Teach Yourself to Think

Thinking is something people have to do every day. In this book, Edward de Bono lays out a simple five-stage structure as a framework for thinking, focusing on the principle that much of thinking is a matter of "directing attention". The five steps are laid out as follows: the TO stage - where am I going to?, with what do I want to end up?; the LO stage - looking around at the situation, what information is available and what is needed?, what are the perceptions?; the PO stage - generating possibilities, setting up alternatives and new ideas; the SO stage - choosing from among the possibilities, reducing the choices to a line of action; the GO stage - going ahead and putting the thinking into action. A simple coding system emphasizes where we should put maximum effort. Under each stage there are tools that enable the thinker to work through that stage.