[continued from the Last Post]
Question #17:
Dr Edward de Bono’s work is well entrenched and widely accepted in this part of the world. How much different is your work? What do you think are the salient contrasts to begin with?
DM: Dr. de Bono is one of my earliest sources of inspiration in the world of creativity. I remain an ardent student of his and every exposure to his works never fails to enlighten me.
Whilst you are correct in that his work is “well entrenched and widely accepted in this part of the world” I have not met more than a few people who are conversant with his thinking to the point of reflecting his genius. That is disappointing for me because I remain a passionate advocate of his works.
My repertoire of material is reflective of how I believe the brain likes to play, not how it is expected to work! In this sense, I have taken the path of visual literacy using a range of image processing strategies that contrast with that used by Dr. de Bono. I love his use of what could be termed ‘symbolic’ or ‘analogic’ imagery, but I feel they would be even more powerful with colour coding. However, this observation in no way diminishes his genius at rendering his thoughts so cogently.
My range of visual maps are unique in the way they are conceptualised and crafted, and my background as a marine engineer has perhaps influenced me to apply my strategies in real-life situations; on numerous occasions, this has been in the midst of crises, such as during the Iran-Iraq War, traversing pirate-infested waters, and travelling the world where I had to deal with ‘spontaneous emergencies’ on the run.
In all of these instances, I had to deploy ways and means of visual thinking that contrast with that used by Dr. de Bono, yet I readily admit, my exposure to his works from decades ago must have also helped me greatly.
A major difference between my work and that of Dr. de Bono and others is the manner in which I am able to take masses of information and collapse that onto a single sheet of paper. This is the technique I use to present the extensive information attributes on a single, concentrated intensive map.
This skill is teachable and learnable, and eminently relevant to students and executives.
Furthermore, my marine background and set of unique extreme experiences, have equipped me with an infinitude of resources to tap on. This evolution, coupled with a richness of educational stimuli from my earliest years in England, and the Far East, shapes and forms my material from a multi-disciplinary, systems perspective.
I use my awareness of how all things and phenomena are interconnected, and express these insights through my passion for contorting language and imagery with creative sprinklings of serious play. I find this to be a scorching antidote to brain-block!
[to be continued in the Next Post]
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