the transmission of out-of-date ideas.[citation needed]
Summarising de Bono's 1985 work in Conflicts: A Better Way to Resolve them, M. Afzalur Rahim states: "De Bono's
approach to total elimination of conflict is no different from the approaches of the classicists. This approach to dealing
with conflict is completely out of tune with modern thinking and, therefore, unsatisfactory."[14]
Lateral Thinking in the agency
 What are the key characteristics of top agency people?

An ability to combine lateral and logical thinking termed

diagonal thinking

Show great attention to detail, but have a broad range

of interests

Highly logical, but link ideas that are otherwise seen as

remote from each other

They want work that is creative, but want it to have a

practical impact
 What are the key characteristics of top agency people?

Key behavioural attributes:

Strength of character to stand by convictions

A love of change

Disinclined to follow rules set by others

Take decisions based on feelings as well as logic

Advertising / PR is both a science and an art

Creativity and rationality are not mutually exclusive but

coincident in the very best practitioners (Marilyn Baxter)
 What do agencies expect from staff?
Good analytical skills (numeracy)

Ability to communicate your idea convincingly (literacy)

Strong interpersonal relationship skills (people focussed)

Self confident & self questioning

Energy, tenacity and integrity

Diagonal thinkers think creatively and commercially

Take the diagonal thinking test: http://www.diagonalthinking.co.uk/

 What about interviews?
Situation based questions

Give an example of your lateral thinking

Give an example of a time you showed initiative

Give an example of a time when you handled a major crisis (what is a major
crisis?)

Give us an example of a difficult situation where you had to think laterally to

get out of it

Off-the-wall-questions:

How would you escape from a blender if you were inside it and 3 inches high

Sell me this pen

 In Summary

We are born as creative beings

We learn logic and systematic thinking during formal education

This sometimes continues into formal employment (non-creative

industries)

Lateral thinking is about thinking outside of the box and shifting your
paradigm of thinking

Diagonal thinking is the effective use and combination of lateral and logical
thinking to:
Think differently about an issue
But relate it back to solving the problem at hand

Lateral thinking can be learned and built upon there is no time like the
present