Lateral Thinking
An
Introduction to Lateral Thinking by Dr. Edward de Bono.
On the Internet there is much
misleading and erroneous information about 'lateral thinking'. Because this is
my official website I want to take this opportunity of clarifying matters
regarding lateral thinking. I coined the term 'lateral thinking' in 1967. It
was first mentioned up in my book called "The Use of Lateral
Thinking". There are several ways of defining lateral thinking, ranging
from the technical to the illustrative. You can learn to be creative. It is not
a mystical gift or just a matter of talent. You do not have to be passive and
think that you have little creative talent.
Creative thinking is something you
can get better at - if you want to. That is why I prefer the term 'lateral
thinking', which I invented to describe a more deliberate form of creativity.
We can build up skill in such techniques, and through practice develop
confidence. In that way we can add skill in lateral thinking to our other
thinking skills. So we become complete thinkers
What
is Lateral Thinking?
"Lateral Thinking is for
changing concepts and perceptions"
With logic you start out with
certain ingredients just as in playing chess you start out with given pieces.
But what are those pieces? In most real life situations the pieces are not
given, we just assume they are there. We assume certain perceptions, certain
concepts and certain boundaries. Lateral thinking is concerned not with playing
with the existing pieces but with seeking to change those very pieces. Lateral
thinking is concerned with the perception part of thinking. This is where we
organise the external world into the pieces we can then 'process'. Lateral
Thinking is a set of processes that provides a deliberate, systematic way of
thinking creatively that results in innovative thinking in a repeatable manner.
While critical thinking is primarily concerned with judging the true value of
statements and seeking errors. Lateral thinking is more concerned with the
"movement value" of statements and ideas. A person uses lateral
thinking to move from one known idea to creating new ideas. I define four main
Lateral thinking tools:
- Idea-generating tools which break free your current
thinking patterns from their usual pathways.
- Focus tools that open your mind to new possibilities in
the search for new ideas.
- Harvest tools that help maximize value is received from
the idea generating output
- Treatment tools that ground the creativity process by
making the wild ideas and make them fit the real world constraints,
resources, and support.
"You cannot dig a hole in a
different place by digging the same hole deeper".
Often trying to think harder in the
same direction may not be as useful as changing direction. Effort in the same
direction will not necessarily help you achieve your goal. Lateral thinking
deliberately distances itself from "vertical" or logical thinking
(the classic method for problem solving: working out the solution step-by-step
from the given data) or "horizontal" imagination (having many ideas
but being unconcerned with the detailed implementation of them by deferring
judgement).
The
mathematical need for Lateral Thinking
The brain as a self-organising
information system forms asymmetric patterns. In such systems there is a
mathematical need for moving across patterns. The tools and processes of
lateral thinking are designed to achieve such 'lateral' movement. The tools are
based on an understanding of self-organising information systems. This is a
technical definition which depends on an understanding of self-organising
information systems. In any self-organising system there is a need to escape
from a local optimum in order to move towards a more global optimum. The
techniques of lateral thinking, such as provocation, are designed to help that
change. This is important because it also defines the mathematical need for
creativity.
“If you haven't heard of Edward de
Bono or of Lateral Thinking, perhaps you have been too busy thinking in
conventional ways." - Forbes Magazine
Who
should learn the Lateral Thinking techniques?
Anyone who wants a disciplined
process for innovation, idea generation, concept development, creative problem
solving, or a strategy to challenge the status quo can benefit from Lateral
Thinking. If you face fast-changing trends, fierce competition, and the need to
work miracles, you need Lateral Thinking. "Great business competitors are
great lateral thinkers..." - Edward de Bono “Lateral Thinking, involves
disrupting an apparent thinking sequence and arriving at the solution from
another angle.”
Fun
and Hope
Creativity is the "fun "
part of thinking and also it is the the "hope " part of thinking. It
is that part of thinking concerned with change, with escaping from old ideas.
Above all, it is the part of thinking concerned with generating new ideas and
new perceptions.
The
need for Lateral Thinking.
Unless we realise the need for
creative or lateral thinking then we are never going to be motivated to use it.
We need to have a clear idea of the occasions that demand - or would benefit -
from the application of lateral thinking.
IMPROVEMENT
AND CONTINUITY: 1st Broad Area of the need for Lateral Thinking
- It is quite possible that the way something is done is
the best possible way of doing it.
