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 Lateral thinking

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mike lewis




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Join date : 2012-03-22

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PostSubject: Lateral thinking   Lateral thinking EmptyTue 30 Oct 2012, 8:27 pm

Lateral thinking is solving problems through an indirect and creative approach, using reasoning that is not immediately obvious and involving ideas that may not be obtainable by using only traditional step-by-step logic.

The term was invented in 1967 by Edward de Bono.

Lateral thinking is different from our normal perceptions regarding creativity and innovation, and it is an alternative to pure vertical logic/scientism and pure horizontal imagination/spirituality:

Purely horizontal thinking is known as daydreaming, fantasy, mysticism. The purely horizontal thinker has a thousand ideas but puts none of them into action. He or she sees the big picture and all its possibilities but has little interest in linear, step-by-step implementation.

Purely vertical thinking is the classic method for problem solving: from the given data step by step working out the solution.

Methods

Critical thinking is primarily concerned with judging the true value of statements and seeking errors. Lateral thinking is more concerned with the movement value of statements and ideas. A person uses lateral thinking to move from one known idea to creating new ideas. Edward de Bono defines four types of thinking tools:

Idea generating tools that are designed to break current thinking patterns—routine patterns, the status quo
Focus tools that are designed to broaden where to search for new ideas
Harvest tools that are designed to ensure more value is received from idea generating output
Treatment tools that are designed to consider real-world constraints, resources, and support

Random Entry Idea Generating Tool: The thinker chooses an object at random, or a noun from a dictionary, and associate that with the area they are thinking about. For example, if they are thinking about how to improve a website, an object chosen at random from the environment around them might be a fax machine. A fax machine transmits images over the phone to paper. Fax machines are becoming rare. People send faxes directly to phone numbers. Perhaps this could suggest a new way to embed the website's content in emails and other sites.

Provocation Idea Generating Tool: The use any of the provocation techniques—wishful thinking, exaggeration, reversal, escape, distortion, or arising. The thinker creates a list of provocations and then uses the most outlandish ones to move their thinking forward to new ideas.

Movement Techniques: The thinker develops provocation operations by the following methods: extract a principle, focus on the difference, moment to moment, positive aspects, special circumstances.

Challenge Idea Generating Tool: A tool which is designed to ask the question "Why?" in a non-threatening way: why something exists, why it is done the way it is. The result is a very clear understanding of "Why?" which naturally leads to fresh new ideas. The goal is to be able to challenge anything at all, not just items which are problems. For example, one could challenge the handles on coffee cups. The reason for the handle seems to be that the cup is often too hot to hold directly. Perhaps coffee cups could be made with insulated finger grips, or there could be separate coffee cup holders similar to beer holders.

Concept Fan Idea Generating Tool: Ideas carry out concepts. This tool systematically expands the range and number of concepts in order to end up with a very broad range of ideas to consider.

Disproving: Based on the idea that the majority is always wrong (as suggested by Henrik Ibsen and John Kenneth Galbraith), take anything that is obvious and generally accepted as "goes without saying", question it, take an opposite view, and try to convincingly disprove it. This technique is similar to de Bono's "Black Hat" of the Six Thinking Hats, which looks at the ways in which something will not work.


Lateral thinking and problem solving

Problem Solving: When something creates a problem, the performance or the status quo of the situation drops. Problem solving deals with finding out what caused the problem and then figuring out ways to fix the problem. The objective is to get the situation to where it should be.

For example, a production line has an established run rate of 1000 items per hour. Suddenly, the run rate drops to 800 items per hour. Ideas as to why this happened and solutions to repair the production line must be thought of, such as giving the worker a pay raise.

Creative Problem Solving: Using creativity, one must solve a problem in an indirect and unconventional manner.

For example, if a production line produced 1000 books per hour, creative problem solving could find ways to produce more books per hour, use the production line, or reduce the cost to run the production line.

Creative Problem Identification: Many of the greatest non-technological innovations are identified while realizing an improved process or design in everyday objects and tasks either by accidental chance or by studying and documenting real world experience.

Lateral Thinking puzzles: This is puzzles that are supposed to demonstrate what lateral thinking is about. However any puzzle that has only one solution "is" not lateral. While lateral thinking may help you construct such puzzles, the lateral thinking tools will seldom help you solve puzzles.

Lateral Problem "Solving": Lateral thinking will often produce solutions whereby the problems appears as "obvious" in hindsight. That lateral thinking will often lead to problems that you never knew you had, or it will solve simple problems that have a huge potential.

For example, if a production line produced 1000 books per hour, lateral thinking may suggest that a drop in output to 800 would lead to higher quality, more motivated workers etc. etc.

Education

Lateral thinking can be taught and originally Edward de Bono put forward an education program for teaching thinking. CoRT spans some 80 different tools for thinking. Lateral thinking is a serious alternative to say training in creativity, and as such the tools must be taught and trained using a didactic and pedagogical approach very different from both the training in logic/analyses (vertical thinking) and the training in creativity/sensibility (horizontal thinking).

The training is thus only to be conducted by teachers that must make use of the automatized materials. This ensures that the education is not biased towards neither of the opposing political positions, that is the vertical ("right wing" stereotype) or the horizontal position ("left wing" stereotype). Conducting the education of young kids form the age of 5-7 years, will thus counter any bias (unintended as well as intended).

