Lateral Thinking: Think Out-of-the-Box

“Creativity involves breaking out of established patterns in order to look at things in a different way.” –

Edward de Bono

British physician, author, inventor, and consultant Edward de Bono has had a major impact on the way we think and particularly in the field of creativity.  He coined the phrase “lateral thinking” which involves approaching problems from diverse, unexpected angles and from different perspectives. Dr. de Bono meant to differentiate lateral thinking–in which you nudge the mind to make sudden turns– from vertical thinking, which is logical and sequential thinking.

Lateral thinking can be learned, and Dr. de Bono has created several techniques to help you apply lateral thinking to problem solving and idea generation.  Some of these are the following: think of as many different alternatives for solving a problem as you possibly can;  challenge any assumptions you may have about your problem; and insert random elements which will encourage you to look at the problem from a different and unexpected perspective.

Challenge Your Assumptions

Assumptions are mental shortcuts: we assume that a situation we’re facing is like other situations we’ve encountered before, and that what worked then will work once again.  In fact, the more experienced we are in a particular area, the more likely we are to bring lots of baggage to the problem, which can inhibit us from finding novel and creative solutions.

In order to challenge your assumptions, write down all of the dominant ideas that apply to a particular situation and then deliberately challenge them. List all of the assumptions that you’re making and next to each one write a counter-assumption – not necessarily its negation, but its opposite.

Once you drop preconceived notions you’re more likely to find better solutions.  One approach–suggested by Jurgen Wolff on his blog “Time to Write”–is to pretend that you’re a Martian that has just landed on earth and is seeing things on this planet for the first time.  This would put you in a position of questioning everything, seeing your problem or situation with completely fresh eyes, and taking nothing for granted.

Introduce Random Elements

Selecting a random element that has absolutely no connection to the problem at hand provides an unexpected entry point to the problem so that you can face it from a unique angle.  I’ve mentioned using a random word as an initial stimulus on this blog before.  De Bono explains that the brain is so good at making connections that it will find a way to connect the random word to the problem at hand, no matter how remote the word may seem.

Take a word from a random word generator—or open the dictionary to a random page and select a word–extract its underlying principles, and then apply them to your problem. Be careful not to discard a specific word because you simply conclude that it’s of no use and then getting another word instead. If you do this you’re probably just looking for a word that would neatly fit the problem you’re trying to solve. Instead of a word, you can also use a picture as the random element or even an object.

In addition, the random element that you introduce can be a “false rule”. Basically, you take a rule, quote, idea or suggestion from somewhere else and apply it to your own situation. For example, apply the following rules to your problem:

• Must be 18 or older.
• Needs to be refrigerated.
• The statute of limitations is one year.
• What goes up must come down.
• Fasten your seat belt.

How does applying the “false rule” to your problem make you see it differently?  What new elements does it introduce?  How does it shift your perception of the problem?  Does the general principle of the rule also apply to your problem?

The general principle of the random input, whether it’s a word, picture, object or false rule, is to open up new lines of thinking.  If you’re stuck and have run out of ideas during the creative thinking process, try a random element to help you find a starting point.

Three Lateral Thinking Puzzles

Here are three lateral thinking puzzles for you to try and resolve (the answers are provided below, but make an effort to resolve the problems before looking at the answer):

1.  Acting on an anonymous phone call, the police raid a house to arrest a suspected murderer.  They don’t know what he looks like, but they know his name is John.  Inside they find a carpenter, a taxi driver, a car mechanic and a fireman playing cards.  Without even asking his name, they immediately arrest the fireman.  How do they know they’ve got their man? (Source).

2. A murderer is condemned to death. He has to choose between three rooms. The first is full of raging fires, the second is full of assassins with loaded guns, and the third is full of lions that haven’t eaten in 3 years. Which room is safest for him? (Source).

3.  Look at the picture below with the nine dots. Can you connect the nine dots using 4 straight lines, without lifting your pencil from the paper and without retracing any lines?

Solutions to the Three Lateral Thinking Problems Above

The solution to the first problem above is that there was only one man sitting at the table; the other three, the carpenter, the taxi driver, and the mechanic were women.

As for the second problem, the safest room is the third.  Lions that haven’t eaten in three years are dead.

For the third problem, the solution is to extend the lines beyond the square-frame created by the dots, as shown in the picture below:

Psychologists have speculated that the nine-dot problem is difficult because people are so dominated by the perception of a square that they don’t “see” the possibility of extending lines outside the square formed by the dots.

Lesson in Lateral Thinking: The Tale of Two Pebbles

Edward de Bono tells the story of a farmer in a small Indian village who owed lots of money to the village moneylender and did not have the means to pay it back. The moneylender was old and ugly and was attracted to the farmer’s beautiful young daughter. The devious moneylender proposed the following: he would pick up two pebbles from the road—one black and one white—and put them in a bag. The girl would then put her hand in the bag and take out a pebble.

• If she took out the black pebble, she had to marry the moneylender and her father’s debt would be forgiven.
• If she took out the white pebble, she didn’t have to marry the moneylender and her father’s debt would still be forgiven.
• If she refused to take out a pebble her father would be put in jail.

As the moneylender bent down to pick up the pebbles from the road, the girl noticed that he picked up two black pebbles and put them in the bag. What should she do? If you’re using logical thinking you would probably conclude that the girl should show that there were two black pebbles in the bag and expose the moneylender as a cheat.

However, what the girl did was to put her hand in the bag and take out a pebble. She then pretended to stumble and let the pebble fall onto the pebble-strewn path where it immediately became lost among all the other pebbles.

“Oh, how clumsy of me!” she said. “But never mind, if you look into the bag for the one that’s left, you will be able to tell which pebble I picked.”

Obviously, since the pebble that was left in the bag was black, then she must have picked the white pebble. Since the moneylender couldn’t admit what he had done, the girl effectively turned what looked like an impossible situation into an advantage.

Conclusion

While logic is concerned with “truth” and “what is”, lateral thinking is concerned with “possibilities” and “what could be”.  You can train your mind to automatically approach situations from different angles and perspectives. One way to to this is by solving lateral thinking puzzles,  which demand an open mind and a creative approach. If you’d like to keep your brain on its toes you can try the following puzzle books available on Amazon:

• Outstanding Lateral Thinking Puzzles
• Cunning Lateral Thinking Puzzles
• Colorful Lateral Thinking Puzzles

photo credit: pasotraspaso

Related Posts:

• 18 Ways to be Uber Creative
• Three Incredibly Effective Creativity Techniques
• Four Outstanding Thoughts on Innovation
• Thoughts to Get Your Creative Juices Flowing
• Creative Thinking Techniques: The Playful Edition

Recommended Product:

Learn to meditate, increase your focus and concentration, boost your creativity, and augment your brain power with the Silva Life System.

Did you enjoy this article? Subscribe by RSS or e-mail and you’ll always know when I publish something new. (What’s RSS?).

Also, please share it on the social media site of your choice, thank you.