Edward de Bono

Lateral Thinking

matej yangwao

** spoiler alert **
           I mean it's good overview of thinking concepts


≥Lateral thinking is a deliberate process that goes beyond creativity, insight, and humor

≥Lateral thinking involves looking at problems from new directions.

≥The goal of lateral thinking is to look at things differently, to restructure patterns, to generate alternatives.

≥Lateral thinking focuses on getting solutions from every possible avenue.

≥With vertical thinking, one may look for different approaches until finding a promising option. With lateral thinking, a person continues to generate many approaches even after finding a promising solution.

≥Vertical thinking proceeds only if there is a direction in which to move, while lateral thinking moves to generate a direction. Vertical thinking is analytical, while lateral thinking is provocative.

≥Vertical thinking is sequential, while lateral thinking can make jumps. With vertical thinking, one moves forward one step at a time; each step arises directly from the preceding step to which it is firmly connected. Once one has reached a conclusion, the soundness of that conclusion is proved by the soundness of the steps by which it has been reached. With lateral thinking, the steps do not have to be sequential. One can jump ahead to a new point and then fill in the gap afterward.

≥Vertical thinking allows you to use the negative to block off certain pathways while in lateral thinking there is no negative.

≥Lateral thinking is not as complicated as some people make it to be. With a positive approach, it can change your life for the better.

≥Lateral thinking and vertical thinking are complementary, not antagonistic. Lateral thinking is essential for generating ideas and approaches, and vertical thinking is useful for developing them. Lateral thinking improves the effectiveness of vertical thinking by offering it more to select from. Vertical thinking multiplies the effectiveness of lateral thinking by making good use of the ideas generated.

>According to Dr. Jordan Poppenk and Julie Tseng, researchers at Queens University, an average person has 6,200 thoughts per day.

>Vertical thinking tends to take a pattern and then develop it, while lateral thinking restructures by putting things together in diverse ways.

>Lateral thinking is related to the information handling behavior of the mind. It uses information provocatively, breaks down old patterns to liberate information, and stimulates new pattern formation by juxtaposing unlikely knowledge.

>New ideas refer to new ways of doing things. They are always useful, especially when old ideas no longer solve your current problems.

>Jobs like architecture, research, design, engineering, and advertising demand a continual flow of new ideas, and lateral thinking is a more deliberate way of setting about it.

>There are three types of problems.
• The first one requires more information or better techniques to solve it.
• The second type of problem does not require new information but a rearrangement of previous information.
• The third type of problem is the problem of no problem—if there’s nothing wrong, it could also be an indication of future issues.

>While accepting the usefulness of the patterns created by the mind, one uses lateral thinking to counter arrogance and rigidity.

>The purpose of fractionation is to escape from the inhibiting unity of a fixed pattern to the more generative situation of several fractions.

Lateral Thinking

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