Roger von Oech says in the book, ‘A Whack On The Side Of The Head’, “By the time the average person finishes High School he or she will have taken over 2600 tests, quizzes and exams. The right ‘answer’ approach becomes deeply ingrained in our thinking. This may be fine for some mathematical problems, where there is in fact only one answer. The difficulty is that most of life isn’t that way. Life is ambiguous; there are many right answers - all depending on what you are looking for. But if you think there is only one answer, then you’ll stop looking as soon as you find one.” The need to teach flexibility in thinking is becoming increasingly important for the future and success.
In fact Charles Darwin said “It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.”
Thinking flexibly is the ability to consider alternative points of view. This involves using many different problem solving strategies and being able to deal with several sources of information at one time. People who are developing flexibility in thinking will often paraphrase other people’s points of view and consider them. It is being able to come up with an alternative answer. Thinking flexibly involves breaking out of established patterns in order to look at things a different way.
Some people have difficulty in considering alternative points of view. Their way is the only way. Not everything is black and white - there is also a rainbow in between. People who struggle with flexible thinking may use words and phrases such as “my mind is made up” or “I’ll do it my way.” Flexible thinkers use such words as “however”, “ on the other hand” or “if you look at it this way.”
Edward De Bono has simply hundreds of great techniques to enhance flexible thinking. Here are some of my favourites. .
**PMI stands for Plus, Minus and Interesting.** Provide students with a situation or statement and ask them. “What are the plus factors then all the minuses. Then what are all the interesting ideas to come out of this. .
**CAF stands for Consider All Factors.** It is important for students to understand all the factors before attempting to solve challenges. Teach students to look from another person’s perspective and how they may view the facts. .
**C & S means Consequences and Sequel.** De Bono suggests that most people do not consider all the consequences of an action unless they are encouraged to do so. .
Probably the most famous of De Bono’s thinking tools is his **Six Thinking Hats.** Students put on a different coloured hat for different kinds of thinking processes. .
The **White Hat** is for neutral facts, figures and information. What questions do I need to ask and what other information do I need? .
**Red Hat** is for feelings. How do I feel about this right now? What is my intuition or hunch about this topic? .
**Blue Hat;** Thinking about thinking. How did I get to that answer? What have we done so far and what's next? .
**Yellow Hat;** Is for all the good points? Why is this worth doing? How will it help us? Why will it work? .
**Green Hat;** is for creativity and different or new ideas. What other suggestions can we make? What are some other ways to solve this problem? .
**Black Hat;** what are the bad points? What caution do we need to take? Will it work? What are the weaknesses of this idea? .
Gordon Dryden and Dr Jeannette Vos in their book ‘The Learning Revolution’ say these simple lateral thinking ideas work in virtually any situation because they seem to show the logical links between sequential and creative thinking, therefore using both the left and right hemisphere of the brain, in turn making thinking and learning easier. Five year olds through to multi-national corporate companies can use these simple tools with amazing results.
**References**
Learning Revolution: Gordon Dryden and Dr Jeanette Vos.
The Co-operative Think Tank I & II: James Bellanca.
Six Thinking Hats Book 1-4: Edward de Bono.
Habits Of Mind – 4 Book Series, Art Costa & Bena Kallick.
Creating An Effective Learning Environment, Karen Boyes.
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