Once you’ve made your mind up… changing it can be really difficult… or can it?

In business, changing your mind can be seen as a weakness and that you have a lack of clarity or direction. People who change their minds can be considered unreliable or indifferent. Changing your mind in business, known as pivoting, … Continue reading

Why learn how to use the Six Thinking Hats®?

Six Thinking Hats® is a practical business thinking and decision-making tool, developed by Dr. Edward de Bono. The concept involves wearing metaphorical ‘Hats’ of different colours, each representing a different perspective or way of thinking. Why learn it? Being able … Continue reading

Allowing people’s creativity to flow when writing for business

Richard Morris, Accredited Trainer Creativity in business enhances success. It fosters engagement, teamwork, innovative ideas, product and service enhancements. Breaking old thinking habits and work patterns. But how often do businesses actually promote creativity in their business writing? In creative … Continue reading

Creative leadership

As the saying goes, ‘In calm water, every ship has a good captain’. It’s only in turbulent times that leaders need to show what they are made of. With financial storms looming, what can leaders do to keep their organisations … Continue reading

Design thinking

The business world has been abuzz with the concept of Design Thinking over the last few years – and with good reason. This non-linear, iterative process is a great way to avoid the trap of rushing in to solve a … Continue reading

Sur/petition – focus on value creation

“Sur/petition: creating value monopolies when everyone else is merely competing” Edward de Bono Competition is based on the idea of different individuals or companies striving to win a part of the same thing. Dr Edward de Bono suggests an alternative: … Continue reading

Leaders can do more with less

  Leaders have opportunities to use creative thinking every day. Whether they’re making improvements, cutting costs or solving problems, they have to go beyond what has been done before. The constant need to do more for less demands creativity from … Continue reading

Virtual selling – the new sales disruptor

Richard Morris, Accredited Trainer The world of the sales professional has changed. Consideration needs to be given to the skills that are now needed. The COVID pandemic has meant virtual selling has become the new reality of the sales function … Continue reading

Robust and clear ideas to take forward

Now that Covid-19 has challenged us to work and think, more creatively, it would be a shame to lose this new ability of approaching life with an innovative mindset. Dr Edward de Bono’s ‘Lateral Thinking’ gives the tools to come … Continue reading

Stop talking over me! Making the most from online meetings.

This weekend I decided to attempt a family ‘Mother’s Day’ get together on Zoom – given the social distancing rules in place. We are not a particularly quiet family, but we are polite and usually observe the informal rules of conversation … Continue reading

When you need to generate ideas

Gilly Meek, de Bono Accredited Trainer Have you ever been in that situation when you need to come up with ideas but your mind goes blank? Or maybe you can’t think past the same old solutions that keep resurfacing? Sadly, … Continue reading

Too busy to think?

The decision is made – two weeks later you have to backtrack! How many times has that happened to you, either as the person making the decision or as a part of the team bringing it to life. This happens … Continue reading

Changing the way you do things

By Richard White – de Bono Accredited Trainer. Change for the better is always good but we have to make it happen, we can’t sit back and wait for it. Adding to that, the old adage “nothing is perfect” suggests … Continue reading

Collaborative meetings

By Richard White – de Bono Accredited Trainer. “That was a great meeting, everyone pulled together to work through the issues, came up with solutions and agreed on the best way forward. I can’t wait to get this project started.” … Continue reading

Adding a process to creativity is not restrictive

By Richard White – de Bono Accredited Trainer. Although many people think of creativity as being about a select group of unconstrained, “creative” individuals having inspirational ideas, the practical truth is very different. Inspirational ideas are great when they occur … Continue reading

Taking time to save time

By Richard White – de Bono Accredited Trainer. Creative thinking and innovation are key to the prosperity of most businesses and organisations today. This is especially true, as we look to the future – there will be some major changes … Continue reading

Creativity for leaders

By Richard White – de Bono Accredited Trainer. Leaders have opportunities to use creative thinking every day. Whether they’re making improvements, cutting costs or solving problems, they have to go beyond what has been done before. The constant need to … Continue reading

Increase and improve collaboration

Two heads may be better than one, but too many cooks spoil the broth… How do we make collaboration work? Collaboration needs a framework. Beyond thinking about the project we’re working on – we also need to be thinking about … Continue reading

Better, stronger, faster decisions.

