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The vertical thinker says: ‘I know what I am looking for.’ The lateral thinker says: ‘I am looking but I won’t know what I am looking for until I have found it.’

Edward de Bono

Dealing with complexity is an inefficient and unnecessary waste of time, attention and mental energy. There is never any justification for things being complex when they could be simple.
EDWARD DE BONO

Attention Deal Mental Energy Necessary Simplicity Time
The need to be right all the time is the biggest bar to new ideas.
EDWARD DE BONO

Ideas Need Right Time
You hold onto religion, you know, rules, regulations, traditions. I think what God is interested in is people’s hearts, and that’s hard enough.
EDWARD DE BONO

Enough Hard Heart Hold People Religion Rule Tradition
What the joke displays is a switch in perception. This is important in changing the way we think.
EDWARD DE BONO

Change Display Important Joke Perception Thinking
An idea that is developed and put into action is more important than an idea that exists only as an idea.
EDWARD DE BONO

Development Existence Ideas
I’m tired of dreaming. I’m into doing at the moment. It’s, like, let’s only have goals that we can go after.
EDWARD DE BONO

Dreams Goal Moments
Removing the faults in a stage-coach may produce a perfect stage-coach, but it is unlikely to produce the first motor car.
EDWARD DE BONO

Car Mistake Production Remove
Although feelings are not supposed to intrude on business discussions, they do anyway – we just disguise them as logic.
EDWARD DE BONO

Business Discussion Feeling Logic
To be successful you have to be lucky, or a little mad, or very talented, or find yourself in a rapid growth field.
EDWARD DE BONO

Feild Growth Mad Success Talent
Our existing thinking habits are excellent, just as the rear wheels of a motor car are excellent, but not enough.
EDWARD DE BONO

Enough Excellence Existence Habit Thinking
Intelligence is something we are born with. Thinking is a skill that must be learned.
EDWARD DE BONO

Born Intelligence Learning Skill Thinking
Sometimes the situation is only a problem because it is looked at in a certain subjective, negative, ungrateful way.
EDWARD DE BONO

Gratitude Problem Situation Time Way
Humor is by far the most significant activity of the human brain.
EDWARD DE BONO

Activity Brain Human Humor
Possibilities play a much bigger role in thinking than most people believe. Without possibilities you cannot make progress.
EDWARD DE BONO

Play Possible Progress Thinking
The awful thing is that you can never be aware of what you are not aware of.
EDWARD DE BONO

Aware Awful Yourself
Companies that solely focus on competition will ultimately die. Those that focus on value creation will thrive.
EDWARD DE BONO

Company Competition Death Focus Thrive Ultimate

The vertical thinker says: ‘I know what I am looking for.’ The lateral thinker says: ‘I am looking but I won’t know what I am looking for until I have found it.’

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The vertical thinker says: ‘I know what I am looking for.’ The lateral thinker says: ‘I am looking but I won’t know what I am looking for until I have found it.’

Related Topics

Popular Authors

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