C&S (Consequences and Sequels)| Maltese Mental Models

C&S (Consequences and Sequels)| Maltese Mental Models


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⌛ C&S (Consequences and Sequels): Thinking Through Time

Part 8 of the Maltese Mental Models series on Edward de Bono’s thinking tools

In 1995, Michael, a 15-year-old from Birkirkara, Malta, wanted to join his three older brothers in the family printing press. Started by their father in 1972 with secondhand machines from the UK, the business printed flyers and posters, providing a steady income. It wasn’t highly profitable, but it met the family’s needs. Citing limited growth potential, his brothers decided there was no room for a fourth son and urged him to focus on school.

That year, Michael’s father, on a UK trip to buy more printing machines, bought him A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge, a sci-fi novel about a galaxy-wide communication network. Reading it and sending his first email months later, Michael was hooked, sensing the internet’s potential to reshape the future. He welcomed the exclusion, seeing it as a chance to explore this new world. When he built a basic website to promote the printing business, his brothers dismissed it, insisting phones were their tool, as modems and ISPs were niche in 1995 Malta.

Yet Michael’s intuition—that software and the internet would dominate—led him to start an online business that employed them all by 2024.

This is C&S (Consequences and Sequels), Edward de Bono’s tool for deliberately looking ahead to see the future effects of a decision, beyond its immediate impact.

🌊 Why C&S Matters: Thinking Beyond the Present

Decisions often focus on the moment—today’s costs or benefits. But Edward de Bono emphasized that consequences don’t exist until you actively foresee them. Unlike CAF, which examines factors present now, C&S looks at what happens after a decision is made. Michael’s brothers saw excluding him as a way to maintain their steady business, not anticipating how his sci-fi-inspired vision of digital networks would create new opportunities. In 2025, with AI and global markets accelerating change, C&S is critical for anticipating how choices shape your future—whether in work, family, or society.

🔭 The C&S Framework: Mapping Michael’s Journey

De Bono’s C&S focuses on four time scales—immediate, short-term, medium-term, and long-term—to assess a decision’s impact. Michael intuitively applied this by envisioning a digital future after reading A Fire Upon the Deep and sending his first email. Here’s how his exclusion unfolded:

⌛ Consequences: The Immediate Ripples (1995)

The Decision: Keep 15-year-old Michael out of the family printing business.

Immediate Consequences:

  • Michael, inspired by A Fire Upon the Deep’s galaxy-wide network, sends his first email, senses the internet’s potential, and enrolls in IT courses at MCAST. He builds a website to promote the printing business, but his brothers dismiss it, favoring phones as modems are niche.
  • Brothers maintain current operations, avoiding added workload.
  • Family finances stay stable, with minor tensions.

🌌 Sequels: The Future Unfolds

Sequels reveal longer-term effects across relative time scales. Michael’s intuitive foresight shaped his path:

Time Period What Unfolded The Hidden Thread
1998-2000
Short-Term
Michael builds coding skills during the dot-com boom, creating a basic website to promote the printing business. Printing business faces competitors but holds steady. Digital skills grow as print stabilizes.
2001-2003
Short-Term
Dot-com crash hits. Michael joins Malta’s gaming startups, learning business strategies, convinced software is key. Exposure to innovative models.
2004-2008
Medium-Term
Printing profits flatten. Michael keeps gaining experience. His entrepreneur spirit strengthens by both his family business and looking at how gaming companies operate sensing the internet rise. Groundwork for a digital venture.
2009-2012
Medium-Term
Michael launches an online webshop selling cleaning products. Digital tools meet practical needs.
2013-2015
Long-Term
Online site grows popular as internet access spreads. Printing business closes as demand shifts. Michael becomes the provider.
2016-2024
Long-Term
Michael hires his brothers to manage deliveries from Sicily and beyond and making deliveries to local buyers, sustaining the family. Exclusion creates new opportunities.

🧠 Understanding Cascade Types Through Michael’s Story

📈 The Amplifying Cascade

Michael’s vision of an interconnected world, before the internet was mainstream and establshed amplified each step:

  • Exclusion led to IT studies after his first email hooked him.
  • Studies led to a developer job.
  • Job led to business networks.
  • Networks led to an online venture despite skepticism.
  • Venture led to family employment.

🔄 The Reversing Cascade

The brothers’ choice to preserve the business backfired:

  • Preserving the print model missed digital opportunities.
  • Excluding Michael ensured stability but limited innovation.
  • Not taking a decision, is also a decision.

🌀 The Transforming Cascade

Michael’s intuitive foresight reshaped the family’s system:

  • From a local print shop to an online business in a new niche.
  • From separate roles to collaborative work.
  • From stable but limited to new possibilities.

💡 The C&S Lessons Hidden in Plain Sight

What Michael’s Brothers Saw (Snapshot Thinking)

  • Business supports three families adequately now.
  • Michael is too young to contribute now.
  • Maintaining current operations is safest now.

What C&S Thinking Would Have Revealed

The Decision Immediate Consequence Long-term Sequel
Exclude Michael Maintains current workload Limits new ideas
Encourage school Michael learns IT Develops future-focused skills
Keep print model Short-term stability Misses digital shift

De Bono’s key insight: A decision’s immediate appeal (stability) may hide long-term risks (stagnation) or benefits (innovation). Michael intuitively applied C&S, inspired by A Fire Upon the Deep’s galaxy-wide network and his first email, seeing exclusion as a chance to pursue a future where the internet would dominate.

