This was contributed by Sanchit Aggarwal for the May 2012 edition of our club newsletter.
A few weeks back, I came across a book called "Lateral Thinking" by Edward de Bono. I am not an avid reader
but I decided to take this one as it was a really thin one. I ended up reading it in 1 hour straight. But this 1 hour changed a few things which I assumed were true.
According to the book, we (humans) have had the same thinking style since Greeks developed it thousands of years ago. Our thinking style has been based on analyzing the data and then coming out with a solution. We expect that
the data will produce a solution by itself without us working for it. This type of thinking style is called 'Vertical thinking'. This thinking is structured and follow processes.
The other type of thinking which the author promotes in the book is called 'Lateral Thinking'. Many of us have heard this term but only a few know that this term was in fact coined by Edward De Bono himself. He saw that there isn't a term for creative intelligence. When we use the word 'creative', it refers to the arts side. Everyday thinking was not expected to be creative. But it can be.
Lateral thinking is more of 'out of the box' thinking. Instead of following the regular route to find the solution,in Lateral Thinking we try hit and trial method. There are times when the solution doesn't work and there will be times where it will work just perfect without the hassles of going through all the data and coming out with the plan,which may or may not work. It sounds absurd but this is an 'art of thinking' which requires learning and practicing.
You may feel that 'Vertical Thinking' and 'Lateral Thinking' are different and cannot be used together. The case here is different. These ways are actually complementary. When used together, new ideas can be generated in a much faster fashion, with risk assessment and other factors taken care of.
For more insight just google 'Lateral Thinking' or order books of Edward De Bono
.