- We commonly suppose that if a method has stood the test
of time then it must be sound and efficient..
- But the way something is done may have been set in
times of incomplete knowledge or when technology was limited. 4.There may
be no good reason beyond continuity for doing something as it has always
been done. Neglect
As a society we are so problem
oriented that unless something is seen to be a problem we do not focus our
thinking attention upon it. Something continues to be done in the same old way
because no one has bothered to sit down to think about a better way of doing
it.
Complacency
deBono says that repeated success
should never insulate an idea from re-thinking. (Repeated success of an idea
does not protect that idea from the need for change.) Doing it a better way We
could almost perhaps have a slogan: "Whatever is being done can probably
be done in a better way." The attitude means that at the back of the
thinker's mind there is always the possibility that anything can be improved.
PROBLEM
SOLVING 2nd Broad Area of the need for Lateral Thinking
Problem solving and points where
Lateral Thinking may be applied.
- Problem definition: alternative ways of defining the
problem.
- Starting point: alternative points within the problem
from which to start thinking.
- Approaches: alternative ways of looking at the problem
(broader than a problem - definition) .
- Solution areas: alternative broad areas in which the
solution might fall.
INVENTION
3rd Broad Area of the need for Lateral Thinking
Setting out to be an inventor
requires a sort of creative courage. Most people do not have it. Most people
cannot conceive of themselves inventing anything. deBono states that invention
is a step-by-step process. Setting out to be an inventor requires a sort of
creative courage. Most people cannot conceive of themselves inventing anything.
Opportunity One of the most valuable uses of creative thinking is creation of
opportunities. (At the beginning of the day you could say: what new
opportunities might I have today?" The next step would be: "What new
opportunities might I bring about (or design) today?" At that point the
thinker comes to realise that opportunities do not just happen - they can be
created. Opportunity Design Most often, inventions and opportunities have to be
designed. (Different things have to be brought together). The vacuum cleaner
appears obvious in retrospect but somebody had to invent it.
Benefits
of Lateral Thinking.
You are trying to convince a
non-creative person to be creative, or you are trying to convince an
organisation to pay more attention to creativity, spell out the actual
benefits;
- Improvement
- Innovation
- Re-thinking
- Motivation
- Solutions
- Invention
Time
to be creative.
Many people say that they simply do
not have time to be creative. Creativity seems to imply a standing back and
indulging in day-dreaming in the hope that a bright idea will come along. This
is not the case. Lateral thinking may take no more than one or two minutes.
(You try to see things in a different way and you try to find a new approach or
a new concept. What is important is that some time is allocated).
My
7 Lateral Thinking Lessons.
- Alternatives. How to use concepts as a breeding ground
for new ideas. Sometimes we do not look beyond the obvious alternatives.
- Focus. When and how to change the focus of your
thinking. You will learn the discipline of defining your focus and
sticking to it.
- Challenge. Breaking free from the limits of traditional
thinking. With challenges, we act as though the present way of doing
things is not necessarily the best. A tool which is designed to ask the
question "Why?" in a non-threatening way: why something exists,
why it is done the way it is. The result is a very clear understanding of
"Why?" which naturally leads to fresh new ideas. The goal is to
be able to challenge anything at all, not just items which are problems.
- Random Entry. Using unconnected input to open up new
lines of thinking. The thinker chooses an object at random, or a noun from
a dictionary, and associates it with the area they are thinking about. The
use of any of the provocation techniques—wishful thinking, exaggeration,
reversal, escape, distortion, or arising. The thinker creates a list of
provocations and then uses the most outlandish ones to move their thinking
forward to new ideas.
- Provocation and Movement. Generating provocative
statements and using them to build new ideas. The thinker develops
provocation operations by the following methods: extract a principle,
focus on the difference, moment to moment, positive aspects, special
circumstances.
- Harvesting. Capturing your creative output. At the end
of a creative-thinking session, we normally only take note of the specific
ideas that seem practical and have obvious value. Harvesting: Select the
best of early ideas and shape them into useable approaches
- Treatment of Ideas. How to develop ideas and shape them
to fit an organization or situation.
Become a de Bono certified Lateral
Thinker and train your brain with my eLearning course in Lateral thinking: de
Bono Creativity course
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