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