Focusing is a technique that intentionally draws the
attention on something which is usually overlooked. De Bono (1998) identifies
two types of focusing:
1. Simple Focusing. It is about realizing what you are doing
to find a new aspect to focus on, id. a new problematic situation.
Afterwards, you can follow different procedures:
- Take note of the problem and examine it later;
- Make a preliminary attempt to generate some alternatives and ideas;
- Seriously commit to generate ideas, focusing on a particular area
and applying the formal techniques of lateral thinking;
2. Specific Focusing. It is a finalised method:
you focus on a well defined creative task keeping your goal in mind.
Choosing and outlining the focusing theme is an essential part of
creative thinking.
De Bono divides focusing into:
- General focusing area;
- Finalised focusing.
The first type refers to the general area where to develop new ideas
without any specific goal; for example, you think about innovative hints
in the catering service.
In this type of focusing you can deal with any theme.
“It simply means to think creative
about a specific area. As a consequence, the action field of creative
thinking is doubled and is finally free from the constraints of problem
solving and therefore free to involve different approaches.
[…] The definition of a purpose or an goal may influence your
creative thinking. Compare the statements below: We need ideas to
cut costs for in-flight service.
We need ideas about in-flight service. In the first case, we only
think about how we can cut in-flight service charges, since we predetermined
the value of such reduction. This task suits perfectly creative thinking.
In the second case, we may develop interesting ideas to cut in-flight
service charges but we may also improve the service quality and therefore
justify its cost. We may even generate ideas to turn the on-board
service from a source of charges into a source of profits. It is important
not to mix up “problems” and “general focusing areas”.
We need ideas in the general area of absenteeism
We need ideas in the general area for speeding up check-in. In fact,
both statements refer to finalized focusing. The term "absenteeism”
outlines a problem. Speeding up a check-in involves a focusing finalized
to improvement. “Absenteeism” may be certainly regarded
as a general focusing area, provided that the purpose is other than
reducing absenteeism or solving its related matters” (De Bono,
1998)
Finalized Focusing involves such questions: “What is the final
goal of our thinking?”, “What do we aim to?”.
It can be described as an attempt to make an improvement in the desired
direction; for instance, you try to develop ideas to limit food waste
in restaurants. If you do not identify the reason for improvement, you
are dealing again with the case of the general focusing area, id.improvements
for customer service.
Focusing turns out to be useful not only to make improvements but also
to carry out specific tasks and select opportunities.