Creativity Step by Step

This is a summary of the book “Lateral Thinking” — By Edward de Bono. In this the author explains the important difference between vertical and lateral thinking. It offers techniques on how to strengthen your ability to think creatively and spark important changes and innovations along the way.

Key Concepts in this book:

1. Lateral thinking aids in the rethinking and updating of the mind's established patterns.
2. Anyone can profit from lateral thinking with time and effort.
3. Lateral thinking necessitates the withholding of judgement and the identification of dominating ideas.
4. To switch up your thinking, use the reverse method and analogies.
5. Unexpected insights can be obtained by using attention areas and entry points.
6. Random stimulation can be triggered in two ways: exposure and formal generation.

Who can take the most benefit from this book:

• People who want to improve at thinking outside the box.
• Teachers looking for lessons to inspire creative thinking.
• Executives eager for more productive brainstorming sessions.

What am I getting out of it? Examine a classic text that will change the way you think about problem-solving and innovation.

The last thing you want to do when it comes to coming up with new ideas is get trapped in a rut. It's possible that there isn't a recipe for creating the next game-changing invention. However, if you understand the principles of lateral thinking, you'll have a tremendous tool at your disposal for generating fresh ideas.

Looking at old ideas in new ways — turning them upside-down, inside-out, and poking holes in them – is the key to lateral thinking. Anyone may learn to remould their thoughts into imaginative new solutions with the help of famous examples from Edward de Bono, the pioneer of lateral thinking, and a little practice.

• You'll learn how product design exercises may help you think beyond the box.
• Why you should never dismiss someone’s "poor" suggestion.
• And how using a dictionary can help you come up with new ideas in this summary.

1. Lateral thinking aids in the rethinking and updating of the mind’s established patterns.

Vertical and lateral thinking are two different ways of thinking. We’re accustomed to thinking vertically for the most part. This is the type of procedure that takes a concept, hardens it, and backs it up with data and facts - almost as if the idea is being planted securely and deeply into the ground.

If vertical thinking entails digging a hole in which to plant your idea, lateral thinking entails looking for new areas to dig.

The main point is that lateral thinking allows the mind to reconsider and update its established patterns.

To begin, it's important to realise that lateral thinking is not diametrically opposed to vertical thinking — the two are not mutually exclusive. Vertical thinking is necessary and beneficial since it corresponds to the way the mind functions.

The mind is a powerful system for finding patterns and organising information, among other things. This is accomplished by a self-maximizing memory mechanism. That is, we form our opinions based on the memories we have, the patterns we’ve discovered, and the data we’ve gathered.

For the most part, this approach works well. For example, we develop such a strong understanding of letters and numbers that we can recognise them even if they are partially occluded. It does, however, have a disadvantage. The more we experience, the more these habits and expectations get ingrained in us. We take them for granted and are content to leave them alone.

Lateral thinking is a method of questioning patterns, putting them to the test, poking them to see if they can be updated or improved. If we don’t confront the patterns and assumptions our minds make instinctively, we’ll have a hard time coming up with creative and unique ideas.

It is for this reason that both vertical and lateral thinking are critical. It's vital to name and categorise objects in areas like science and math. And the brain is the ideal tool for the job. However, there are occasions when we need to deliberately go against our logical nature and reevaluate those categories and their contents. This is where your ability to think beyond the box comes in handy.

2. Anyone can profit from lateral thinking with time and effort.

Some folks are lateral thinkers who think intuitively. Thinking laterally takes work for the rest of us — deliberately going against our strongly held views and ideas isn't something we do every day. So we'll need some approaches and activities to help us hone our lateral thinking abilities.

The essential point here is that anyone can profit from lateral thinking with time and effort.

Understanding that there are multiple ways to look at something is one of the most basic foundations of lateral thinking. Consider the term "lateral" to mean "moving to the side" rather than "looking at something straight on."

Lateral thinking is the process of seeking for alternatives with the goal of disrupting established patterns; you then either create new patterns or update old ones. Setting quotas is one of the simplest ways to help ignite lateral thinking.

Many people will claim to be open to new ideas and eager to explore alternatives, but good intentions have a tendency of falling short in the end. Quotas can help in this situation. You’re enforcing that positive purpose and compelling folks to participate in lateral thinking when you set a firm quota of three to five different ideas.

With quotas in mind, coming up with descriptions is one of the easiest methods to exercise lateral thinking. Here's a simple exercise: clip out photos from newspapers or magazines, removing any words and context. After that, have folks come up with three different descriptions of what's going on in the photographs.

