Dubai-based teacher of creative thinking stresses on use of thinking tools

Years ago, the punchline by a school headmaster at his farewell speech had been "These are the days of excellence". That remark may have been a little too ambitious then. But in the increasingly competitive world of today, that line seems to hit bull's eye.

"Traditional methods of problem solving do not seem to be enough now," says Dina Faidi, a Dubai-based teacher of creative thinking. "The need of the hour is the ability to generate new concepts and new ways of doing things... we need creativity. Use of creative-thinking tools is nothing but utilising your mind in non-traditional ways," points out Faidi.

Experts in creativity

Faidi was first exposed to these tools at a seminar in Jordan by Dr Edward de Bono, one of the world's foremost experts in creativity. Dr de Bono is the founder of "lateral thinking" where unconventional thinking methods are used for a disciplined approach to innovation, idea generation and concept development. According to him, creative thinking is not a talent; it is a skill that can be learned. And it is important to be taught how to use these tools.

This is what Faidi has been doing since the past six to seven years in Jordan and the UAE. "Training corporate executives and school children may need different tools," Faidi said, "but the ultimate aim is to get them to be more creative in all their efforts, be it at a meeting or in their studies."

"An important point to be kept in mind is that just like any other tool, these too should be regularly practised and used if they are to be effective," she added.

Some of the programmes designed by de Bono are Lateral Thinking, Six Thinking Hats, Direct Attention Thinking Tools (DATT) and Cognitive Research Tools (CoRT).

Faidi is a certified trainer for all these programmes and has even translated and published CoRT in Arabic.

CoRT, which is a special educational programme for school children, has been launched in one of the schools in Sharjah. This MBA from the University of Hartford, Paris, believes that the thinking ability of a child improves remarkably after going through a CoRT programme.

"The young mind is now provoked to think of better and different ways to approach a problem, and at the same time include the consequences of any action that would be taken when a solution is looked for," she remarked. "Hence, the child is very cautious of every step he takes, leaving very little room for instinctive actions."

Before making a decision to fashion her career on de Bono's methods, Faidi had had a chequered career in Jordan, from working as an interior designer to advertising to as a managing partner of Fedex operations and working as regional education manager at Microsoft-Gulf in Dubai.

Creativity & Beyond is the enterprise she has now set up in Dubai in conjunction with Dr Edward de Bono and Tony Buzan, another creativity expert. This broad base of expertise allows her to link theory with hands-on experience.

Extrapolating these ideas to environment awareness building programmes in the UAE and Jordan, Faidi plans to implement them at different levels. As one of the winners of the Ford Environmental Grants last year for her project on "use of creativity in environmental protection and conservation", she hopes to generate creative strategies to build awareness among the public on the importance of natural resources and their preservation.

Proving beneficial

Faidi, who is also a member of the Royal Society for Conservation of Nature (RSCN) in Jordan, has been involved in the training of people there in the use of creative thinking tools for the preservation of nature and utilisation of resources without harming the environment and at the same time proving beneficial to them.

Emphasising the use of creative thinking tools here, Faidi said, "When people become aware of the importance of our environment, they get excited about getting involved in related activities.

But, if they were left with an open end, not all of them would have the inclination to pursue further. On the other hand, if they are left with a task and the required tools, then it should be a different story.

"The more creative an infrastructure the more would it be able to attract people towards the cause, thereby increasing public awareness. Thus would flow fresh ideas that could increase participation, enthusing people to translate them into successful projects."