de Bono Rules! (no not that Bono!)

One of the most powerful problem solving techniques to aid creativity is compare. We use the verb compare all the time to make decisions. Is this better than that? Why? When faced with the purchase of a new car or house or or or... we often narrow our choices down to two or three possibilities and then it's time for the lists to come out. On a piece of paper list the choices across the top. Down the left side of the paper we now need to list all the options that are available to us such as price, colour options, availability and anything else that will have a bearing on our decision. Once you have listed all your options and choices and filled in all the spaces, you can much more easily see how everything compares and you will have a much greater chance of making the best decision.
One factor that is very important relates back to an earlier post. The Explorer. The more time you have spent exploring the world, the better the chance you will have of adding more interesting choices.
Edward de Bono, one of the Gods of gifted education, has developed a number of thinking skills and techniques. One of the most useful is known as PMI. Positive, minus, interesting. Much more on de Bono later but for those who would like to explore him..

http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTED_05.htm

"Go to the mirror boy."

Back to "The Thinker's Toolbox" and empathy which is the next verb. Without empathy, you can never hope to really make something appealing to others. As a teacher, one needs to understand what your students want and need, if you want them to get involved and learn. One phrase that meant much to me as a teacher was, "significant other." My job was to become a significant other to each and every student. When you become significant to that student, and only when you become significant, can you hope to reach and motivate them. How does one learn to have empathy? This leads to today's fun homework assignment. To quote The Who... "Go to the mirror boy." Stand in front of the mirror and (if it hasn't broken) feel an emotion. Think a happy thought and watch your face. Look for the subtle and not so subtle expressions which pass by your face. Try bored. Have you seen that look on the faces of someone you have been speaking to? Try every emotion and see what you see. This is a beginning step to start to feel what others are feeling. Have fun!

Genius means little more than the faculty of perceiving in an unhabitual way.
William James


A painter told me that nobody could draw a tree without in some sort becoming a tree; or draw a child by studying the outlines of its form merely . . . but by watching for a time his motions and plays, the painter enters into his nature and can then draw him at every attitude.
Ralph Waldo Emerson