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LATERAL THINKING -
THE INTUITIVE WAY TO CREATE
AHA INSPIRATIONS!
Copyright James F. Coyle 1995, 2014
What is LATERAL THINKING?
Lateral Thinking is the ability to arrive at an inspirational conclusion
by using an "insight" switch in thinking to a different track!
It is the ability to add a slight "twist" to the pattern of
logical thinking to produce an unexpected answer!
Lateral inspirational thinking is when you suddenly 'leap' from one line
of logical thinking to another ..... unexpectedly! ..... as in the punch-line
of a joke!
LATERAL THINKING PRODUCES AN "AHA!" SOLUTION!
You're in a meeting brainstorming about a specific problem. Suddenly, as
a result of something someone says, you have an inspiration. The answer flashes
into your
mind!
Everyone
in the room agrees that this is the answer! No doubt about it!
Great
stuff but the problem is .... you're so impressed with your own cleverness in
thinking of the answer, that you instantly "tunnel mind-vision" and
you can't
see that any other answer is possible!
You have
had an inspiration which was triggered by a comment made by one of your group!
But, by
using a predetermined specific lateral thinking process, you may be able to
come up with several of these "aha" solutions!
Basically
your inspirational solution was triggered by an outside comment or influence.
And this
is how lateral processing can be made to work at will ...... by an outside
trigger!
LET'S LOOK AT AN EVERYDAY ANALOGY!
Consider the computer! It consists of two sections ...... a memory
section and a processing section. The memory section is equivalent to a giant
warehouse that stores stock.
The
processing section is equivalent to the warehouse office foreman, who directs
all the forklifts that manage the placement and retrieval of this stock.
The heart
of it all is the memory (or storage) section. If the warehouse foreman tells a
forklift driver to go down to row E, and check shelf 3, bay 18,
for stock, then the driver can report back
only one of two situations ...... either the stock is there in that position or
it is not! There is no between
answer
possible. And that is how a computer memory works!
It's
either yes .... or .... no! Either the logic circuit is in the off mode (yes or
no) at that particular storage position designated. It cannot be in a
"maybe"
mode!
And the
human mental logic processing system works along the same lines. When we follow
a line of thought to a logical conclusion, we follow
this yes/no process until we reach the
conclusion we need.
THE PROCESS OF LEARNING
It is an observable fact that schools are places where existing
knowledge is passed on. Hence the end-of-year exams. If you get the schooling
process
right, you pass the exam. But
brand new knowledge and the methods of mentally expanding and evolving the
concepts implied by this knowledge,
are beyond the curriculum of the
general school system.
Universities
used to be the place of ideas research. Now, apart from a few notable
exceptions, this role has been taken over by private research
companies.
Most quantum leaps in science and technology have taken place in private
industry. Look at Silicon Valley in California. The electronic
revolution
was born there! Among hundreds of privately owned firms.
The
ability to look laterally at things is taught, as far as I can estimate, at
less than 1% of schools.
Our
everyday logical thinking has been the basis of our mental processing for over
2000 years, since the era of the ancient Greeks. While every other
form of
science has evolved enormously since then ...... thinking has not! Until ......
Dr. Edward DeBono, one of the brightest analytical
minds on the
planet,
came up with a controlled and triggerable style of inspirational mental
processing ...... LATERAL THINKING!
And it is
a sad fact, that even today, education is not designed to teach people to think
- it is designed to transfer existing knowledge!
In higher
education these days, there seems to be no "thirst" for new knowledge
...... only a "thirst" to learn existing knowledge!
After
2000 odd years, it has become obvious that ordinary vertical thinking has an
inherent restriction ...... because ...... you cannot always see
something
in a new way by simply looking at it harder in the old way!
THE LATERAL PROCESS ......
Let us look at what happens when a problem has to be solved.
There are a number of possible solutions. You start a logical vertical
thought process which takes you so far ..... and then you get stuck!
Now at
this point, by introducing, intentionally, a trigger situation, you find that
your mind suddenly leaps to a new vertical path, and with a bit
more logical thought, a solution materializes.
