A Sample CoRT Lesson: PMI

The CoRT Programme of 60 lessons comprises six groups of ten lessons. Each lesson group has an objective or theme. These groups of lessons have numerical labels: CoRT 1, CoRT 2 and so on. The theme for CoRT 1 is Breadth. Each of the lessons is a thinking tool designed by Dr de Bono to broaden our view of an idea or situation. Just as a hammer is a tool used to drive nails into wood, a thinking tool is designed to direct attention at a specific thinking situation. The majority of the CoRT tools, regardless of their place within the programme are ‘attention-directors’. Continuing the analogy, we use a hammer to drive nails; we use the PMI to direct attention at new ideas.

PMI is a mnemonic for Plus, Minus, Interesting. Dr de Bono gives clear reasons for his  adoption of mnemonics throughout the CoRT Programme. His reasoning is simple and clear: It is much easier to say: Let’s do a PMI on that idea, rather than: Let’s do a Plus, Minus, Interesting on that idea.

This post is complemented with three amalgamated pdf files. The first is a MindMap that summarises the rationale and operations when ‘doing a PMI’. The remaining two comprise the PMI thinking tool itself. The pdf ‘bbok’ is  found at the bottom of this post.

Let’s look at the principles behind the PMI thinking tool.
Dr de Bono maintains that, whenever a new idea is presented to us, in the traditional style, we look first at the negatives in the suggestion or proposal: What is wrong with this? Will it cause problems? Are there costs involved? Will this idea take more of my valuable time? The PMI gives deliberate attention to exploring, first, the positives or plus factors in the new idea. There are excellent reasons for this thinking operation and they will be explained in a moment. Of course, every new idea have some negatives. A full exploration must review these matters. The second operation when using the PMI is to look for negatives or minus factors.

The third operation is unique. We are invited to look for the interesting possibilities in the new idea. Some initially find ‘interesting possibilities’ confusing? How do we define ‘interesting’? What is interesting to me may be uninteresting to someone else… There are two key reasons why the exploration of interesting possibilities, or alternatives, is such an integral part of the PMI tool. If we like the new idea to begin with, by looking for interesting possibilities, we can broaden our view of the idea, find more reasons to like it. Dr de Bono insists this is only possible if we give deliberate attention to looking for interesting possibilities in an idea we already like. He adds that thinking in this way is unnatural. Usually, if we like an idea, that is that. When we look for interesting possibilities or alternatives in an idea we initially dislike, we have a strong chance of finding options that may change our initial perceptions: If we change this part, we can improve the idea Let’s eliminate that element and I’m sure the idea has greater value for us…

Without exploring an idea for possibilities or alternatives, a new idea has only a 50/50 chance of survival. Those considering it either like it or dislike it. When the interesting possibilities are explored, whatever our initial impressions, we broaden our view of the idea by adding to the plus factors already identified or finding alternatives that give the idea more chance of ‘survival’.

The PMI is very simple to use. And, no, using a PMI does not prolong our investigation of an idea and waste time. In fact, after minimal practice, the PMI is used automatically. It is not unusual for practitioners to skip first to the interesting possibilities knowing that others in the group will either like or dislike the original idea to begin with.

Some trainers suggest the PMI is the most valuable of all the CoRT lessons. This appraisal is dependent on experiences individuals have when they use the PMI. Whatever the rationale for the assessment, the PMI is a simple, powerful and effective way to explore any new idea from three dimensions.

Now to the PMI lesson:
The lesson ‘notes’ comprise two A4 sheets. When printed for use, the sheets are ‘backed’ and folded. As a result, the lesson notes are easily stored by teachers and students for future reference.

Let’s take a look at the structure of this CoRT lesson.
The Cover Graphic:
Each lesson has a distinctive graphic that summarises the ethos of the lesson. There is no need to explain the ‘shape’ of the PMI further.

The Lesson Introduction:
In this version of PMI, the essentials of the lesson are explained.

Example:
This section of the lesson invites students to practice a simple situation in preparation for the body of the less, ‘Practice’.

Practice:
Most secondary teaches refer to their specialist subjects as ‘disciplines’. The CoRT lessons have a discipline of their own. This aspect of the programme will be fully explored in another post. For the moment, it is sufficient to say that the Practice section of each lesson involves group or team work. Dr de Bono has explicit reasons for this stance. Not all Practice questions should be attempted at the same sitting. In my experience, the objective is to consider two, five minutes being allocated to each.

Process:
After the Practice section, students have sufficient experience to reflect. The Process questions allow a time to quietly review the lesson to this point.

Principles:
These are the framework of the lesson, the key ideas, the essence.

Project:
Dr de Bono is quite emphatic about the value of practice of each tool beyond the classroom or training room. The Process section includes a variety of questions designed for the audience.

And finally:
When I purchased the CoRT Programme in 1975, I requested Dr de Bono’s permission to modify the lessons. My audience comprised New Zealand secondary students aged 13 and 14. I was keen to include questions and examples from student experience, the school and the community. Dr de Bono agreed to my request asking that I ‘…retain the lesson structure‘. The way in which each lesson is designed, the structure, ensures training in simple, focused and explicit. Again, further details about these management principles will be discussed in a later post.

PMIWordPress.pdf