How do you and your team make decisions? Do you: Jump on the most likely-looking solution, because you’re pushed for time? Listen to the person with the most experience? Look to the past and see what worked and whether it … Continue reading

Getting stronger outputs from innovation

A common challenge in innovation was summed up succinctly by one of our clients: “We’re pretty good at idea generation. But at the end of the session we have 300 post-its and no idea what to do next. Someone takes … Continue reading

Master the knowledge economy with rigorous, dynamic group thinking

Intelligence is a commodity. Expertise is valuable. The worlds of industry and commerce are moving ever faster thanks to advances in technology. There are many advantages to this. Revolutions in remote working and quick communication mean that we never need … Continue reading

Engaging stakeholders

The skills required to understand, engage, manage and communicate with stakeholders. By Trish Thurley, Indigo Master Trainer and Richard Evans Stakeholder management can be the difference between success and failure for anyone who has to deal with other people. Who … Continue reading

Ever wanted to just get up and walk out of a meeting?

By Ragini Krishnadas Meetings consume huge amounts of time for most of us, our customers tell us that these are often the least productive elements of their day. “That was so worthwhile!” When was the last time you walked out of … Continue reading

Eco bottle caps double as Lego blocks. Classic Lateral Thinking in action.

Brazil-based innovative packaging developer Clever Caps offer an environmentally friendly solution to the production of bottle caps – while also adding value to the objects to encourage consumers to re-use them. We like this classic use of Lateral Thinking and Provocation that Edward de Bono would be proud of. Continue reading

Creativity for graduates

I’m Olivia, you may have read my other blog ‘The graduate: a day in the life’. I was lucky enough to attend two of Edward de Bono’s most popular techniques Edward de Bono’s Six Thinking Hats® and Lateral Thinking™. This … Continue reading

The Graduate: A day in the life

Being a graduate is scary. This year’s cohort of freshly graduated newbies to the workplace are the second year group to leave university lumbered with higher debt than ever, with more pressure than ever to perform and succeed. I am … Continue reading

My day is just meetings, meetings, meetings…

Does this sound like a familiar problem? Too many of us find ourselves spending many hours a day in meeting after meeting, which all too often fail to reach any sort of positive outcome, even after hours of debate. The … Continue reading

Will your idea work?

So, ‘innovation is a part of your culture’  and you have accepted that ‘change is inevitable…’ You have set your focus and generated fresh, fast and on-demand ideas, so what next? Do you just pop them in a box somewhere … Continue reading

Where do you do your best thinking?

In the shower… Driving in the car… Lying in bed… Exercising… Gardening… Dancing… We ask this question at our Six Thinking Hats® training sessions. If you are like 95% of people we’ve surveyed… your answer is doing something alone that … Continue reading

Is innovation a part of your culture?

Many organisations have mission or vision statements that suggest they are an innovative or creative organisation, yet the people at the top of the organisation can often not elaborate on how, or if this happens. Often just putting people in … Continue reading

A typical day?

By Stephanie Butland – Master Trainer, Six Thinking Hats® You arrive on time at your first meeting, to find that there is a clear focus and an agenda. There are no lengthy anecdotes, no arguments, and none of the jostling … Continue reading

Indigo Update – Autumn 2015

Welcome to our Autumn Indigo Update. There’s been a lot going on behind the scenes here at Indigo. We’ve been listening to your feedback, and over the next few months we’ll be bringing you some more exciting launches and offers – fulfilling our mission to … Continue reading

Dr Edward de Bono’s Top 10 quotes on negativity in meetings

Meetings are hard work and unproductive when colleagues spend most of their time thinking of reasons why something won’t work. Dr Edward de Bono is the world’s leading authority on how to get the best out of people’s thinking. We … Continue reading

It ain’t what you do, it’s the way that you do it

Bill Barnett – 8th May 2013 I had a fantastic day training yesterday, courtesy of my good friends at Indigo, playing on their “Stakeholder Engagement (including Simulation)™” simulator. The simulator is a great piece of kit, which actually takes participants … Continue reading

