Lateral Thinking

For most of our education we are taught to think in a logical manner. This is called vertical thinking because the process involves proceeding directly from one state of information to another, and in this sense is continuous. Lateral thinking is a discontinuous process and depends on the ability to escape form the rules of vertical 

One of the most potent aspects of lateral thinking is the use of provocations. These are statements that challenge our perceptions in a provocative way lifting us out of traditional, literal ways of seeing a problem. These include reversals and distortions An example of the use of reversals is provided by work at DuPont [C-2] 

Lateral Thinking Edward de Bono, Lateral Thinkingfor Management [C-10] 

Random Input E. de Bono, Teach Your Child How to Think [C-37] 

Problem Reversal Charles Thompson, What a Great Idea [C-38] 

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Creativity and lateral thinking can work together for managers in developing new products or ideas Edward de Bono shows how. 

In this article we have said little specific about the 3.2 version. This represents a lower stage in the conceptual development of the system, but is still supported for various reasons. Its main strength is that it is capable of stimulating lateral thinking in the design of synthetic routes, and can suggest new reactions. It is being used successfully and routinely in industry. 

Much more heat energy is released (1) when electrostatic forces of attraction between oppositely charged ions (Mg2+ and O2-) are made (1). Suggest questions require lateral thinking rather than recall . 

Lateral thinking Let the grass grow in summer—it will look better for longer in dry weather. Think of lawn weeds as wildflowers you might be tempted to develop the meadow look (see p.l24). 

Behind the cook-book approach are some key philosophical j points which represent some of the later thinking on the application of statistical methods to practical industrial situations I... 

Another reason for taking time to conduct a plant survey is that it provides the surveyor with an opportunity for some lateral thinking time, or for making tentative suggestions on new operational practices, or discussion points on possible new program options, as and when discoveries are made. 

Although this gel microdroplet method is still new (even after 10 years) and its potential applications relatively untested, it has been described here because it can teach us certain general lessons. It serves to remind us that cytometry, despite its name, does not necessarily involve the flow analysis of cells particles of many sorts will do just as well. It is also of interest as a method that has, in fact, institutionalized the formation of clumped cells that most workers try so hard to avoid. In addition, it has provided us with a way to make a small cell into a larger (flow-friendly) particle. Finally, it has given us inspiration by exemplifying the way in which lateral thinking can extend the impact of flow cytometry in new directions. 

Many examples of materials for a sustainable economy can be found by lateral thinking and good chemistry. A comprehensive list is given in [14]. 

Despite the synthetic possibilities suggested by this early study, the chemistry of the alkynyliodonium salts lay dormant until the mid-1980s. In 1986, Ochiai and his coworkers published an important communication which shaped much of the later thinking on the reactions of alkynyliodonium ions with nucleophiles28. When / -dicarbonyl enolates are treated with alkynyliodonium tetrafluoroborates containing a long (> three carbons) alkyl chain, derivatives of cyclopentene are produced. This is illustrated in equation 41 for the... 

The standard book on creativity is Edward de Bono Lateral Thinking, Penguin Books 1990 (Other books by de Bono such as The Five Days Course in Thinking are at least as creative, but they are out of print.) A lively and humoristic one is Roger von Oech A Whack on the Side of the Head, Warner Books, 3" edition 1998. 

Some call this technique a Concept Fan, or Concept Abstraction and Alternatives. For more information, see "Generation of Alternatives" in Lateral Thinking Creativity Step by Step, by E. de Bono, New York Harper Fbperbacks, 1973. 

Six Thinking Hats is a lateral thinking exercise created by Edward dcBono in the 1980s. During the exercise, team members wear (role-play) a metaphorical hat that represents a mode of thinking (Exhibit 29.1) ... 

It s an odd term, the fixation of nitrogen, but it persists today, a century later. Think of it as arranging dates for individual nitrogen atoms, fixing them up with new partners, like hydrogen, whose arms clutch less tightly than another nitrogen atom. 

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