De Bono Group

What De Bono Group does

The de Bono Group, LLC is a privately held business management consulting and training firm headquartered in Lancaster, Pennsylvania (LongView House, 1722 Niblick Avenue). Founded in 2000 when Dr. Edward de Bono contractually authorized James P. (Pat) Carlisle to use his name as part of the business heading, the company is the authorized deliverer of de Bono's proprietary thinking methodologies—Six Thinking Hats (parallel thinking via six colored "hats"), Lateral Thinking (deliberate creativity tools including Focus, Challenge, Random Entry, Provocation, and Harvesting), Direct Attention Thinking Tools (DATT), Power of Perception, the Course in Simplicity, Six Value Medals, and the staged Innovate CLiC program. The underlying "technology" is a curriculum of cognitive frameworks grounded in de Bono's research on the brain as a self-organizing information system, with the firm holding one of only twelve Master Trainer credentials personally issued by Dr. de Bono.

The business model is professional services across three streams: (i) public training programs priced at $549 (one-day), $1,049 (two-day), and $1,249 (three-day) per participant, delivered mostly online-virtually; (ii) a Trainer Accreditation program at $5,250 per participant that certifies external individuals in Six Thinking Hats and Lateral Thinking, with bundled complementary training; and (iii) custom enterprise engagements—on-site training, keynotes, consulting, and executive coaching—priced on application, with multi-year contracts and discounted rates for 501-C3 non-profit, educational, and government institutions. Distribution is sales-led, combining direct enterprise field sales, inside sales for public registrations, and a channel/reseller model through an international network of certified trainers spanning 56 countries and 17 languages, with regional distributors such as Riches Djedjes in West Africa.

The customer base is enterprise-led and horizontally segmented, with documented engagements across life sciences (MDS Sciex), telecommunications (CONNEX/MobiFon), quick-service restaurants (McDonald's Japan), mining (Lonplats), toys (Playmobil), insurance (Prudential), chemicals (DuPont), and technology (IBM). The company reports 1-10 headquarters employees, no institutional funding, no disclosed revenue, no M&A activity, and no app or API; senior consultants include Karen Franta Love (VP), Alexandra Brumbach (Program Manager, education vertical), Mark Sato, Lynn Reed, and Nancy Moon (Director of Business Development, Federal Sector).

Name

De Bono Group

Legal name

The de Bono Group, LLC

Website

https://debonogroup.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2000

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The de Bono Group is a Lancaster, Pennsylvania-based training and consulting firm that delivers Dr. Edward de Bono's proprietary thinking methodologies—including Six Thinking Hats and Lateral Thinking—to enterprise clients, training professionals, and federal/education segments across 56 countries in 17 languages.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Management Consulting and Corporate Training

NAICS

Professional and Management Development Training (611430), Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services (5416)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Critical Thinking & Problem Solving (EDABAMAG)

akta.pro secondary industry

Strategy, Decision-Making & Business Acumen Coaching (EDABANAH)

Keywords

• Creative thinking training
• Management consulting
• Corporate training programs
• Leadership development
• Trainer certification

Headquarters

HQ city

Lancaster

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Professional Training Services: Revenue generated from delivering training programs including public courses, certification programs, and customized internal corporate training. Programs are offered online-virtually and in-person.
2. Trainer Certification: Revenue from certifying individuals as trainers in de Bono Thinking methods. Includes accreditation programs for Six Thinking Hats ($5,250) and Lateral Thinking ($5,250) with bundled complementary training.
3. Consulting and Coaching: Revenue from organizational consulting, project co-leadership, and executive coaching engagements using de Bono expertise.
4. Keynote Speaking: Revenue from delivering keynote presentations at conferences and corporate events.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The de Bono Group licenses and delivers Dr. Edward de Bono's proprietary thinking methodologies — including Six Thinking Hats, Lateral Thinking, Course in Creativity, Course on Simplicity, Power of Perception, and Six Value Medals — through public training courses, customized corporate training programs, trainer accreditation, organizational consulting, and keynote speaking. Services are delivered online-virtually and in person by a network of certified Master Trainers across 56 countries in 17 languages, primarily serving enterprise clients and individual professionals seeking to improve creativity, decision-making, and meeting productivity.