When you
think laterally ...... you move your search for the solution sideways ...... so
you can continue on a new vertical track!
As
explained earlier, logical thinking is based on the yes/no process, but if we
introduce a new component ...... a maybe ...... we can use it to
generate
the required lateral shift to move ourselves over from that "stuck"
position.
Now
before we go any further, ask yourself if everything is clear so far. If not,
go back to the diagram and study it again.
The
secret to the whole process as Edward DeBono discovered, was this magic
"maybe" trigger!
He
evolved a new word for it ...... which he called ...... "PO"!
It is
sometimes convenient to think of this as an abbreviated word for
"suppose".
This
"PO" concept acts like a reverse gear in a car. Without reverse, we
can get stuck in any blind alley, but with reverse, you can back out!
It is a
special gear used in addition to your normal forward gear. PO is a mental
reverse gear! It enables you to reset your mind pattern so you
can think
your way out of a dead-end situation and proceed in a forward direction.
PO acts
to create a "sideways" leap into an alternative logical thought
pattern ...... by introducing discontinuity!
Dr. DeBono found that by introducing this "PO"
concept into our obsolete 2-3000 year old thinking process, we could jump past
mental blocks and barriers.
At this
point, I won't go into full details of the "PO" concept. What I will do however, is show you how
to use this "PO" concept.
Very
briefly...... there are two ways to use "PO"
........
"PO" as a Storage Factor!
The
"PO" factor can be used to instigate a temporary storage of a
solution that looks, on the surface, ridiculous! You mentally maintain this
concept
for a
short period of time to use it as a "stepping stone" to more logical
solutions.
"PO" as a Triggering Factor!
"PO"
can be used to set up an extraneous factor by introducing outside or fringe
trigger words to evolve a way past a block in your logical processing
pattern.
Now let's
look at the first concept ...... using "PO" as a storage / ridiculous
factor -
I used
this very same concept many years ago to solve the problem of how to double the
turnover of a local supermarket without increasing advertising
costs.
My thinking went like this .....
"PO"
- give the food away free (Sounds ridiculous doesn't
it? But stick with me ......)
What
would happen if the food were free? Logical answer ...... everyone in town
would rush in to get their free food at the supermarket .....
word-of-mouth
advertising!
Result ...... no profit ...... end of supermarket !!!
"PO
" - give some food away free! Logical thought .... how
could this be done in a manner which ensured financial survival of the
business?
"PO"
- give the food away to selected customers only! And by
following logical thinking from here, the result was not only inspirational but
highly
effective!
We gave
food away to random customers ...... selected at random electronically when
they paid their bill at the check-out. Every so often, a bell
would
ring ...... lights would flash and the customer who was selected at random by
the electronics attached to the cash registers, would find they
got their groceries for free! This was
triggered to happen on an average once every 30-50 customers, which on a busy
day was every 15-20 minutes,
so
virtually everyone who walked into that supermarket, saw some lucky customer
get a "win"!
The
newspapers thought this was fantastic! So did the customers!
The
supermarket was able to cut its newspaper advertising bill by over 80%.
Word-of-mouth did the rest! The free groceries and the reduced
advertising
bill still meant that the owner was paying about the same
"promotional" costs every month ...... but ...... his customers
doubled!!!
Now,
let's look at the second "PO" ..... the
triggering factor!
Many
years ago when I first attended lateral thinking seminars run by Edward DeBono,
he gave quite a graphic demonstration on how much
to use
this "trigger"! He handed one of the seminar attendees a dictionary
and told her to shut her eyes and open the dictionary at any page.
He then
told her to run her finger down the page and stop anywhere she liked. She was
then told to open her eyes and tell us the main heading word
nearest
her finger. (It turned out that any word at all will do, providing it is not
deliberately selected).
The word
she picked out was ..... incubate!
Now to
the problem DeBono set us, which was solved with the use of this
"trigger" word ......
The
problem was given as follows ......
