Lateral thinking
Lateral thinking
Good for really novel solutions
Your brain is very good at repeating actions that it has practiced and completed over and over.
Much of what we do each day is done on autopilot – we don’t think – we just do.
It’s possible to think of many examples:
- Switching on a light
- Driving
- Putting on socks
- Walking along the street
If we seriously considered how we did these things every time then our lives would slow down dramatically.
So, it is very important to learn skills to the point that we can repeat them.
Additionally, the brain is very good at recognising patterns.
If you play the piano to a high standard then reading music is not about noticing the individual notes as such, but rather the repetition of patterns.
A similar position exists with chess players.
Experienced players look at the position of the pieces, their pattern, rather than the individual movement of the next piece.
The problem with running on autopilot or the recognition of patterns is that it could lead to a consistent way of thinking that leads to similar results.
The aim of lateral thinking is to add a seed that encourages thinking in a different way.
Generate words to be used for linking ideas
One method is to come up with random words that are not directly associated with the problem at hand.
We can then begin to think about how they might relate to the problem itself.
Firstly, create a list of general words or nouns that are numbered.
Choose a number and then try to work with the associated noun or word.
The aim is to identify links that the chosen word might have with the current problem which could be very obscure or form an intermediate bridge to other ideas.
To make this a little easier keep the word choices relatively simple.
Anything too complex or abstract can make the exercise a bit trickier.
This technique is far from easy and can peter out if not well controlled.
To prevent this happening you will need to encourage all those participating to link any words with ideas that may prove useful to your problem.
The above example will generate completely random words.
It is very likely, that on the surface, these have absolutely no connection with the problem at hand.
This will really stretch the thought processes of the group to find relevant links.
Because of this, participants may find this method hard and feel less involved.
To counteract this you can allow the group to choose words that derive from areas that they have recently been involved with.
For example, their pastimes, recent news events, favourite food, science, television etc.
In doing so, the words will have more resonance with those involved and help keep the momentum going.
When you are looking for a solution that may be far from the normal ideas generated this technique may help.
It may be that this process doesn’t solve the problem directly but generates ideas that in themselves provide fresh opportunities.
For example, the words ‘elephant and feeling’ could be chosen.
The former case is simple and is an animal well known to all.
The latter is an abstract concept that may prove too difficult to link with your issue.
If we choose ‘elephant’ then we might extend this to other descriptive words.
For example, heavy, strong, trunk and grey.
It’s these additional words that we may wish to link with the problem.
Let’s say our problem is ‘we want more people to read books than Kindles’.
We might look at a really obscure word like ‘trunk’ and try to make a link.
Trunks are ‘long’, ‘flexible’, have a lot of ‘muscles’ and are ‘dextrous’.
So, how can we try to link these attributes with our problem.
We might think of dextrous as relating to tactile and promote books as having a more human feel.
From flexible we may consider books are easier to flick through and promote them accordingly.
Muscles provide the flexibility and may be akin to the books spine.
This might lead us to think about the beauty of the bound pages and cover versus the less tactile Kindle.
The point is these ideas in themselves might not provide a direct solution but a combination may well lead you to your desired aim.