PMI (Plus - Minus - Interesting) What is it?
PMI, Plus/Minus/Interesting, is a lateral and creative thinking strategy used in de Bono's CoRT Thinking program.
What is its purpose?
PMI helps students learn to:
see both sides of an argument
view things from a different point of view
think broadly about an issue
suspend judgement
make informed decisions
work as individuals, in pairs or as members of a group
How can I do it?
This strategy can be used within a classroom as a pre-cursor to P4C or Thinking Hats.
What are the positive (PLUS) ideas about this?What are the negative (MINUS) ideas about this?
What is interesting about this?
Within a specified time limit, students brainstorm their responses.
When describing how to do PMI, Edward de Bono says,
” It is not a matter of thinking of the points as they come up and then dropping each into a box labelled, P, M or I. It is a matter of specifically looking in the Plus direction first and noting what you see…then looking specifically in the Minus direction and noting what you see…and finally looking specifically in the Interesting direction.”
Suggestions for further reading:
De Bono's Thinking Course : Edward de Bono
More information: www.edwdebono.com
“It has always surprised me how little attention philosophers have paid to humor, since it is a more significant process of mind than reason. Reason can only sort out perceptions, but the humor process is involved in changing them.”
"Creativity is a great motivator because it makes people interested in what they are doing. Creativity gives hope that there can be a worthwhile idea. Creativity gives the possibility of some sort of achievement to everyone. Creativity makes life more fun and more interesting."
"Dealing with complexity is an inefficient and unnecessary waste of time, attention and mental energy. There is never any justification for things being complex when they could be simple."
