Lateral Thinking: Creativity Step by Step

by Edward de Bono (includes links to many of his other books)

Preface

Introduction

Use of this book

The way the mind works

Difference between lateral and vertical thinking Attitudes towards lateral thinking

Basic nature of lateral thinking

The use of lateral thinking

Techniques

The generation of alternatives

Challenging assumptions

Innovation

Suspended judgment

Design

Dominant ideas and crucial factors

Fractionation

The reversal method

Brainstorming

Analogies

Choice of entry point and attention area

Random stimulation

Concepts/divisions~polarization

The new word po

Blocked by openness

Description/problem solving/design

Summary

Still working on this

Summary

The emphasis in education has always been on logical sequential thinking which is by tradition the only proper use of information.

Creativity is vaguely encouraged as some mysterious talent.

This book has been about lateral thinking.

Lateral thinking is not a substitute for the traditional logical thinking but a necessary complement.

Logical thinking is quite incomplete without lateral thinking.

Lateral thinking makes quite a different use of information from logical (vertical) thinking.

For instance the need to be right at every step is absolutely essential to logical thinking but quite unnecessary in lateral thinking.

It may sometimes be necessary to be wrong in order to dislocate a pattern sufficiently for it to re-form in a new way.

With logical thinking one makes immediate judgments, with lateral thinking one may delay judgments in order to allow information to interact and generate new ideas.

The twin aspects of lateral thinking are first the provocative use of information and second the challenge to accepted concepts.

Underlying both these aspects is the main purpose of lateral thinking which provides a means to restructure patterns.

This restructuring of patterns is necessary to make better use of information that is already available.

It is an insight restructuring.

The mind is a pattern making system.

The mind creates pat;terns out of the environment and then recognizes ar~.d uses such patterns.

This is the basis of its effectiveness.

Because the sequence of arrival of information determines how it is to be arranged into a pattern such patterns are always less than the best possible arrangement of information.

In order to bring such patterns up to date and so make better use of the contained information one needs a mechanism for insight restructuring.

This can never be provided by logical thinking which works to relate accepted concepts not to restructure them.

Lateral thinking is demanded by the behavior of this type of information processing system in order to bring about insight restructuring.

The provocative function of lateral thinking and the challenging function are both directed towards this end.

In both cases information i~ used in a manner that goes beyond reason, for lateral thinking works outside of reason.

Yet the need for lateral thinking is based quite logically on the deficiencies of a self-maximizing memory system which is the type of .system that makes the mind capable of humor.

Lateral thinking workS at an earlier-stage than vertical thinking.

Lateral thinking is used to restructure the ;il perceptual pattern which is the way a situation is looked, ~ at.

Vertical thinking then accepts that perceptual ~ pattern and develops it.

Lateral thinking is generative, vertical thinking is selective.

Effectiveness is the aim of both.

In ordinary traditional thinking we have developed no methods for going beyond the adequate, As soon as ~i’ something is Satisfactory our thinking must stop.

And yet there may be many better arrangements of information beyond the merely adequate.

Once one has reached an adequate answer then it is difficult to proceed by logical thinking because the rejection mechanism which is the basis of logical thinking can no longer function well.

With lateral thinking one can easily proceed beyond the adequate by insight

restructuring.

Lateral thinking is especially useful in problem solving and in the generation of new ideas.

~at it is not confined to these situations for itl is an essential part of all thinking.

Without a method for changing concepts and bringing them up to date one is liable to be trapped by concepts which are more harmful than useful.

Moreover rigid concept patterns can actually create a great number of problems.

Such problems are particularly fierce since they cannot be altered by ayailable evidence but only by insight restructuring.

The need to change ideas is becoming more and more obvious as technology speeds up the rate of communication and progress.

We have never developed very satisfactory methods for changing ideas but have always relied on conflict.

Lateral thinking is directed towards bringing about changes in ideas through insight restructuring.

Lateral thinking is directly concerned with insight and with creativity.

But whereas both these processes are usually only recognized after they have happened lateral thinking is a deliberate way of using information in order to bring them about.

In practice lateral thinking and vertical thinking are so complementary that they are mixed together.

Nevertheless it is best to treat them as distinct in order to understand the basic nature of lateral thinking and acquire skill in its use.

This also prevents confusion because the principles governing the use of information in lateral thinking are quite different from the ones used in vertical thinking, It is difficult to acquire any sort of skill in lateral thinking simply by reading about it.

In order to develop such skill one must practice and go on practicing and that is why there has been such emphasis in this book on practice sessions.

Nor are exhortation and goodwill enough.

There are specific techniques for the application of lateral thinking.

The purpose Of such techniques is twofold.

They can be used for their ctwn sakes but more importantly they can be used to develop the lateral habit of mind.

In order to use lateral thinking effectively one needs a practical language tool.

Such a tool is necessary m allow one to use information in the special way required by lateral thinking and also to indicate to others what is being done.

This tool is Po.

po is an insight tool.

po is the laxative of language.

It acts to relax the rigidity of the tight patterns so easily formed by mind and to provoke new patterns.

Lateral thinking is not concerned with generating doubt for the sake of doubt or chaos for the sake of chaos.

Lateral thinking acknowledges the extreme usefulness of order and of pattern.

But it emphasizes the need for changing these to bring them up to date and make them even more useful.

Lateral thinking particularly emphasizes the dangers of rigid patterns which the mind is so apt m construct because of the way it handles information.

“The greatest danger in times of turbulence is not turbulence;

it is to act with yesterday’s logic”. — Peter Drucker

The shift from manual workers
who do as they are being told —
either by the task or by the boss —

TO knowledge workers
who have to manage themselves ↓

profoundly challenges social structure …

“Managing Oneself (PDF) is a REVOLUTION in human affairs.” …

“It also requires an almost 180-degree change in the knowledge workers’ thoughts and actions from what most of us—even of the younger generation—still take for granted as the way to think and the way to act.” …

… “Managing Oneself is based on the very opposite realities:
Workers are likely to outlive organizations (and therefore, employers can’t be depended on for designing your life),

and the knowledge worker has mobility.” ← in a context

“More than anything else,

the individual
has to take more responsibility
for himself or herself,
rather than depend on the company.”
continue ↓

“Making a living is no longer enough
‘Work’ has to make a life .” continue

… finding and selecting the pieces of the puzzle

The Second Curve

These pages are attention directing tools for navigating a world moving relentlessly toward unimagined futures.

What’s the next effective action on the road ahead

It’s up to you to figure out what to harvest and calendarize
— working something out in time (1915, 1940, 1970 … 2040 … the outer limit of your concern) — nobody is going to do it for you.

It may be a step forward to actively reject something (rather than just passively ignoring) and then working out a plan for coping with what you’ve rejected.

Your future is between your ears and our future is between our collective ears — it can’t be otherwise.

A site exploration: The memo THEY don't want you to see

What needs doing?

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