About Us

Welcome to the global community of de Bono Thinking Systems™ (formerly known as Advanced Practical Thinking Training (APTT)).

Our corporate values reflect Dr. Edward de Bono's belief that these tools can and do change the world for the better. People of all ages, cultures, professions, and levels of education who use these tools as they are designed find that they become more collaborative and less combative, more productive, and more confident in their creativity.

Today, 37 of de Bono Thinking Systems' over 1100 Independent and Corporate Certified Instructors are qualified Master Trainers, who, along with de Bono, teach certification courses. Course materials are published in Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, and Turkish.


The role of de Bono Thinking Systems™ (dBTS) is to:

• Publish course materials in various languages for use by adults and children;


• Recruit and manage distributors to market the courses globally;


• Oversee the certifications of trainers to deliver the courses, so that quality and integrity of the content will be maintained and all new developments quickly disseminated; and


• Assist Dr. de Bono in the development of new products and services, and grow the business while preserving the core values.

The History of dBTS

In 1991 Perfection Learning Corporation (PLC) owner Clint Keay, de Bono, and President Kathy Myers combined their various resources to form Advanced Practical Thinking Training (APTT) now de Bono Thinking Systems. Their charge was to manage the publication of de Bono's corporate training programs. By the end of 1991, de Bono had written the first Six Thinking Hats corporate training manuals. Leasing personnel from PLC, APTT published the first instructor and participant manuals and job aids, recruited participants, and hosted de Bono's first certification of trainers in February of 1992.

For the first two years, de Bono taught all certification courses. During this time, a course in Lateral Thinking was published and trainers certified. From first year sales of $300,000 and certification of 45 instructors, APTT grew to over $1.6 million in gross sales for 1995, with a network of over 400 instructors in 27 countries. More than 50% of our revenues, by then, were coming from outside the US. Net sales for 1996 were $3 million, a five-year increase of 785%, earning APTT a place on the Inc. 500 list of fastest growing U.S. companies. In 2004, APTT was rebranded to better reflect its core mission and officially became de Bono Thinking Systems.

dBTS Today

Organizations whose members use these tools regularly and effectively report dramatic results in increased productivity and creativity, reduced meeting time, and improved attitudes with fewer grievances among members. You might be surprised at the products, services, events, treaties, and negotiations initiated or resolved using Lateral Thinking™ , Six Thinking Hats®, and Direct Attention Thinking Tools (DATT™).

Our courses have been adopted by businesses around the world, studied by governments, promoted by peace institutes, required by schools, and taught in prisons. Today, most Fortune 500 companies, many governments and school systems, and many thousands of individuals around the world use some or all of de Bono's thinking methods regularly, with astounding results.