Lateral Thinking

DIBYAJYOTI KALITA

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What is Lateral Thinking?

• The thinking process which involves deliberate search for alternatives

• Lateral thinking seeks the solution to problems through unorthodox methods which are generally ignored by logical thinking

How is it different?

• Our mind is an efficient self organizing information system. It uses patterns to be efficient. The normal way of thinking is therefore called vertical or logical thinking as it follows a series of definite patterns or logics to carry out an execution. Lateral Thinking doesn’t follow these pre-sorted patterns.

Disadvantages of Patterns

• Expectancy

• Familiarity

• Lack of choice

• Blocked by openness

• Assumptions

Birth of the concept (Lateral Thinking)

• Edward De Bono invented the word in 1967

• He was a PhD in Psychology and served in higher academic positions in Cambridge, Oxford and Harvard University.

“The 6 Thinking Hats”

• THINKING HAT- What thinking is needed? What have we done so far? What do we do next?

• FEELINGS HAT- What do I feel about this? How do I react to this? Analyzing motions and Intuition.

• CREATIVE HAT- New ideas. What is the way to work a problem out? Different approaches.

• INFORMATION HAT- What is the truth or facts? What information do we have?

• BENEFITS HAT- What are the good points? Why is this worth doing? What positive features can be noted?

• JUDGEMENT HAT- What is wrong with this? Will it work? What are the weaknesses?

Vertical Thinking Vs. Lateral Thinking

Vertical Thinking

The goal is to select ideas

Focuses on right or wrong

Follows a sequence

Analytical

Excluding irrelevant materialFinalizing the problem

Lateral Thinking

Generating new ideas is the goal

No preference given to right or wrong

Jumps around

Provocative

Irrelevant materials are welcomed

Expands possibilities

How does Lateral Thinking work?

• “You cannot dig a different hole by digging the same hole deeper”

• It is for changing the given perceptions and concepts.

• It is the technique of problem solving by approaching problems indirectly at diverse angles instead of concentrating at one particular approach.

Example of Lateral Thinking

• Take a square. And try dividing it into equal four parts.

Maybe you got this….

But did you think of these ways?

Another example of Lateral Thinking

• Plant four plants in such a way that they are equidistant from each other.

Unless…

….

Difference in

height….

Teaser No. 1

• There are six eggs in a basket. Six people take one egg each. How can it be that one egg is still in the basket?

The Answer is…

The last person takes the basket

along with the last egg.

Teaser no. 2

• 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 lorry driver, a car mechanic and a fireman playing cards. They immediately arrest the fireman without any interrogation. How did they know that they’ve got their man?

The Answer is…

• He was the only man. All the others were women.

Teaser no. 3

• It took two hours for two men to dig a hole five feet deep. How deep it would have been if ten men had dug the hole for two hours?

The answer is…

•25 feet

The answer cannot be given because…

• The deeper the hole is, the more effort is required to dig it, since waste soil needs to be put up to a greater height. 25 feet is beyond the limit because at this height a hole cant be dug without the use of machines and ladder.

• Deeper soil layers may be harder to dig because we may hit bedrock or water source

• With more people, the efficiency of human power might be decreased due to available distractions.

The answer cannot be given because…

• There are more men, but are there more shovels?

• Weather conditions might be different in both the conditions, which night affect the speed of work

• The strength of the people in each case might vary.

Techniques to Lateral Thinking

• Recognition of dominating polarizing ideas

• Searching of different ways to look at things

• Realization of rigid control of vertical thinking

• Use of chance and avoiding continuity

• Main elements of Lateral Thinking-

• BRAINSTORMING

• USE OF ‘PO’

BRAINSTORMING

• Brainstorming is "a conference technique by which a group attempts to find a solution for a specific problem by amassing all the ideas spontaneously by its members" (Alex Osborn)

Brainstorming is a process designed to obtain the maximum number of ideas relating to a specific area of interest.

Brainstorming is a technique that maximizes the ability to generate new ideas.

Brainstorming is where a group of people put social inhibitions and rules aside with the aim of generating new ideas and solutions.

•Brainstorming is a time dedicated to generating a large number of ideas regardless of their initial worth.

Brainstorming is a part of problem solving which involves the creation of new ideas by suspending judgment.

Brainstorming is the creation of an optimal state of mind for generating new ideas.

Brainstorming is the free association of different ideas to form new ideas and concepts.

USE OF ‘PO’

• PO: Beyond Yes and No

• NO is the basic tool of the Logic System.

• YES is the basic tool of the Belief System.

• PO is the basic tool of the Creative System.

• The basis of logical thinking is the word "no". By enabling you to reject what is wrong, it allows you to be right at each step. The new word, Po, is a new thinking tool - but with a completely different function. Po lets you step outside the harsh rigidity of the YES/NO system and change from the present thought pattern to creating new ideas.

CONCLUSION

• Thus, it can be concluded that the whole purpose of lateral thinking is to allow us to cut across patterns and to find new ideas. As with all creativity, the ideas must be valuable and logical in hindsight.