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Opera Cy

The document discusses the work and background of Dr. Edward de Bono, who is regarded as a leading authority in creative thinking and lateral thinking. It also discusses the concept of "operacy", which involves skills like considering other perspectives, priorities, alternatives, and decision making. These skills are important for taking effective action in the real world. The document provides examples of thinking habits and tools developed by de Bono, like the Six Thinking Hats method, to help structure and improve thinking.

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Amber Skinner
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150 views28 pages

Opera Cy

The document discusses the work and background of Dr. Edward de Bono, who is regarded as a leading authority in creative thinking and lateral thinking. It also discusses the concept of "operacy", which involves skills like considering other perspectives, priorities, alternatives, and decision making. These skills are important for taking effective action in the real world. The document provides examples of thinking habits and tools developed by de Bono, like the Six Thinking Hats method, to help structure and improve thinking.

Uploaded by

Amber Skinner
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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PRESENTED BY DR. MATTHEW E.

WORTH

Dr. Worth may be contacted at: [email protected] or 636.537.9800

Dr. Edward de Bono, is regarded by many as the leading authority in the field of creative thinking, innovation and the direct teaching of thinking as a skill. Development of the 6 Thinking Hats method and the Direct Attention Thinking Tools. Originator of the concept of Lateral Thinking, which is now part of language and is listed in the Oxford English Dictionary. Nominated for the Nobel Prize for Economics in 2005. Rhodes Scholar at Oxford, holds an MA in psychology and physiology from Oxford, a D. Phil. in Medicine and also a Ph.D. from Cambridge. He has held faculty appointments at the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, London and Harvard. Dr. de Bono's background in self-organizing systems led him to derive an understanding which he then applied to the neural networks of the brain.

THE TERM OPERACY IS DEFINED AS "THE SKILL OF DOING.


OPERACY INVOLVES ALL SUCH ASPECTS OF THINKING AS: OTHER PEOPLES VIEWS PRIORITIES OBJECTIVE ALTERNATIVES & CONSEQUENCES GUESSING & CREATIVITY DECISIONS CONFLICT-RESOLUTION
AND MANY OTHER ASPECTS NOT NORMALLY COVERED IN THE TYPE OF THINKING USED FOR INFORMATION ANALYSIS. THESE THINGS ARE PART OF PRO-ACTIVE THINKING, NOT THE USUAL REACTIVE THINKING.

THERE IS A MYTH IN EDUCATION THAT KNOWING IS ENOUGH. IF YOU HAVE SUFFICIENT KNOWLEDGE, ACTION IS OBVIOUS AND EASY. THE REAL-WORLD IS DIFFERENT. THERE ARE:
People to be dealt with Decisions to be made Strategies to be designed and monitored Plans to be made and implemented There is conflict, bargaining, negotiating in deal making

CHILDREN AND ADULTS WHO DO NOT ACQUIRED SKILLS OF OPERACY WILL NEED TO REMAIN IN AN ACADEMIC SETTING.

In 1969, it was established that the neural networks in the brain behave as self-organizing system and encourages incoming information to organize itself into series of stable states that follow one another-the formation of sequence and patterns.

SELF ORGANIZING SYSTEMS SET UP PATTERNS. ONCE WE ARE ON A PATTERN, WE HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO FLOW ALONG THAT PATTERN.

THE PATTERNS ARE FIXED FOR A SET OF CIRCUMSTANCES, BUT IF THE CIRCUMSTANCES CHANGE THE PATTERNS CAN BE DIFFERENT.

AS A SELF ORGANIZING SYSTEM THE MIND ALLOWS


INCOMING INFORMATION TO ORGANIZE ITSELF INTO ROUTINE PATTERNS. THE MIND, THEREFORE, HAS A NATURAL BEHAVIOR OF ITS OWN.

HOWEVER, WE CAN INTERVENE SO THAT THIS NATURAL


BEHAVIOR IS USED MORE EFFECTIVELY FOR OUR PURPOSES.

WE CAN DEVELOP ATTENTION DIRECTING TOOLS AND


STRUCTURES TO AID IN IMPLEMENTING ROUTINE PATTERNS THAT ARE MORE EFFECTIVE THAN THE NATURAL ONES.

WHITE HAT
Facts, figures and information. What information do we have? What information do we have? What information do we need to get?

RED HATEmotions, feelings, hunches, and intuition. What do I feel about this matter right now?

BLACK HATCaution. Truth, judgment, fitting the facts. Does this fit the facts? Will it work? Is it safe? Can it be done?

YELLOW HAT
Advantages, benefits, savings. Why it can be done. Why there are benefits. Why it is a good thing to do.

GREEN HAT
Exploration, proposal, suggestions, new ideas. Alternatives for action. What can we do here? Are there some different ideas?

BLUE HAT
Thinking about thinking. Control of the thinking process. Summary of where we are now. Setting the next thinking step. Setting the program for thinking.

HABITS
A HABIT IS A ROUTINE THAT SHOULD ALWAYS BE PRESENT AT THE BACK OF OUR MINDS NO MATTER WHAT WE ARE THINKING ABOUT.

EACH HABIT IS FRAMED AS A QUESTION WHICH


THE THINKER IS SUPPOSED TO BE ASKING HIM/HERSELF AT FREQUENT INTERVALS.

TOOLS
A TOOL IS MORE DELIBERATE AND MORE FORMAL THAN A HABIT. YOU PICK UP/PUT DOWN A SPECIFIC TOOL FOR A GIVEN TASK.
UNLIKE HABITS, TOOLS ARE NOT USED THE WHOLE TIME. TOOLS CAN GIVE RISE TO HABITS.

THINKING HABITS

FOCUS AND PURPOSE


What am I looking at right now? What am I trying to do?

