I'm puzzled by this book. Its author Edward De Bono has an international reputation as a creative thinker on the subject of creativity, He is for example credited with encapsulating the idea of lateral thinking.

At the heart of the book is the idea that we have to create time to think about information.
It begins with the observation that our attention is drawn towards the unusual, and asks the question ‘How much attention do we pay to the usual?

The six frames are a method of looking at information in six specific ways. The idea is to raise our awareness of what we are observing, to see, not simply look at, the usual. De Bono quotes research at Harvard that says that 90% of errors of thinking were errors of perception.

The idea of the six frames seems simple and sound, my problem lies with the book. For a start there’s not much to it. Few pages, widely spaced text with approximately one third of each page taken up with a line drawing of the frame shape being discussed. Of course the small quantity of material is of itself neither good or bad. However on reading it feels that there isn’t much that is said that couldn’t have been more effectively done with a short pamphlet.

The six frames invite you to examine Purpose, Accuracy, Point of View, Interest, Value, Outcome, and as I read the book I began to apply these perspectives to the book.

For a while whilst reading I imagined the concluding pages of the book would be a test of my perception, allowing me to assess my performance in reviewing the ideas. For example asking the questions:- What point of view had De Bono taken? How accurate was his information? What value had the book? I’d then be able to gauge what I’d gained as I’d read.

I was disappointed to find no such test section, as this would have given a purpose to a book that otherwise seems to lack one. Of course De Bono may be having the last laugh, pointing out that by reviewing the book I’m doing precisely what he suggests I should with information I read.

I remain somewhat unconvinced. Overall the book has the feel of an idea first sketched on a napkin that has been stretched beyond its breaking point by the desire to create a book. Those who warm to the idea would have got it from a pamphlet, and those who wouldn’t warm to the idea, I suspect never have the time nor inclination to read a book that invites them to focus more attention on thinking.

I’m left feeling that De Bono should apply the tools he describes to what he has created. Perhaps his ideas warrant a book, but sadly I don’t think it’s this one. ( )