With his latest book, Thinking To Create Value, now released internationally, Jo Caruana meets Edward de Bono to discuss the value of his latest creative tool, bonting.

It is always a pleasure to meet Edward de Bono. Here is the man known as the father of lateral thinking and the icon of creative approaches, a man with 85 books under his belt and a legion of famous fans, and yet who never turns down a chat – and, as always, is wearing his trademark colourful socks.

Prof. De Bono is quick to bring me up to speed on his latest work, Thinking to Create Value, which was recently released locally and in London.

As many readers will know, Prof. de Bono’s past books include the world-famous Six Thinking Hats, How to Have a Beautiful Mind, and Think! Before It’s Too Late. This one, which was published by Maltese company Kite Group, introduces the concept of ‘bonting’, a phrase coined by the professor and which encourages a new way of thinking.

“Bonting is all about adding value to something which is already good, but not good enough,” he says, explaining that thinking to create value is not normally included in the aspects of thinking. “This book teaches the reader how to add value, and that starts with ‘a value dream’, which is like a hypothesis, that is then turned into a concept, an idea and finally, into something practical.”

Edward De Bono. Photos: Rene Rossignaud

The professor explains that this book has enabled him to focus on the different types of thinking that he believes humans have neglected. He stresses that thinking should be taught in school from an early age, and also believes each country should have a Minister of Thinking to develop ideas and encourage new ways of doing things. The word bonting itself, meanwhile, is an amalgamation of the Latin word for ‘good’ and, of course, the professor’s surname.

“We really need to give thinking much more attention,” he says. “I don’t mean in terms of philosophy, but in terms of practical thinking. The closest term to bont in our current vocabulary is ‘design’, but that has nowadays acquired a meaning that suggests aesthetic improvement rather than fundamental value creation, so we needed one that was more specific.”

I ask the professor for an example of what he means and he obliges. “Suppose we wanted to add value to an everyday task, like taking the bus; the idea would be to add something to the journey that the commuters wouldn’t otherwise have had, so they could leave with something more, such as a new friend.

“With this in mind, we could give the passengers a two-sided card, one with a yellow face, and the other black – yellow signifies that they’re happy to make a new friend, while black means they would rather be left alone. That way, all those with a ‘yellow’ approach could sit together, chat and make friends – something that could add huge value to their lives, even in the longer term. It’s very practical and it wouldn’t cost a thing; that is bonting, and it can be used in so many different and exciting ways.”

The book itself makes the thinking behind bonting easy to understand. The professor wrote it in just two weeks while travelling between Malta and the UK. It uses simple examples of value that has been added in the past, with ideas of value that could be added in the future, and sets our frameworks, tools, methods and habits that can lead to value creation.

He also explains the bonting process, starting with the decision about where you want to create value, then setting up the clear value dream and, ultimately, taking the decision and action to deliver the value. “I hope this book will be of benefit to lots of different people,” Prof de Bono says, adding that Queen Elizabeth was sent a copy for her 90th birthday, while Prince Philip was given the first official copy during CHOGM.

“It will certainly help businesses to create value and should be read by entrepreneurs, but also I think it can help absolutely anyone to add value to their life. I hope people will start to see thinking as something that can achieve so much more than we believe it can; it’s not just about finding truth and winning arguments, but about finding new and better ways to do things.

“So, just as creativity can be taught with the formal tools of lateral thinking, so thinking to create value can be taught. That is exactly what this book is about – starting with the value dream, and making it practical. I hope it will lead to the development of the bonting skill. Now, let’s bont,” Prof. de Bono says with a smile.