Charles’ Blog

Here is a little something I wrote a week ago, but I thought it wouldn’t really have much relevence at the time.

To be a lateral thinker, to see beyond the norm… “Think outside the box.” It’s all well and good, and pretty cool if you can master it, but how do you think in this manner? Here is a summary of various sources I found while browsing the net on google… If you are interested, I had scanned the first seven pages of google for random points, enjoy  

Lateral Thinking

Debono:

UNDERSTANDING LATERAL THINKING:

Programmed/Vertical Thinking involves an analytical, careful and precise method of viewing facts to logically solve problems. Know what Programmed/Vertical Thinking is, then purposely draw solutions from outside of this thoughtset in order to become a lateral thinker. Look at the big picture, challenge assumtions and seek alternatives!

Po (Provocative Operation):

Rather than build up on current ideas, look elsewhere! Using Po statements, one may suggest a crazy idea knowing how abstract it sounds, inviting others to build upon it.

EG: Po: A car should clean itself

Po: The car gets so dirty you can’t see it

Po: The dirt cleans the car

Po: Who needs a car?

Six Thinking Hats:

A method of thinking that takes you out of a certain perspective and narrows you down into a certain viewpoint. Cycling between them can provide a better understanding of the topic at hand. Put on the following caps and see how you see the world:

·       White hat: neutral information.

 

·       Red hat: emotions and hunches.

 

·       Black hat: judging and evaluating.

 

·       Yellow hat: optimism and positive views.

 

·       Green hat: ideas and creativity.

 

·       Blue hat: big picture and control.

PMI:

When you have ideas, categorise them as plus, minus, or interesting. It recognises how good or bad certain points are, and if they aren’t either, they are categorised as interesting, and worth a little more thought.

1. Recognise dominant ideas.

2. Search for other solutions.

3. Relax the mind to prevent narrow solutions.

4. Use chance to assume the out-of-the-ordinary solutions. Usually, these are pretty rare in relation to the ordinary situation.

Einstein:

·                    Rephrase your problem. Replace words with synonyms that would achieve your goal (hence, good vocabulary is required). Usually swapping complex, “hard-working” (or “sacrificial”) words with simpler, self-beneficial words would increase results.

·                    Rat out all assumptions regardless of how obvious they may be, then expose the “bad” assumptions. Think of why they are bad, what are the consequences? In other words, challenge your assumptions. Not only will this further clarify the problem, but you would also relieve your problem of bad ideas.

·                    Generalise your problem. Use hypernyms (words that have a broader meaning, eg the hypernym for plane being aircraft) to rewrite unclear parts of or all of the problem.

·                    Specify your problems. If the problem is way to broad, follow the previous idea using hyponyms (the opposite of hypernym).

·                    View your problems in relation to other perspectives. No matter how crazy it sounds, doing this can possibly reveal simpler forms of a question.

·                    Devise as many conclusions as possible. Doing so may reveal more than one way to solve a problem or reveal no real solution.

·                    Avoiding negative solutions will increase optimism and will help in devising more solutions by breaking one negative task into smaller, positive ones. In addition, negative solutions can inhibit the ability for the brain to think. EG: Swap “I wish to quit smoking!” for “I wish to improve my health and extend my life!”

·                    IF the problem isn’t in the form of a question, make it so! Our brains love to work on solving questions and even subconciously continue to work beyond our knowledge.

·                    For stumpers, use the following formula of phrasing a question: “In what ways might I (action)(object)(qualifier)(end result)?” EG: “In what ways might I improve my creative writing in order to make my stories more engaging so that I may earn better marks.”

·                    Make your problem engaging as much as possible without losing track of the goal. EG: Instead of “creating a personal development blog”, I would want to “make my readers live to the fullest”.

·                    Reversing the problem to find the answer to the opposite of what you wish to achieve can reveal the most obvious and/or abstract of solutions: all you have to do is reverse the solution to the reverse problem!

·                    Ask as many questions about the problem as possible, then gather as many facts about your questions as possible. By perfectly defining a problem, your can perfectly answer it.

·                     SOLVE YOUR PROBLEM!

After you come up with ideas, pause, then come up with three or four more that are better, never hang on to the first solution you come up with!

Put your ideas to practise, don’t just think- DO! By doing, you can see where you went wrong and/or right and develop more ideas!

Note:  

• Debono and Einstein were important scientists. Do some research on them if you are interested
• I have initially written this article for personal use. Although I realise that I have written all of this myself, it was through the synthesis of much research that I was able to retrieve such results. I recognise the bquoted sections as parts I may have directly copied out of complete laziness as I was writing this. If you see any part of this and feel that you deserve credit for anything please let me know with sufficient proof. There is no copyright infringement intended, and I do not uphold ANY profitable gain from the materials in this article