Edward de Bono in the Telegraph’s Culture Clinic

I’m always fascinated by the ability of British newspapers (and their websites) to come up with brief, clever columns based on Q&As. I’ve just discovered the Telegraph.co.uk’s Culture Clinic feature, written by Kate Weinberg. The celebrity in the clinic on June 8 is creativity guru/consultant Edward de Bono.  He introduced the concept of lateral thinking more than 40 years ago, and it has become a staple of creativity tools in the business world and beyond.  His new book, Think! Before It’s Too Late, comes out in the UK next month. You can discover a bit about his taste in the arts in his Q&A, though he frustratingly answers the question about last book read with “I never remember the titles.” Another surprise is that he replies to the question about his greatest discovery online with “I’m not a great online person.” Maybe some of his answers and non-answers are meant to stimulate the creative, lateral thinking of the column’s readers. Weinberg recommends the following doses of culture (complete with brief reasons why) for de Bono: the Robert Altman film Gosford Park, the novel The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro; and since de Bono says he likes opera, Verdi’s Aida with Maria Callas. There are five other Culture Clinics online on the Telegraph.co.uk site; the previous one features Sister Wendy Beckett, the contemplative nun/TV arts presenter. Her answers are more forthcoming and straightforward. She also provides some interesting personal nuggets, such as that J.R.R. Tolkien was president of her finals board at Oxford. Her last music heard was Bach, but Weinberg recommends she try Eric Clapton’s Me and Mr. Johnson, his tribute to the blues legend Robert Johnson. Weinberg writes that this CD is a “reminder to let others remember you.”