Indigo sponsor scientists through a “Dragons Den” style competition…

Indigo are thrilled to announce that, for the third successive year, we are a proud sponsor of the Environment YES (Young Entrepreneurs Scheme) competition this December 2013. This innovative scheme raises levels of entrepreneurial awareness amongst PhD students and post doctoral researchers working in the environmental sciences. Continue reading

Try Before You Buy – The Free Webinar Line-Up

In these cost conscious times,we appreciate that it is often difficult to get approval to attend a workshop. For this reason we have created a number of FREE webinars to help you gain a clearer understanding of our events, before you decide which one to attend. Continue reading

Edward de Bono confirmed as keynote at the Learning Technologies / Skills Conference 2012

Indigo is thrilled to partner with the thirteenth annual Learning Technologies Conference on 25th January Creativity expert and author, Dr Edward de Bono, will open with a keynote speech on one of the fundamental issues facing business: how we think! Continue reading

Free Webinars – Indigo’s “try before you buy” series.

In these cost conscious times, and with travel budgets being cut, we appreciate that it is often difficult to get approval to attend a workshop, without a full understanding of how it will meet your training requirements, and link to your companies strategic plan. For this reason we have created a number of free webinars to help you gain a clear understanding of our events, before you decide which one to attend. Continue reading

You’re hired! Why innovation is the key to business success.

Every year I say I am not going to get hooked on the BBC’s hit show ‘The Apprentice’, and then it draws me in and I am there to the bitter end! But at least, this year’s record viewing figures for the show prove that I was not the only one! But what struck me with this year’s change of circumstances – with the candidates vying to become business partners with Lord Sugar – was that, as well as the ‘nice guy’ coming first; this was a triumph for innovation too. Continue reading

Calling all trainers – Free Webinar: 2pm, 1st June 2011

Organisations are desperately searching for proven, practical tools to ramp-up the creative thinking capacity of their workforce. Yet we frequently hear clients saying “We know we need to be more creative, but we don’t know how”. What’s the Problem? Increased … Continue reading

Six Hats = Smart Business – nothing silly about it!

Recently, while keeping an eye on the virtual market place, we noticed that someone had taken our YouTube clip of Dr. Edward de Bono describing the Six Thinking Hats®, and added Arabic sub-titles to it! Continue reading

Indigo client is University of the Year

A small blog entry to say HUGE congratulations to the University of York; one of our premium clients recently recognised as the Times Higher Education University of the Year! (See full article at http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storycode=414419) Continue reading

Six Thinking Hats® in action at mark-making*

At Indigo we are always eager to hear from our clients after their training. The key measure of Indigo’s success is how our customers benefit from the practical use of our Creativity, Communication and Project Management training. Here is a … Continue reading

The de Bono Weekly Message – Do you recognise this problem?

The human brain is designed to recognise. I described in detail how the brain does this in my book “Mechanism of the Mind”. The leading physicist in the world liked my book and commissioned a team of computer experts to… Continue reading

Edward de Bono Meets Thai Prime Minister

BANGKOK, 6 March 2010 – Originator of Lateral Thinking, Edward de Bono yesterday met Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva at the Government House. He praised Thai government for the proclaimation of National Creative Economy Policy. Read more at https://www.siamdailynews.com/2010/03/08/originator-of-lateral-thinking-lauds-thailands-creative-economy-policy/

The de Bono Weekly Message – “We need to add”

Complacent, adequate, sufficient all imply that something is not wrong or bad. Our normal language and thinking behaviour does not have a convenient way of saying: “That is excellent but not enough”. Or we might need to say “That is excellent but that is only part of the picture”. Dr Edward de Bono Continue reading

The de Bono Weekly Message – A Different Sort of Logic!

Our habits of thinking are too much judgement based and not enough design based. This arises from the origin with the GG3 (Greek Gang of Three). When this thinking came into Europe at the Renaissance, the Church ran schools, universities and thinking in general. What the Church needed was truth, logic and argument to prove heretics wrong. So we developed an excellent thinking system for ‘finding the truth’ but we never developed thinking ‘for creating value (design)’. Continue reading