In the 1960s, Maltese polymath, doctor and author Edward de Bono invented the concept of ‘lateral thinking’ to describe a way of thinking that boosts creativity and solves problems by approaching them in an inventive or unusual manner. Often referred to as thinking outside the box, lateral thinking expands your perspective by helping you realise there are always more possibilities in any given situation than first meets the eye.
Off the beaten track
Sarah Tucker, author of the biography Edward de Bono: Love Laterally, says ‘the brain works in a self-organising patterning system’, which means it’s easy to fall into patterns of thought that are limiting or unhelpful simply because they’ve become a habit. Once you’ve got used to thinking one way, it can be a struggle to think any other way. That’s where lateral thinking comes in.
Lateral thinking involves an active choice to think in new ways – ways that fall outside of the pre-established norm. For example, if you cook the Christmas turkey in the oven every year, but one year there was a blackout on Christmas Day and the oven stopped working, you might be at a loss for what to do, because your dominant pattern of thought says that turkeys must be cooked in an oven, which is no longer an option. However, a lateral thinker might be able to form new patterns of thought and come up with creative solutions, such as grilling the turkey on a BBQ instead.
Everyone wins
‘Lateral thinking actively encourages collaboration and recognises the benefit and efficiency in valuing different perspectives,’ says Sarah. In other words, it’s about working together to find a way forward. And ‘considering all points of view makes solution-finding fun and fast’.
Let’s look at another example – imagine you’re the head of a school and pupils are always arriving late. An obvious solution would be to implement harsher punishments for those who are not on time, but this runs the risk of making students dislike those early mornings even more.
A lateral thinker might think more creatively to find an outcome that makes everyone happy. They could find out which lesson the students enjoy most, for example, and schedule it for the start of the day. Pupils would arrive on time so as not to miss their favourite class, and the problem is resolved in a way that meets everyone’s needs.
‘When you think laterally, you choose to change the way you think about events, people and actions,’ says Sarah. This can help you to realise that ‘more solutions are gained from collaboration rather than conflict, competition and confrontation’.
Thinking outside the box is also a playful and imaginative exercise. Often, children naturally think laterally, but lose their mental flexibility as they grow older. There are activities you can do to reawaken your creativity and expand your perspective. Once you start thinking laterally, new and exciting possibilities open up that lie beyond the conventional way of doing things.
Edward de Bono’s legacy lives on; his ideas on how to practise lateral thinking are used across the globe by people from all walks of life, from tribespeople to musicians, teams of business colleagues to individuals in their personal life. Thinking outside the box makes us more inspired and adaptable and, says Sarah, it can reveal ‘multiple solutions to seemingly impossible problems’. We are always thinking, so learning how to do it in an innovative, confident and open-minded way can benefit every aspect of your life. And the good news? You can practise lateral thinking anywhere, and anytime!