Parallel Thinking: From Socratic to De Bono Thinking

Parallel thinking is a book that offers an alternative to traditional Western ways of thinking. The book stipulates that the basic failing of Western thinking is its emphasis on judgement and placing everything into categories. Parallel thinking is one alternative which focuses on exploring a subject rather than jumping to conclusions. Parallel thinking is not about obtaining a result, rather it is about designing a way forward.There are many things that I like about this book. Being brought up in the Western education system, I have been locked into the paradigm of critical analysis and the adversarial system. Reading this book, it is apparent that a much more productive approach involves exploring a subject using formal thinking tools. This removes the ego defence whereby I have to defend my point of view against attack.However, I did find a lot repetition in this book. This is a point that de Bono himself acknowledges in the text. There are also lots of references to his other books which could be seen as plugs. These minor details do not detract from the book at all and I would thoroughly recommend "Parallel Thinking" to any open minded individual who is interested in learning about new ways to think.