Lateral Thinking Read online

  One might use a pin to hold two pieces of paper together or one might use a pin to jab into someone and make him jump. Lateral thinking is not stabilizing but provocative. It has to be in order to bring about repatterning. Because it is not possible to restructure a pattern by following the line of development of that pattern, lateral thinking may be deliberately perverse. For the same reason lateral thinking may use irrelevant information or it may involve suspending judgement and allowing an idea to develop instead of shutting it off by pronouncing it wrong.

  Lateral thinking is directly related to the information handling behaviour of mind

  The need for lateral thinking arises from the limitations of a self-maximizing memory system. Such a system functions to create patterns and then to perpetuate them. The system contains no adequate mechanism for changing patterns and bringing them up to date. Lateral thinking is an attempt to bring about this restructuring or insight function.

  Not only does the need for lateral thinking arise from the information handling of mind but the effectiveness of lateral thinking also depends on this behaviour. Lateral thinking uses information provocatively. Lateral thinking breaks down old patterns in order to liberate information. Lateral thinking stimulates new pattern formation by juxtaposing unlikely information. All these manoeuvres will only produce a useful effect in a self-maximizing memory system which snaps the information together again into a new pattern. Without this behaviour of the system lateral thinking would be purely disruptive and useless.

  The use of lateral thinking 5

  Once one has acquired the lateral thinking attitude one does not need to be told on what occasions to use lateral thinking.

  Throughout this book lateral thinking is kept quite distinct from vertical thinking in order to avoid confusion. This is also done so that one can acquire some skill in lateral thinking without impairing one’s skill in vertical thinking. When one is thoroughly familiar with lateral thinking one no longer has to keep it separate. One no longer has to be conscious whether one is using lateral or vertical thinking. The two blend together so that at one moment vertical thinking is being used and the next moment lateral thinking is being used. Nevertheless there are certain occasions which call for the deliberate use of lateral thinking.

  New ideas

  Most of the time one is not conscious of the need for new ideas even though one is grateful enough when they turn up. One does not try and generate new ideas because one suspects that new ideas cannot be generated by trying. Though new ideas are always useful there are times when one is very much aware of the need for a new idea. There are also jobs which demand a continual flow of new ideas (research, design, architecture, engineering, advertising etc).

  The deliberate generation of new ideas is always difficult Vertical thinking is not much help otherwise new ideas would be far easier to come by, indeed one would be able to programme a computer to churn them out One can wait for chance or inspiration or one can pray for the gift of creativity. Lateral thinking is a rather more deliberate way of setting about it.

  Many people suppose that new ideas mean new inventions in the form of mechanical contrivances. This is perhaps the most obvious form a new idea can take but new ideas include new ways of doing things, new ways of looking at things, new ways of organizing things, new ways of presenting things, new ideas about ideas. From advertising to engineering, from art to mathematics, from cooking to sport, new ideas are always in demand. This demand need not be just a general indication but can be as specific as one likes. One can actually set out to generate new ideas.

  Problem solving

  Even if one has no incentive to generate new ideas problems are thrust upon one. There is little choice but to try and solve them. A problem does not have to be presented in a formal manner nor is it a matter for pencil and paper working out A problem is simply the difference between what one has and what one wants. It may be a matter of avoiding something, of getting something, of getting rid of something, of getting to know what one wants.

  There are three-types of problem:

  The first type of problem requires for its solution more information or better techniques for handling information.

  The second type of problem requires no new information but a rearrangement of information already available: an insight restructuring.

  The third type of problem is the problem of no problem. One is blocked by the adequacy of the present arrangement from moving to a much better one. There is no point at which one can focus one’s efforts to reach the better arrangement because one is not even aware that there is a better arrangement The problem is to realize that there is a problem — to realize that things can be improved and to define this realization as a problem.

  The first type of problem can be solved by vertical thinking. The second and third type of problem require lateral thinking for their solution.

  Processing perceptual choice

  Logical thinking and mathematics are both second stage information processing techniques. They can only be used at the end of the first stage. In this first stage information is parcelled up by perceptual choice into the packages that are so efficiently handled by the second stage techniques. It is perceptual choice which determines what goes into each package. Perceptual choice is the natural patterning behaviour of mind. Instead of accepting the packages provided by perceptual choice and going ahead with logical or mathematical processing one might want to process the packages themselves. To do this one would have to use lateral thinking.