Product overview

De Bono Group is a business management consulting and training firm that delivers Edward de Bono's thinking methods through a portfolio of core programs and advanced programs. The core offerings include Six Thinking Hats (parallel thinking methodology), Lateral Thinking (creativity and innovation tools), Course in Creativity (integrated Six Thinking Hats + Lateral Thinking), Course on Simplicity, Power of Perception, and Six Value Medals. Advanced programs include Leading and Facilitating High Performance Teams, The New Thinking Leader, Innovative Thinking Leader, Leading The Innovation Challenge, and the Innovate CLiC Program for developing organizational innovation capabilities. The company also offers Trainer Accreditation programs for individuals seeking certification to teach de Bono methods, and Thinking By Design Demonstrations for teams. Programs are delivered online-virtually and in person in seventeen languages worldwide via their network of premier consultants.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Six Thinking Hats A parallel thinking methodology that uses six colored hats (White, Yellow, Black, Red, Green, Blue) to separate thinking into distinct functions, helping teams be more productive, focused, and collaborative in decision-making and problem-solving. Sold to enterprise teams and individual professionals attending public programs.
• Lateral Thinking A deliberate, systematic creativity methodology developed by Edward de Bono that enables individuals and teams to generate innovative ideas and solve problems through techniques including Focus, Random Entry, Alternative Triangle, Challenge, and Provocation. Sold to enterprise teams and individual professionals attending public programs.
• Course in Creativity An integrated program combining Six Thinking Hats (parallel thinking) and Lateral Thinking (creativity tools) to help participants solve problems efficiently, make higher quality decisions, and generate more innovative ideas. Sold to enterprise teams and individual professionals.
• Course on Simplicity A tools-based approach to identifying and simplifying complex business procedures, processes, and organizational dynamics using de Bono's Simplicity tools including Removal, Replacement, Restructuring, and Broad/Narrow View techniques. Sold to enterprise teams and individual professionals.
• Power of Perception (POP) A course providing ten straightforward thinking tools for sharpening perception and focusing thoughts in a more comprehensive, effective, and efficient way, enabling better decision-making and problem-solving. Sold to enterprise teams and individual professionals.
• Six Value Medals A framework for identifying and prioritizing organizational values using six medal categories (Gold, Silver, Steel, Glass, Wood, Brass) to help employees make decisions that maximize value for customers, employees, stockholders, and the community. Sold to enterprise teams.
• Innovative Thinking Leader A three-day integrated program combining Six Thinking Hats, Lateral Thinking, The Leadership Challenge model (Kouzes & Posner), and 16PF Personality Test to develop innovative design thinking leadership capabilities. Sold to enterprise leaders.
• The New Thinking Leader A two-day program integrating Six Thinking Hats with The Leadership Challenge model and 16PF Leadership Coaching Report to help leaders develop effective new thinking leadership skills. Sold to enterprise leaders.
• Innovate CLiC Program A staged competency program for developing, leading, and managing innovation agendas, combining Six Thinking Hats, Lateral Thinking, and Focus on Facilitation with coaching and organizational innovation projects. Sold to enterprise innovation leaders.
• Leading and Facilitating High Performance Teams A professional development program for internal managers to lead teams using de Bono thinking methods, with credentials at three levels: Leading Six Thinking Hats, Leading Six Thinking Hats and Lateral Thinking, and Coaching Individuals and Teams. Sold to internal team leaders.
• Leading The Innovation Challenge A three-day innovation strategy program for corporate officers and innovation managers using Six Thinking Hats, Lateral Thinking, and Simplicity tools to challenge roadblocks and develop operational action plans for organizational innovation. Sold to corporate officers and innovation managers.
• Trainer Accreditation Program Certification programs for becoming a certified trainer in Six Thinking Hats ($5,250) and Lateral Thinking ($5,250), including complementary training in the other methodology at no additional charge. Sold to training and OD professionals.
• Thinking By Design Demonstration A one-hour basic demonstration of Six Thinking Hats and Lateral Thinking for corporate teams, led by James P. Carlisle and Matthew Allison, offered at no charge to introduce de Bono thinking methods. Sold as an introductory engagement to corporate teams.

Quantifiable outcome

• MDS Sciex reported $26.48 ROI for every dollar invested in Six Thinking Hats training (2,648%)
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature8 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Riches Djedjes (West Africa Distributor)regionalChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorNamed de Bono distributor for West Africa by Caspar de Bono. Educates, distributes and trains key leaders in business and government in West Africa regarding de Bono methodologies. Has introduced Lateral Thinking and Six Thinking Hats to heads of institutions, executives, and managers in government, manufacturing, telephone and banking sectors.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Emerging players

• Innosight: Strategy and innovation consulting firm founded by Clayton Christensen, advising enterprises on growth and innovation capability building. Comparable to De Bono Group's consulting/coaching engagements for innovation agendas at large organizations.
• IDEO U: Online learning arm of design firm IDEO offering courses in design thinking and creative leadership. Competes with De Bono Group's creativity and innovation training, particularly with younger and digitally-native buyers, and represents the modern design-thinking alternative to de Bono Lateral Thinking.

Broad incumbents

• Dale Carnegie Training: Established global soft-skills and leadership training company offering courses in communications, presentation, and interpersonal effectiveness. Overlaps with De Bono Group's people-skills and meeting-effectiveness positioning but offers a broader portfolio rather than a single proprietary methodology.
• Crucial Learning (formerly VitalSmarts): Corporate training company built around Crucial Conversations and Crucial Influence methodologies with quantifiable behavior change research. Comparable to De Bono Group as a methodology-led corporate training firm with measurable outcomes and certified trainer ecosystem.
• FranklinCovey: Global corporate training and consulting firm best known for The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Competes with De Bono Group for enterprise leadership and methodology-based training budgets, but operates at vastly larger scale across a broader curriculum.
• The Ken Blanchard Companies: Leadership and management training firm anchored on Situational Leadership II and related Blanchard methodologies. Competes with De Bono Group for the same enterprise leadership development budgets and uses a similar thought-leader-anchored franchise model.
• Korn Ferry: Global organizational consulting firm with a large leadership and talent development practice offering enterprise learning programs and executive coaching. Comparable as an enterprise buyer of leadership development and team effectiveness services, though far broader in scope.
• Wilson Learning: Global corporate training company specializing in sales, leadership, and interpersonal effectiveness with measurable behavior change programs. Comparable methodology-anchored training firm targeting the same enterprise L&D buyers as De Bono Group.

Direct peers

• Center for Creative Leadership (CCL): Non-profit leadership development research and training organization offering programs in innovation, leading change, and executive effectiveness. Directly comparable to De Bono Group's organizational leadership and creative-thinking training offerings for senior managers and teams.
• Creative Education Foundation: Non-profit dedicated to teaching Creative Problem Solving (CPS) methodologies to individuals and organizations. Direct peer in the creative-thinking training niche, often deployed as an alternative or complement to de Bono Lateral Thinking programs.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/TheDeBonoGroup
• Xx.com/debonogroup

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about De Bono Group