The TO/LOPOSO/GO Thinking Structure

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The great, famous thinker Edward De Bono created a simple technique for approaching thinking situations of nearly any kind. This general purpose thinking structure is a process which he calls ‘TO/LOPOSO/GO’, and is made up of five distinct steps:

  1. TO: Where are we going to?
  2. LO: As in ‘Lo and behold’. Look around. What information do we have/not have?
  3. PO: New possibilities. Lateral thinking. Connecting disconnected ideas.
  4. SO: So what do we have here? Compare and examine alternatives.
  5. GO: Let’s Go! Take action. Make it happen. Start, today!

Most people are great at the first two: making worthwhile goals, and seeking information. Unfortunately, very few people are proficient in the last three skills: shaping new possibilities, evaluating multiple alternatives, and executing ideas in the real world. These skills are not something you have to be born with, or need permission to use. They are learnable, and anyone can become skillful with practice.

How Groupon makes unsubscribing fun

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Recently I signed up for Groupon to see what all the fuss was about. Even though they don’t offer services to any cities on this side of the world yet, I can see that they’ve got a great business going on. Since signing up I’ve been receiving daily emails from them but nothing relevant to me being outside the US. So I finally got around to unsubscribing today and the page I landed on once I’d unsubscribed let me punish someone! They have an interactive tool that lets you take your revenge on the guy who thought it would be a good idea to send you the emails. It’s not real of course, but it’s fun, memorable and lets you know that they’re on your side. Check it out for yourself without having to subscribe.