You are
driving down town in your car and you suddenly realize that you are out of
cigarettes.
You see a
corner store up ahead so you pull up in front of this shop and whip inside to
buy a packet. You leave your car running and the keys in
the
ignition. You are in the shop less than 60 seconds but as you come out, you see
your car disappearing down the road. It has been stolen! You
report
this to the Police but realize you may never see your car again!
However,
a week later, you are walking down a side street in another part of town and
amazingly you see your car, parked in front of a sleazy bar.
You
hastily glance into your car and you see that it is locked. You are in an
isolated part of town and you are naturally reluctant to go into the bar
in search
of the thief. You figure that by the time you find a phone and the Police
arrive, the car could have gone again. So, what to do?
Now this is the problem Dr. DeBono gave us. And we had selected the
trigger word ...... incubate!
We were
then invited to develop concepts around this word. We came up with the
following ......
§ To hatch
§ To grow from nothing
§ Egg - round object - stationary
§ Inert object - capable of later life
§ To nurture under controlled conditions
§ Addition of special conditions to make it function as intended
§ etc. etc.
There
were about 40 such suggestions but the ones above were selected as the most
likely "key" trigger concepts. So we worked around them.
We kept
coming back to ...... inert object - capable of later life.
This
evolved into the statement that the car was inert until the key was inserted
and the engine started. Someone else suggested that if the
incubator
was not switched on, the process could not complete itself. A logical train of
thought from here suggested the fact that if the key
could not
be inserted into the ignition, the engine could not be started.
Then
someone suggested that if the door key were prevented from opening the door
from the outside, the same effect could be achieved.
Bingo! It was suggested that the door locks be jammed ..... with bits of slit
matchsticks in the keyholes, so that the key couldn't be inserted
into the
car door.
Simultaneously,
someone suggested that to further make the "incubator" inert that two
tires be let down. With only one spare tire available,
the car
couldn't be made mobile quickly!
Do you
see how it works?
Now,
obviously all this is not very practical if you're standing in front of your
stolen car, but as you get more and more into the use of lateral
thinking,
then these "lateral" solutions pop into your mind spontaneously!
I was
personally most impressed with this example. I could see how a
"random" word could trigger a lateral sideways movement in ordinary
thinking.
In fact, I remember thinking that this is so simple ..... it's stupid! But over
the years, I've found that it not only works, but usually
works without fail!
I have
developed, however, 10 random words that seem to give me the best results. Each
word has a strong implication and meaning attached
to it. By
attaching one of these to your problem, a lateral influence is exerted by
forcing you to think along a totally different track ..... a track
which you
would normally not consider! A bit like the reverse gear in the car.
Here are
the words I use ......
1.
Ridiculous
2. Invert
3. Reverse
4. Escape
5. Kamikaze
6. Deity
7. Impossible
8. Container
9. Window
10. Time
Each word
has a number attached to it. I keep 10 little squares of cardboard in a glass
tumbler.
Each
piece has a number on it. When I need a word I close my eyes, shake the tumbler
and pick out one piece at random. If it has on it, for
example, the number 8, I use the associated
word "container".
CONCLUSION
In logical vertical thinking, we concentrate on what is relevant and
ignore the rest.
In
lateral thinking, by the use of "PO", we concentrate temporarily on
something which is irrelevant and ignore the rest in the meantime!
Other events may also trigger a sideways lateral movement in your
thinking pattern.
You may,
for example, wander into a hardware shop or some other place where you don't
normally go, and because of your mental absorption
with the
products on display, your subconscious may trigger a lateral shift in a problem
that has been bothering you. In fact, any external events
at all
which absorb your concentration, may trigger this intuitive leap!
After you
use these intentional triggering devices for a while, they tend to become
ingrained into your thought processes and become automatic.
WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF LATERAL THINKING !!!!
14 OTHER FREE REPORTS ARE INDEXED ON THE
FOLLOWING PAGE
http://www.mindtech.com.vu/wakeup.htm
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HOMEPAGE - http://www.mindtech.com.vu/