🎯 Applying C&S to Your Decisions

De Bono’s C&S process, as Michael’s intuitive foresight shows, involves deliberate steps to foresee consequences and sequels:

Steps to Implement C&S
  1. Define the Action: State the decision clearly (e.g., “Exclude Michael”).
  2. Brainstorm Choices: List possible actions and the optimal choice.
  3. Assess Consequences: Identify immediate risks and benefits for all involved (e.g., Michael’s IT studies, brothers’ stability).
  4. Map Sequels: Project outcomes across four time scales: immediate (days), short-term (weeks/months), medium-term (months/years), long-term (years/decades).
  5. Evaluate Manageability: Are consequences manageable for all stakeholders? If not, what are the impacts?
  6. Check Sequels: Will long-term outcomes align with your goals (e.g., Michael’s digital venture)?
  7. Refine the Choice: Decide if the action is worthwhile or if another choice offers better outcomes.
Key Questions to Ask

For any decision, ask:

  • What happens next, and then what? (Ask 5 times)
  • What are the risks and benefits across time?
  • Who else is affected, now and later?
  • When might this choice lead to an opposite outcome?
  • What system am I shaping long-term?
Multiple Perspectives

Consider the decision from different viewpoints, as Michael did for himself, his family, and the industry:

  • Self: How does this affect me now and later? (Michael saw exclusion as a chance to explore the internet.)
  • Others: How does it impact family or colleagues? (Brothers gained short-term stability but missed innovation.)
  • Society/Industry: What broader changes might result? (The shift from print to digital affected the market.)

⚠ C&S Pitfalls Michael’s Brothers Fell Into

Their Mistake What They Missed The C&S Fix
Timeline Truncation Saw only current finances Project across all time scales
Linear Thinking Exclusion = less work Anticipate nonlinear outcomes
Single Path Fallacy Print is our only model Explore alternatives (see APC)
Reversal Blindness Stability = security Test when stability limits growth
Stakeholder Oversight Ignored Michael’s potential impact Assess consequences for all involved

The brothers focused on immediate stability, missing how Michael’s exclusion could spark innovation. De Bono stressed that C&S prevents such oversights by forcing attention to the future, as Michael did intuitively by sensing the internet’s rise after reading A Fire Upon the Deep.

🎮 Practice Exercises: Developing Your C&S Vision

Exercise 1: The Michael Method

Think of a time you were excluded, like Michael, and saw a new path:

  1. What were the immediate consequences? (e.g., disappointment, new focus)
  2. What skills or paths opened in the short term?
  3. What medium- or long-term benefits emerged or could emerge?
Exercise 2: The Business Analysis

Apply C&S to your work or family, like Michael’s printing press decision:

  • What are we maintaining that might limit growth?
  • Who might bring new ideas if included?
  • What assumptions might not hold in 10 years?
  • Are the consequences manageable for all stakeholders?
Exercise 3: The Reversal Spotter

List your current strategies, like the brothers’ focus on phones over Michael’s website:

  • For each, ask: When might this create its opposite?
  • Stability to stagnation.
  • Efficiency to rigidity.
  • Growth to overextension.
Exercise 4: The 10-Year Letter

Write a letter from your 2035 self, like Michael reflecting on his internet vision:

  • What decisions shaped your path?
  • Which immediate challenges led to long-term opportunities?
  • What unexpected sequels emerged?
Exercise 5: The Timeline Tracker

Map a current decision, like Michael’s shift to IT:

  • Immediate: First effects (days).
  • Short-term: New paths (weeks/months).
  • Medium-term: System changes (months/years).
  • Long-term: Lasting impact (years/decades).
Exercise 6: Scenario Testing

Choose a decision, like Michael’s bet on the internet. List two alternative outcomes:

  • What if the decision fails? (e.g., internet remains niche)
  • What if it succeeds differently? (e.g., Michael pivots to another digital field)
  • Ask “then what” for each scenario to explore sequels.

🌊 The C&S Transformation: Michael’s Wisdom

By 2024, Michael’s online business employs his brothers, who manage logistics, customer service, and operations. They share light moments at family dinners, noting how excluding Michael led to new opportunities.

Inspired by A Fire Upon the Deep’s galaxy-wide network, bought by his father in the UK, and his first email, Michael saw the internet’s potential in 1995, despite his brothers’ reliance on phones. The printing press, started with secondhand machines, evolved into an online venture, carrying forward their father’s legacy of building something practical.

Michael’s C&S Principles

Core Principles
  • When one path closes, look for another.
  • Option-ality is key as no future is certain.
  • Today’s challenge might be tomorrow’s opportunity.
  • Plan for years, not just days.
  • Build on the past by adapting to the future.

📊 Summary: Your Time Telescope

C&S Quick Reference
Tool: C&S (Consequences and Sequels)
Purpose: Anticipate a decision’s short- and long-term effects
Core Insight: Immediate choices shape future outcomes
Key Question: What happens next, and then what?
Michael’s Lesson: Intuitive foresight can turn exclusion into opportunity
Remember: Focus deliberately on the future

🎯 Next Steps

Michael’s brothers focused on maintaining their steady printing business, dismissing his website as impractical. Michael’s vision, sparked by A Fire Upon the Deep, led him to explore new paths. In the next article, APC (Alternatives, Possibilities, Choices), you’ll learn to uncover multiple options, avoiding the trap of a single solution.

Try C&S on a decision today. Ask: What are the immediate risks and benefits? What happens in five or ten years? Like Michael’s intuitive leap, the answers might reveal a new direction.


Navigation: ← Previous: FIP (First Important Priorities) | Series Start | Next: APC (Alternatives, Possibilities, Choices) →

Part of the Maltese Mental Models series • Teaching Edward de Bono’s thinking tools for the AI age