Based on the cognitive knowledge the correctly conducted teaching and training will thus protect the pupils form various pedagogical approaches Cognitivism. When taught in the correct way the pupils will learn strong thinking, as an alternative to thinking purely based in traditional vertical/horizontal thinking. The result of this is that all pupils should maintain their original thinking bias, as any other "thinking training" would carry a political favour.

To further counter the influencing on the pupils original thinking style you have Parallel thinking, where you can combine various lateral thinking tools - either alone or with other thinkers. Using parallel thinking (not the Yoga version) in this way will again protect the individuality of each of the pupils.

[youtube] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e20lpMyXFj4 [/youtube]


Last edited by mike lewis on Tue 30 Oct 2012, 8:32 pm; edited 2 times in total
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mike lewis




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PostSubject: Re: Lateral thinking   Lateral thinking EmptyTue 30 Oct 2012, 8:30 pm

Parallel thinking is a term coined and implemented by Edward de Bono.[1][2] Parallel thinking is described as a constructive alternative to "adversarial thinking", debate and in general the approach the GG3 (Greek gang of three) has been known to advocate.[3] In general parallel thinking is a further development of the well known lateral thinking processes, focusing even more on explorations—looking for what can be rather than for what is.

Definition

Parallel thinking is defined as a thinking process where focus is split in specific directions. When done in a group it effectively avoids the consequences of the adversarial approach (as used in courts).

In adversarial debate, the objective is to prove or disprove statements put forward by the parties (normally two). This is also known as the dialectic approach. In Parallel Thinking, practitioners put forward as many statements as possible in several (preferably more than two) parallel tracks. This leads to exploration of a subject where all participants can contribute, in parallel, with knowledge, facts, feelings, etc.

Crucial to the method is that the process is done in a disciplined manner, and that all participants play along and contribute in parallel. Thus each participant must stick to the specific track.
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mike lewis




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PostSubject: Re: Lateral thinking   Lateral thinking EmptyTue 30 Oct 2012, 8:34 pm



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PostSubject: Re: Lateral thinking   Lateral thinking EmptyTue 30 Oct 2012, 8:36 pm

Direct teaching of thinking

De Bono proposes that most of the problems in thinking are perceptual. Many more mistakes are made by jumping to the wrong conclusion too soon than by thinking irrationally once factors are known.

Edward de Bono held that "Operacy" is key, (another new word he has coined, related to literacy and numeracy.) Creativity should be producible on demand. Formation and design from new ideas cannot merely be left to chance. Because of these opinions, de Bono continues to invent ways to teach creative thinking as a separate skill. Former teaching strategies include complete courses that were adopted as curricula for children, with later versions adapted for adults. This included many attention directing tools under the names of CoRT, later as DATT, Masterthinker series, and the most widely used Six Thinking Hats. He continues to experiment with new systems such as The de Bono Code.

All his thinking tools operate by directing attention to various aspects and factors of the topic at hand for a short time period of a few minutes. The various tools (with their corresponding acronyms) are often combined together in series to arrive at practical solutions.

For example, after making a list Considering All Factors, (CAF) the thinker selects a priority after doing a FIP (First Important Priorities.) Then, an OPV (Other Peoples' View) is used to help implementation of the idea. This tool prompts the thinker to list the people (or types of people) who would be affected by a proposed idea. The thinker is then required to imagine what effects that idea would have on each of these different people so their concerns may be anticipated and answered.While this may sound like an exercise in altruism, it need not be. Say you've got a selfish desire (e.g. you're a kid wanting ice cream), then doing an OPV will help you anticipate and plan for other peoples' responses (e.g. "Mummy, me and Jimmy were thinking that cleaning our rooms to your complete satisfaction might earn us both an ice cream. But we would have to eat these ice-creams immediately to avoid spoiling our dinner, so we'd have to start cleaning right away.")

Schools from over twenty countries have included de Bono's thinking tools into their curriculum.
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ScoutsHonor

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PostSubject: Re: Lateral thinking   Lateral thinking EmptyThu 01 Nov 2012, 9:45 am

Bollocks..
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mike lewis




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PostSubject: Re: Lateral thinking   Lateral thinking EmptySat 03 Nov 2012, 4:15 pm

ScoutsHonor wrote:
Bollocks..

By what rationale? Or is this just an inane display of petty spite?
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PostSubject: Re: Lateral thinking   Lateral thinking EmptyThu 08 Nov 2012, 8:33 pm

mike lewis wrote:
Purely horizontal thinking is known as daydreaming, fantasy, mysticism. The purely horizontal thinker has a thousand ideas but puts none of them into action. He or she sees the big picture and all its possibilities but has little interest in linear, step-by-step implementation.
yeah, this is me Smile

mike lewis wrote:
Purely vertical thinking is the classic method for problem solving: from the given data step by step working out the solution. .
And these are the Stanford, MIT, etc weinies who say things like "out of the box thinking", but don't even see the "box", nor know it exists.

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PostSubject: Re: Lateral thinking   Lateral thinking EmptyTue 04 Dec 2012, 3:35 pm

Also, Mike, while I havent drawn a conclusion yet, I am leary of Edward de Bono. Mostly because while systems-of-thinking may create advantages, they also create norms of strengths-and-weakness across groups that can be targeted by models. I think Goedel shows us that systems of thinking are essentially formal sets, which can be designed with pre-determined "blind spots".

This needs more thought and discussion, and I think de Bono needs more research into his paat. I'm just saying be careful, eventhough I know you already are.

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