EDWARD DE BONO'S MESSAGE
3rd August 1997

"Doggy Stories"

The picture shows rather a short fence. The fence is viewed from above. The dog and bone are viewed from the side because it is easier to draw them this way. So imagin you are looking down on the scene.

Replace the dog with a chicken and the bone with a bowl of chicken food. The chicken will try and try to get through the fence to the food. The objective is obvious and the chicken keeps trying to reach the objective directly. The chicken will starve to death without getting the food. The head-on approach does not always work.

The dog is different. For a while the dog tries to get through the fence. Then the dog moves away from the objective to explore. This is not so much based on experience (because such fences are most unusual) but on a curiosity/exploration behaviour. The dog gets the bone.

Consider another situation. The dog is placed quite near one end of the fence but happens to explore in the other direction. The dog eventually gets to the bone - but by the long way round. When would the dog move away from the satisfactory route to search for a shorter route?

The behaviour of the dog has much to do with creativity, provocation, challenge etc.

The task for this month is to elaborate as many other stories and fables around the dog and the fence. Other species can be introduced. Each of the stories should make some key point about thinking in general or creative thinking in particular.

If you think it through carefully and compare the behaviour of the dog to human behaviour there is a big difference. The dog is much better.

Edward de Bono
1st August 1997
Malta