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.