FORWARD AND PARALLEL


What else might there be? So what follows?

PERCEPTION AND LOGIC


How broad a view am I taking? In what other ways is it possible to look at things?

VALUES
What are the values involved? Who are affected by these values?

OUTCOMES & CONCLUSIONS


IF YOU HAVE NOT SUCCEEDED IN REACHING A CONCLUSION:
What have I found out? What is the sticking point?

IF YOU REACHED A CONCLUSION:


What is my answer? Why do you think my answers will work?

O&C ARE IMPORTANT HABITS FOR 2 REASONS:


1) TO HARVEST OUR THINKING EFFORT 2) SENSE OF ACHIEVEMENT. WITHOUT ACHIEVEMENT, THERE IS NO MOTIVATION.

THINKING TOOLS
1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) AIMS, GOALS & OBJECTIVES CONSIDER ALL FACTORS OTHER PEOPLE VIEWS ALTERNATIVES, POSSIBILITIES AND CHOICES FRIST IMPORTANT PRIORITIES CONSEQUENCE AND SEQUEL PLUS, MINUS AND INTERESTING

HOW TO PRACTICE THINKING EXERCISES


DEMONSTRATION YOU, AS A PARENT/TEACHER, WORK THROUGH A PRACTICE ITEM IN ORDER TO SHOW HOW THE PARTICULAR METHOD OR TOOLS SHOULD BE USED.

JOINT BOTH PARENT AND CHILD WORK THROUGH THE PRACTICE ITEMS TOGETHER EACH OFFERING SUGGESTIONS. JOINT PERFORMANCE DOES NOT MEAN ARGUMENT OR DISCUSSION IT MEANS WORKING TOGETHER JUST AS THE CYLINDERS OF A CAR ENGINE.

REQUEST THIS IS THE NORMAL TEACHING ONE-WAY REQUEST.

PARALLEL BOTH PARENT AND CHILD SEPARATELY CARRY OUT THE THINKING EXERCISE. AT THE END, THE TWO RESULTS ARE COMPARED.

GROUP PARENT SETS THE TASK AND THEN THE GROUP WORKS ON IT TOGETHER.

WRITTEN IN GENERAL ALL EXERCISES CAN BE DONE VERBALLY. OCCASIONALLY IT IS USEFUL TO SET A THINKING TASK AND TO ASK FOR WRITTEN OUTPUT (DIAGRAMS, ALGORITHMS, ETC)

DRAWING METHOD
IN A DRAWING A CHILD HAS TO PUT TOGETHER EXPERIENCE, FUNCTIONS, AND CONCEPTS IN A CONCRETE WAY IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE AN EFFECT. IT IS OFTEN SURPRISING HOW COMPREHENSIVE THE THINKING OF A CHILD CAN BE IN THEIR DRAWING. THERE IS CONSIDERATION OF FACTORS, OF CONSEQUENCES, AND OF OTHER PEOPLE.

WITH A DRAWING, A CHILD WILL EXPERIENCE A SENSE OF


ACHIEVEMENT THAT IS NOT PRESENT WITH A WRITTEN DESCRIPTION.

THESE ARE NOT WORKS-OF-ART, BUT OPERATIONAL DRAWINGS. EACH DRAWING SHOWS HOW SOME TASK CAN BE ACHIEVED OR SOME PROBLEM SOLVED. THE METHOD PRACTICES THE SKILL OF OPERACY AND DESIGN: HOW ONE BRINGS THINGS TOGETHER IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE SOME DESIRED EFFECT.

12 PRINCIPLES FOR THINKING


THERE ARE TWELVE PRINCIPLES FOR THINKING. SOME PRINCIPLES ARE CONCERNED WITH HOW WE OPERATE THE SKILL OF THINKING, WHILE OTHERS ARE CONCERNED WITH THE PRACTICAL USE OF THAT SKILL. 1) ALWAYS BE CONSTRUCTIVE. 2) THINK SLOWLY, METHODICALLY AND MAKE THINGS AS SIMPLE AS POSSIBLE. 3) DETACH YOU EGO FROM YOUR THINKING AND BE ABLE TO STAND BACK TO LOOK AT YOUR THINKING. 4) AT THIS MOMENT, WHAT AM I TRYING TO DO? WHAT IS THE FOCUS AND PURPOSE OF MY THINKING? 5) BE ABLE TO SWITCH GEARS IN YOUR THINKING. KNOW WHEN TO USE LOGIC, WHEN TO USE CREATIVITY, WHEN TO SEEK INFORMATION.

6) WHAT IS THE OUTCOME OF MY THINKING WHY DO I BELIEVE THAT IT WILL WORK? 7) FEELINGS AND EMOTIONS ARE IMPORTANT PARTS OF THINKING BUT THEIR PLACE IS AFTER EXPLORATION AND NOT BEFORE. 8) ALWAYS TRY TO LOOK FOR ALTERNATIVES, FOR NEW PERCEPTIONS AND FOR NEW IDEAS. 9) BE ABLE TO MOVE BACK AND FORTH BETWEEN BROAD-LEVEL THINKING AND DETAIL LEVEL THINKING. 10) IS THIS A MATTER OF MAY BE OR MATTER OF MUST BE? LOGIC IS
ONLY AS GOOD AS THE PERCEPTION AND INFORMATION ON WHICH IT IS BASED.

11) DIFFERING VIEWS MAY ALL BE SOUNDLY BASED ON DIFFERING PERCEPTIONS. 12) ALL ACTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES AND AN IMPACT ON VALUES, PEOPLE AND THE WORLD AROUND.

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Dr. Worth may be contacted at: [email protected] or 636.537.9800

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