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Thursday, December 25, 2008

Review of Edward de Bono's New Book - Six Frames


I just finished Edward de Bono's new book, Six Frames (http://adjix.com/2tfc)

Six Frames is a set of tools for thinking about Information. These Six Frames are:

1. The Triangle Frame - to layout very clearly your purpose of requiring a piece of information. Is it for a specific need? For your general interest? For confirmation? Edward de Bono says that it's is important to be clear with (1) what is the purpose of this information; (2) why do you need this piece of information; and (3) and where to look for it.

2. The Circle Frame - to review the accuracy of the information as the degree of accuracy will affect the value of the information. Accuracy of the information can be influenced by the following factors: (1) authority - is the source credible?; (2) internal checking - are there inconsistencies in the information? (3) comparative accuracy - counter check the veracity of the information against other sources; (3) adequate accuracy - is the information sufficiently accurate in spite of some minor errors; (4) doubts - this will inevitably limit the accuracy of the information but may not totally eliminate the value of the information.

3. Square Frame - is there any biasness in the information? Are the views balanced or one-sided? Is there other way of looking at the information?

4. Heart Frame - to direct attention to matters that are of interest to you. This could be general interest or special interest due to the work that you are doing.

5. Diamond Frame - what is the value of the information? In this book, Edward de Bono also links the Diamond Frame to his 6 Value Medals
    Gold medal: human values and values that apply to people
    Silver medal: values that apply to an organisation or entity
    Steel medal: values relating to quality
    Glass medal: values relating to innovation and creativity
    Wood medal: values concerning the environment at large.
    Brass medal: perceptual values. How would this be perceived?

6. Slab Frame - this is the final stage where you lay down your conclusions using the information that you have to support the conclusions.

While I think this book is certainly not as interesting and insightful as his previous books, it is nonetheless a useful guide for those who need a quick framework for thinking about information. We also have to be cognizant that not everyone will have the same piece of information and it is possible that with different sets of information, different conclusions may be reached. If the conclusions are vastly different, it may be worthwhile to go back the process once again and to see if we have under-utilised any of the 6 Frames? For example, did we only collect information that only support our hypothesis or did we ignore the doubts cast by the information?

Having filtered the information throught the right framework is not enough. It is equally important that we are able to communicate our thoughts. I would therefore recommend that you consider picking up some books relating to story-telling in an organization setting. Two books that I have read are: What's your story (by Ryan Mathews and Watts Wacker) (http://adjix.com/u432) and The Secret Language of Leaders (by Stephen Denning) (http://adjix.com/u2q3).

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