As we mentioned in past newsletters, lateral thinking is a term coined by Edward de Bono. It first appeared in the title of his book
, and is defined as methods of thinking concerned with changing concepts and perception. Lateral thinking focuses on reasoning that is not immediately obvious and about ideas that may not be obtainable by using traditional step-by-step logic. In other words, lateral thinking is a wonderful tool for Jesters to tease out and address blind spots!
De Bono believes that the ability to think laterally is a skill that can be developed through repeated use. We agree and think the better developed a Jester's lateral thinking skill is, the more blind spots they can uncover and illuminate.
This month we will finish our three part conversation by focusing on developing your own lateral thinking skills.
Firstly, we believe part of skill development is philosophical and based in commitment. A person has to decide they will spend time and energy learning about and applying any new skill. Also realize that developing your lateral thinking ability is like muscle development - you actually have to exercise it every day to have any effect. We suggest you can set aside time each day to practice techniques designed to develop lateral thinking.
Following is a basic technique in which you use random words to generate new perspectives. By forcing yourself to use random words as prompts you are forcing yourself to view issues from a different perspective than you might otherwise.
Directions: Think of a current issue or problem you want to try to apply lateral thinking to. Next, you are going to generate a random word. This can be done using a copy of The Secret Life of the Corporate Jester - you do have a copy near you don't you?!
Actually, any book will be fine.
Blindly stick your finger into the book at a random page and select the word you are closest to pointing to. This will be your random word.
Now write down all the characteristics of the word you can come up with: the definition, any connotations, any underlying principles, etc.
After you have done this, use what you have written to come up with a bridging idea that links something about your word to your initial issue or problem.
As this point, frankly, some committment may be needed to keep yourself from thinking the technique is goofy and won't work. Keep with it!
Try to apply the actual characteristics of your random word to your issue without changing them to ones which you might find easier to apply.
For example, once you have chosen a random word, you could:
- Ask yourself: How does the random word "behave"? Why does it behave like that? What are its characteristics? How does it occur in the real world?
- Think about the common "benefits and the disadvantages" associated with the word. How does the selected word "achieve" the benefits and how can you apply that information against the issue you are working on?
Let your mind play with connections until it lands on something meaningful, interesting or helpful. Once you have discovered something, take a moment to realize it would have been unlikely for you to have come up with that particular thought without using lateral thinking.
Quick example:
Using the randomly generated word galaxy in the context of trying to figure out a new kitchen product.
A bridging idea might be to consider what would happen if a kitchen was in space? As a result you might think about everything floating around because of the lack of gravity.
The bridge thinking could lead to the thought that one would need magnetized pots and pans to stop them from floating off the oven into space.
This realization could then be applied to the original issue. How about a new design for pots and pans with strong magnets built into the bottoms? This product enhancement might have interesting positive implications on storage, safety, etc.
As you can see, the process is free form. One can't really know where it might lead, a hallmark of true lateral thinking! You have to go along for the ride and see where it takes you.
Our suggestion is to try it for a couple weeks. In fact, applying the above technique at least twice is this month's 90-Second Jester Challenge. Good luck!
For more on lateral thinking, we suggest you do some reading. Some recommended texts can be found in the
Jester's Bookshelf.
