You may have read “Best of ECCI, worst of PtO”. During the same conference, I was asked to be Dr. de Bono’s chauffeur and aid during the two days he attended. The organizing committee asked me if I would, because they knew I was a certified trainer in de Bono’s Lateral Thinking.
I remember I asked if it wouldn’t be more appropriate to inform whether I had a driver’s license if I was going to be anyone’s chauffeur. But I digress. I agreed and found myself trying be as helpful as possible to the good Doctor and his personal assistant Amanda.

At the time I thought that put me in the unique position to tell him about my Pinching the Ostrich project. And it did. Not only was I able to tell him about my project I was even able to get an assignment from him. A challenge that would surely mean the best start of the 2nd year of PtO, the year of psychology, I could possibly wish for.

Yet, the second he gave me his assignment - strangely enough - it didn’t feel right. It wasn’t the assignment as such, it was something else I just couldn’t instantly put my finger on. How could that be?
Not only did I get the unexpected opportunity to do my Pinching the Ostrich workshop at ECCI, I was able to spend two days with one of the most respected people in the world of business creativity and I got an actual assignment that would help put PtO on the map. What’s not to like about that?

It gets even better. At ECCI we were asked to pick up a dinner voucher for two, invite someone we did not know personally and go and spend the evening with that person. Patrick Colemont (co-founder of E.A.C.I.) and I asked Dr. de Bono and Amanda to join as for dinner, which they did. A few acquaintances in creativity joined us and we had a lovely evening.

I think it was then and there where it started to become clear where that “ungrateful” feeling came from. I wasn’t having dinner with a Dr. and his PA. I was sharing a meal with Edward and Amanda. I’m saying that with sincere respect for the both of them. These were just two people, actual people.

That may sound as a given, but seeing how both of them were treated during the conference, you might have come to a different conclusion.

The Dr. and his aid were treated politely, respectfully and more than properly. Yet despite all the good intentions of everyone around, most of us – including yours truly – wanted something from him, period. “We” wanted pictures, “we” wanted overhead slides he left behind, “we” wanted an autograph, “we” wanted to give him our own books, etc, etc. And Dr. de Bono gracefully obliged us in his signature style, time and time again. 
 
I asked Amanda whether the Dr. was OK with all of that, because I really couldn’t tell. She nodded and said he keeps to himself most of the time, confirming that he’s not an easy person to read.
But of course. What better defence strategy to maintain a grounded posture and demeanor, while still being genuinely open to people’s requests and even expressions of utter admiration? It was plain surreal to see people tripping over themselves, even practicing opening lines…

“Did you have any idea”, I asked him, “that writing Mechanism of Mind (the book on the findings on which most of his work is based) would bring you to where you are today?” He looked at me, paused for a moment, and said “No. Not…at…all”

How could he? He wrote a book, pushed the proverbial domino, and became a living legend. And my PtO request only added to that phenomenon. I can’t help but feel awkward about that. Mainly because I got a few subtle glimpses of the man behind the brand. There were a few brief moments he was just simply being a warm, elderly man who found himself far away from home. There were a few hints of how Amanda isn’t just a PA performing a task, but someone who cares deeply for the man.

So here’s why I won’t do his challenge.

Doing Dr. de Bono’s challenge as part of my Pinching the Ostrich journey would be utterly self serving, being a de Bono trainer myself. I have decided not to go there.

Secondly, I noticed how people regard the Dr. as someone unreachable. Which is not the case, but it is how I’ve seen and heard people perceive him. And until further notice, perception remains reality.
So I’m not going to hand you the obvious excuse of you-can-get-toa-man-like-that-because-you’re-a-certified-trainer-but-I’m-not-so-I-can’t on a silver platter.

Instead, I’m handing Dr. de Bono’s challenge to all of you. Here it is:

Dr. de Bono:

“If you want to understand my passion, discover the difference between my thinking and that of the Greek gang of three: Aristotle, Plato and Socrates.”

“I promise you, you can become pretty passionate about that”, he added. And when I asked whether he feels he has done enough, and that it’s up to others now, he immediately and energetically replied: “No, not at all. I have the feeling that it’s only just beginning…”

Take care,
Karl

Share

« Back