Author Information:

Edward De Bono (born 1933) writes prolifically on the subject of thinking and conducts training in the same field. Many people know him as having coined the term lateral thinking, of which they consider him the pioneer. Born in Malta, De Bono studied at St Edward's College and subsequently gained a medical degree from the Royal University of Malta. Studying at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, he gained an honours degree in psychology and physiology and a D.Phil in medicine. He went on to complete a PhD at Cambridge, and to faculty appointments at Oxford, London, Cambridge and Harvard. He is married with two sons, and lives on the Channel Islands. He has written "62 books with translations into 37 languages". He has spent the last 30 years teaching thinking, including working with governments, corporations, organisations and individuals, speaking publicly or privately on many matters. He has started to set up SITO - the 'Supranational Independent Thinking Organisation' based in Malta, which he describes as a "kind of intellectual Red Cross". De Bono's work has become particularly popular in the sphere of business - perhaps because of the perceived need to restructure corporations, to allow more flexible working practices and to innovate in products and services.