Certain photos, such as firefighters responding to a burning house, are not appropriate for this exercise; instead, look for images that can be interpreted in various ways. People escaping onto land from a shipwreck, people caught in a flood, or people travelling out to an island or an offshore ferryboat, for example, could be depicted in a photograph of people wading in shallow water.

Similarly, you may obliterate part of a photograph or painting. Then have them describe what's going on in the secret section. It's critical to emphasise that every response is valid in all lateral thinking tasks. In reality, radically imaginative and impossible scenarios can be extremely useful in generating new ideas and discoveries.

3. Lateral thinking necessitates the withholding of judgement and the identification of dominating ideas.

In general, there are no incorrect ideas in lateral thinking. In fact, "bad" ideas are often the catalysts for creativity. After toying with the incorrect concept that radio waves would follow the curvature of the earth, Guglielmo Marconi was only able to deliver wireless signals across an ocean.

This is why lateral thinking sessions are free of preconceived notions. Every suggestion is welcome since you never know which one will lead to a major breakthrough.

The main takeaway is that lateral thinking necessitates deferring judgement and recognising dominating ideas.

When it comes to coming up with new ideas to test and pursue, lateral thinking may be divided into two stages: generative and selective. It is necessary to refrain from passing judgement throughout the generative period. One person's ostensibly awful concept may encourage someone else to come up with an idea that prompts everyone to reconsider their methods. Sometimes putting a blundering idea to the test results in a great new concept. People also feel unconstrained in their thoughts and free to speak their minds, which is arguably even more significant.

You may encourage people to share their ideas freely by asking them to reply to design concepts. For example, encourage them to come up with suggestions for how to improve an apple-picking machine. Alternatively, a non-spillable drinking cup. Or ask individuals to remodel an umbrella — or even the human body – and see what they come up with.

Another key aspect of lateral thinking is recognising dominant ideas, which can be accomplished through this activity. People are prone to jumping to conclusions and assuming they know everything there is to know about something as simple as choosing apples. But what would be the most important considerations in developing a commercially effective apple-picking machine?

People should be able to make suggestions without fear of being judged. Is it the most popular idea to select the apples without hurting them? Is it locating the appropriate apples to pick? Is it just getting them to the ground and safely moving them? You might be able to recognise distinct fractions as a result of this approach, which is another helpful aspect of lateral thinking. You can look at the problem from a variety of perspectives by breaking it down into components.

4. To switch up your thinking, use the reverse method and analogies.

It's likely that you've participated in a brainstorming session. That isn't to say you haven't participated in a solid lateral thinking session. Even yet, brainstorming can be a good approach to keep the principles of lateral thinking alive if done correctly, such as by refraining from passing judgement and examining prevailing ideas.

The author suggests gathering a group of roughly twelve individuals together for 30 minutes for the best effects. By the end of the session, everyone should still be buzzing with ideas and energy.

The main point here is to use the reversal approach and analogies to change your perspective.

Problem-solving, in addition to descriptions and design challenges, is another technique to elicit the power of lateral thinking. Of course, brainstorming is a fantastic approach to get started when solving a problem, but there are a few additional techniques that can help individuals think beyond the box.

The reversing approach is one of these techniques. This strategy can be used in a variety of ways, but it can be as basic as directly reversing the conditions of the problem you’re dealing with.

Consider "traffic directing policemen" instead of "police officers directing traffic" if you're dealing with a problem involving "police officers directing traffic." These kinds of reversals are essentially provocations to induce the mind to investigate additional possibilities that it might have overlooked otherwise.

A reversal can be ludicrous at times. A problem with street cleaners isn’t as easily reversible as a problem with traffic directors. The cleaner isn’t going to clean the streets. And cleaning a street isn’t going to get you very far. But it doesn’t really matter whether the converse is ludicrous or not. The goal is to encourage lateral thinking and new perspectives on events.

Analogies can be used in the same way. Consider the following quote: "A rumour is like a snowball tumbling down a hill." This makes sense since the more a rumour travels, the bigger and stronger it becomes. However, if you consider the analogy from all sides, you can wonder whether the snow represents the number of people who are exposed to the rumour – or the rumour's potency.

Both reversals and analogies are helpful tools for examining a problem from multiple, unorthodox perspectives.

5. Unexpected insights can be obtained by using attention areas and entry points.

The investigator and Dr. Watson were debating what evidence was relevant in one of Sherlock Holmes' many puzzles. There was a dog at the crime scene, but Watson dismissed it as unimportant because the dog had done nothing wrong. The fact that the dog had not reacted was, on the other hand, precisely why it was crucial to Holmes: it indicated that the dog was likely familiar with the criminal.

