There are many ways to respond to situations in life. Some people immediately rush to judgement. Depending on their mental model, they may focus on the pluses, the minuses or a combination of both.
Edward de Bono said that another approach is to suspend judgement and focus on what may be interesting. This could be helpful in developing your thinking or decision making.
Some people also apply this approach to challenging situations in life. One person did this when going through a treatment programme for cancer. They expressed this in the following way.
“I was shocked after getting the diagnosis. After doing some research and meeting with the consultant, however, I realised that there was a great chance of the treatment being successful.
“Some aspects of the treatment are challenging, but I am also finding the process to be interesting. I am learning about caring for my health. The situation has also made me think about what is really important in life.
“Sometimes it seems as if I am hovering about the situation and looking at it from outside. This is also helping me to see many things in perspective.”
Different people take this approach in different situations. Whilst they may have strong opinions on a topic, they are sometimes able to set these aside for a while.
Good decision makers, for example, are able to helicopter above the situation and see the big picture. They sometimes ask themselves the following questions.
What is actually happening? Bearing in mind what we can control, what are the real results we want to achieve? What is the picture of success? What will be the benefits of achieving these goals?
What are the possible options going forward? What are the pluses and minuses of each option? What are the key strategies we can follow to give ourselves the greatest chance of success?
What is the route – or combination of routes – we want to follow? How can we get some quick successes? What else can we do to increase the chances of achieving success?
Edward de Bono’s PMI model focuses on the pluses and minuses but also adds another dimension. As mentioned earlier, he encouraged people to explore the interesting things about an idea, strategy or situation.
The debono.com website provides many tools for following the PMI method. This includes suggestions of topics that can be used to educate students, for example, to try the approach. Here are some of these.
Every adult spends one week a year in the police force … All buildings have gardens on the roof … Every young person adopts an old person to care for … People should wear badges showing whether they are in a good mood or bad mood that day.
The website describes some of the possible interesting things about each of these ideas – plus the following advantages of the PMI approach.
As mentioned earlier, some people may also say: “This is interesting,” when exploring a situation. This is an approach taken by some people as they reach older age. One person expressed this in the following way.
“Getting older is interesting. There are many pluses. Such as being grateful for what you have been given in life and being yourself without worrying about what people think.
“There are some minuses. These include not being able to do certain things and having less energy. But it is often possible to accept and manage these things.
“There are also many interesting things about being in your seventies and eighties. These include seeing things in perspective and, because you are aware of mortality, being more able to live in the moment.
“It is interesting to find creative ways to manage some of the challenges that life brings. It may sound crazy, but some people also see dying as an interesting project.”
There are many ways to respond to situations in life. Some people immediately rush to judgement. Another approach is to follow elements of the PMI model and say: “This is interesting.”
Let’s return to your own life and work. Looking ahead, can you think of a situation where you may want to follow elements of this approach? How can you do this in your own way?
If you wish, try tackling the exercise on this theme. This invites you to complete the following sentences.
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