  Periodic reassessment

  Periodic reassessment means looking again at things which are taken for granted, things which seem beyond doubt Periodic reassessment means challenging all assumptions. It is not a matter of reassessing something because there is a need to reassess it; there may be no need at all. It is a matter of reassessing something simply because it is there and has not been assessed for a long time. It is a deliberate and quite unjustified attempt to look at things in a new way.

  Prevention of sharp divisions and polarizations

  Perhaps the most necessary use of lateral thinking is when it is not used deliberately at all but acts as an attitude. As an attitude lateral thinking should prevent the emergence of those problems which are only created by those sharp divisions and polarizations which the mind imposes on what it studies. While acknowledging the usefulness of the patterns created by mind one uses lateral thinking to counter arrogance and rigidity.

  Techniques 6

  The preceding chapters have dealt with the nature and use of lateral thinking. In reading through them one may have developed a dear idea of what lateral thinking is about. The more usual reaction is to understand and accept what has been written as one reads it and then to forget about it so quickly that one only retains a vague impression of what lateral thinking is about. Nor is this surprising because ideas are insubstantial things. Even if one did obtain a dear idea of the nature of lateral thinking it would be very difficult to pass on this idea without incorporating it in something more substantial.

  A nodding acknowledgement of the purpose of lateral thinking is not much good. One has to develop some skill in the actual use of this type of thinking. Such skill can only develop if one has enough practice. Such practice ought not to await formal organization but it very often does. The techniques that are outlined in the following pages are meant to provide formal opportunities for practising lateral thinking. Some of the techniques may seem more lateral than others. Some of them may even seem to be things one always does anyway — or at least always imagines that one does.

  Underlying each of these techniques are the basic principles of the lateral use of information. One does not have to stress these or lay them bare.

  The purpose of the formal techniques is to provide an opportunity for the practical use of lateral thinking so that one may gradually acquire the lateral thinking habit. The techniques are not suggested as formal routines which must be exactly learned so that they can be deliberately ap
plied thereafter. Nevertheless the techniques can be used in this manner and until one acquires sufficient fluency in lateral thinking to do without formal techniques one can use them as such.

  Each section is divided into two parts. The first part is concerned with the nature and purpose of the technique. The second part consists of suggestions for the actual practice of the technique in a classroom or other setting. The material offered is only meant to suggest the sort of material that a teacher might assemble. The collection of further material and the handling of the practice sessions were discussed in the special section at the beginning of this book.

  The generation of alternatives 7

  The most basic principle of lateral thinking is that any particular way of looking at things is only one from among many other possible ways. Lateral thinking is concerned with exploring these other ways by restructuring and rearranging the information that is available. The very word ‘lateral’ suggests the movement sideways to generate alternative patterns instead of moving straight ahead with the development of one particular pattern. This is indicated in the diagrams below.

  It may seem that the search for alternative ways of looking at something is a natural search. Many people feel that this is something that they always do. To some extent it is, but the lateral search for alternatives goes far beyond the natural search.

  In the natural search for alternatives one is looking for the best possible approach, in the lateral search for alternatives one is trying to produce as many alternatives as possible. One is not looking for the best approach but for as many different approaches as possible.

  In the natural search for alternatives one stops when one comes to a promising approach. In the lateral search for alternatives one acknowledges the promising approach and may return to it later but one goes on generating other alternatives.

  In the natural search for alternatives one considers only reasonable alternatives. In the lateral search for alternatives these do not have to be reasonable.

  The natural search for alternatives is more often an intention than a fact The lateral search for alternatives is deliberate.

  The main difference is the purpose behind the search for alternatives. The natural inclination is to search for alternatives in order to find the best one. In lateral thinking however the purpose of the search is to loosen up rigid patterns and to provoke new patterns. Several things may happen with this search for alternatives.

  One may generate a number of alternatives and then return to the original most obvious one.

  A generated alternative might prove a useful starting point.

  A generated alternative might actually solve the problems without further effort.

  A generated alternative might serve to rearrange things so that the problem is solved indirectly.

  Even if the search for alternatives proves to be a waste of time in a particular case it helps develop the habit of looking for alternatives instead of blindly accepting the most obvious approach.

  The search for alternatives in no way prevents one from using the most obvious approach. The search merely delays the use of the most probable approach. The search merely adds a list of alternatives to the most probable approach but detracts nothing from it In fact the search adds to the value of the most probable approach; Instead of this approach being chosen because it seems the only one, it is chosen because it is obviously the best from among many other possibilities.