In lateral thinking, what is normally regarded as irrelevant suddenly becomes relevant, much like the dog that didn't accomplish anything. All you have to do is know where to look — and how to look.

The main takeaway is that attention areas and entry points might assist you in gaining unexpected insights.

You want to look where others don't and approach the problem from new perspectives to see things in a new light, right? Well, starting at the end isn't always an option.

Consider a children’s book with an illustrated puzzle. Three fishermen are seated in a boat, tangled up in their three fishing lines. A fish is trapped in one of the hooks at the bottom of the puzzle. The question is, who was the fisherman who caught it? Typically, a child will trace each fishing line one by one, beginning at the top and working their way down until the correct line is found. Of course, the easier way to get started is to start at the bottom, with the fish, and work your way up until you reach the lucky fisherman.

Starting at the endpoint can sometimes lead to good results in lateral thinking, just as it might with puzzles and mazes. However, just as your brain instinctively forms and remembers certain patterns, it also prefers to focus on the most evident aspects and approach problems in a linear manner. This is what lateral thinking is attempting to change. Instead, the idea is to approach things from unexpected angles – and to pay attention to the details that are frequently missed.

Here's another illustration. Let's pretend you're organising a tennis tournament with 110 participants. How many games do you have to arrange? The most frequent strategy is to focus on the victors of each round, who advance to play more matches. The simpler solution is to consider the losers. 109 players must lose in order for one winner to emerge. Because each player can only lose once, you'll need to plan a total of 109 games.

The majority of people overlook the losers. However, in lateral thinking, paying attention to what others have overlooked is exactly what will help you win.

6. Random stimulation can be triggered in two ways: exposure and formal generation.

So far, we've looked at descriptions, design, and problem-solving strategies, as well as methods for stimulating lateral thinking in these scenarios. Many of these methods use provocations, which are simple ways of eliciting lateral thinking that can become second nature with repetition.

However, there are other strategies that can be utilised to assist – ones that aren't necessarily linked to descriptions, problem-solving, or design. And when we say random, we mean exactly that.

The main point is that there are two methods for triggering random stimulation: exposure and formal generation.

You may need to enter a fresh setting to come up with a fantastic idea or have an inspirational breakthrough. One method is to use a technique called random exposure. This could include reading a book that has nothing to do with your field of expertise or even attending a convention for a completely unrelated field. This is known as cross-disciplinary fertilisation, and it can be quite beneficial.

The idea is to not be looking for anything specific; don’t go in with a preconceived notion of what you want to find. That worldview is diametrically opposed to lateral thinking. So go in with an open mind and see what happens!

Formal generation, the second way, is equally random. You can experiment with formal generation in a variety of ways, for as by randomly selecting words from the dictionary and seeing how they interact with the situation at hand. This is a fun activity to do in the classroom. To determine the sequential word listed on the page, ask for a number between the first and last pages of the dictionary – and then another number between 1 and 20. Then, on the chalkboard, write the term and its definition. Allow students to consider how this word could be used to solve a problem, such as shoplifting, or to improve the design of a window.

Another approach is to seek random objects, such as the nearest red object, and investigate how they interact with the task or difficulty at hand. As usual, it's critical to suspend disbelief when it comes to these approaches and give even the most bizarre concepts a chance in court. If you pay attention to the unexpected, you can get an equally unexpected result that completely changes your life.

The key message in this summary is that lateral and vertical thinking are not mutually exclusive. Rather, it's a way of putting to the test and updating the traditional patterns and ideas that emerge from vertical thinking. Because we have a natural tendency to hold to long-held opinions and assumptions, lateral thinking challenges us to look at things from other perspectives and reconsider any long-held beliefs or assumptions. Techniques focusing on descriptions, design, and problem-solving can help anyone learn and profit from lateral thinking.

Here's some additional advice that you can put into practice:

Try Po instead of Yes and No.

The author has devised a linguistic tool that may be used to substitute words like "No" in order to assist people in pausing judgement and being more open to unusual ideas. Po is here!

Po is intended to encourage the use of ideas that appear irrational or foolish at first glance. During a brainstorming session, for example, if someone begins to push back on a notion or say no, you can interject with "Po..." and remind the team that all ideas are welcome. You can also start a recommendation with the word "Po" to remind the team that you’re encouraging them to think outside the box. Po gets increasingly effective as a tool as it is utilised more.