de-bono

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how is making
thinking?

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Who else thinks like this?

Edward De Bono - Professor of Psychology and of Design / Lecturer
Inventor of the term ‘Lateral Thinking’ and author of many books on this subject.

'The Dog Exercising Machine - A Study of Children as Inventors’ (publ. 1970) consists almost entirely of diagrammatic illustrations of design ideas created by children, showing how varied and individualistic inventive thinking can be, and how these ideas can only be expressed visually through drawing. He says:

"The children were asked to design a machine for exercising dogs. This may seem an odd choice of subject but it does have many advantages:

1. Such machines do not actually exist. So the child has to invent something instead of just reproducing an existing machine. This is very important, for as children get older they learn that the most important thing in life is competence and this involves doing something 'as it is'.

2. In a dog-exercising machine the child is not just dealing with a mechanical device.
He has to deal with the dog as well, and the dog is a living thing. In addition to understanding wheels and engines the child has to contribute some dog psychology as well.

3. Dogs are part of a child's world and of interest to them.

4. Both 'machine' and 'exercise' are subtle abstract ideas which even adults might have difficulty in handling. How do children handle them?

To a child most ideas are new ideas. And yet to arrive at these new ideas he can only make use of ideas he already has. Three basic methods seem to be used for generating new ideas from old ones.

The 'exchange' principle:

... a man exercises a dog by taking it for a walk on a lead.

... exchange the man for a man-like machine (called a robot).

... a robot exercises a dog by taking it for a walk on a lead.

The 'put-together' principle:

... dogs chase after bones.

... move the bone and so exercise the dog by making him run after it.

... move the bone by attaching it to a bicycle.

The 'fill-in' principle:

... you could exercise the dog by moving its legs about.

... how could you move its legs about.

... by attaching them to springs which jump about."

Out of 72 design entries almost half were from girls. This correlates with our own findings in children's workshops - that girls will take part in technology and science if the themes or subject matter are 'gender inclusive'. The dog makes all the difference, creating a wider social appeal to the project.
who is this? > Edward De Bono

what do we mean - thinking by making?

• there is special knowledge and understanding to be gained by making things

• childhood plays a vital part in this innovative process

a historical perspective

• evidence from the past

• art and decoration

• observation, trial and error

• origins of maths
• patterns and geometry

facing the future

• living in a digital age

• how can this be creative?

• new ways of thinking