  Quota

  In order to change the search for alternatives from being a good intention to a practical routine one can set a quota. A quota is a fixed number of alternative ways of looking at a situation. The advantage of having a predetermined quota is that one goes on generating alternatives until one has filled the quota and this means that if a particularly promising alternative occurs early in the search one acknowledges it and moves on instead of being captured by it. A further advantage of the quota is that one has to make an effort to find or generate alternatives instead of simply awaiting the natural alternatives. One makes an effort to fill the quota even if the alternatives generated seem artificial or even ridiculous. Suitable quotas might be three, four or five alternatives.

  Having a quota does not of course stop one generating even more alternatives but it does ensure that one generates at least the minimum.

  Practice

  Geometric figures

  The advantage of visual figures is that the material is presented in an unequivocal form. A student may look at the material and make of it what he will but the material remains the same. This is in contrast to verbal material where tone, emphasis, individual shades of meaning all give the material an individual flavour which is not available to everyone.

  The advantage of geometric figures is that they are standard patterns described by simple words. This means that one can snap from one description to another without any difficulty in describing how one is looking at the figure.

  The teacher starts off with the geometric figures in order to indicate what the generation of alternatives is all about When the idea is dear he can move on to less artificial situations.

  In practice the teacher handles the situation as follows:.

  1. The figure is shown on the board to the whole class or else given out to each student on a separate piece of paper.

  2. The students are asked to generate different ways of de scribing the figure.

  3. The teacher can then collect the written alternatives or not, depending on the size of the classroom and the available time.

  4a. (papers not collected)

  The teacher asks for a volunteer description of the figure. If one is not forthcoming he points at someone and asks that person to describe the figure. Having got the first description the teacher asks for other variations. The other possible variations are listed.

  4b. (papers collected)

  The teacher may pick out one or two papers without needing to go through the lot. He reads out the description. He then asks for other variations or goes through the accumulated papers and picks out any variations.

  If there is sufficient time between sessions the teacher could go through the papers and draw up a histogram list of the variations offered (as shown below). This is then shown at a subsequent session.

  5. The function of the teacher is to encourage and accept variations, not to judge them. If a particular variation seems outrageous the teacher does not condemn it but asks the originator to explain it more fully. If it is obvious that the rest of the classroom cannot be persuaded to accept this outrageous variation then it is best to list it at the bottom. But it should not be rejected.

  6. Whenever there is difficulty in generating variations the teacher must insert a few possibilities which he himself has prepared beforehand.

  Material

  1. How would you describe the figure shown below?

  Alternatives

  Two circles joined by a line.

  A line with a circle at either end.

  Two circles each with a short tail attached and placed so that the tails are in line and meet up.

  Two pieces of guttering, one placed on top of the other.

  Comment

  It may be protested that ‘two circles joined by a line’ is really the same as a ‘line with a circle at either end’. This is not so since in one case attention starts with the circle and in the other case it starts with the line. From the point of view of what happens in the mind the sequence of attention is of the utmost importance, hence a different sequence of attention is a difference.

  Some of the descriptions may be static ones that can be explained in terms of the figure shown. Others may be dynamic descriptions which are more easily shown by additional diagrams. This happens when the presented diagram is taken as the end point of some arrangement of other figures.

  2. How would you describe the figure shown below?

  Alternatives

  An L shape.

  A carpenter’s angle.

  A gallows upside down
.

  Half a picture frame.

  Two rectangles placed one against the other.

  A large rectangle with a smaller rectangle subtracted.

  Comment

  Some difficulty arises when the presented shape is compared to an actual object like ‘a carpenter’s angle’. The difficulty is that this sort of description opens up an unlimited range of descriptions, for instance another description might describe the shape as a building looked at from the air. The point to keep very clearly in mind is that one is asked for an alternative description of the presented figure, one is not asking what the figure could be or what it reminds you of. The description must be such that someone could actually draw the figure from the description. Thus the suggestion that the figure looks like a building seen from the air is useless unless the building is specified as L-shaped in which case the description is L-shaped. One need not insist that the description be very exact, fox instance the ‘two rectangles placed one against the other’ ought really to contain an indication of the orientation but one must not be pedantic because it misplaces the emphasis.

  Some of the descriptions may indicate a particular process. Such descriptions as ‘two rectangles placed one against the other’ or ‘a large rectangle with a smaller rectangle missing’ actually require that one consider some other figure and then subtract or modify. Clearly this is a valid method of description. The basic types of description might be regarded as: