Lateral Thinking summary

Some people may be intuitive lateral thinkers. For the rest of us, thinking laterally usually takes some practice – actively going against our deeply held beliefs and ideas isn’t business as usual. So what we need are techniques and exercises that we can use to strengthen our lateral thinking muscles. 

The key message here is: With time and practice, anyone can benefit from lateral thinking.

Generally speaking, there are no wrong ideas in lateral thinking. Actually, “wrong” ideas can be the very things that lead to innovation. Guglielmo Marconi was only able to send wireless transmissions across an ocean after he toyed with the wrong idea that radio waves would follow the curvature of the earth.

This is why lateral thinking sessions are judgment-free spaces. All ideas are welcome because you never know which one will lead to the big breakthrough.

There’s a good chance you’ve been part of a brainstorming session. But that doesn’t necessarily mean you’ve been part of a good lateral thinking session. Still, brainstorming can be an effective way to sustain the principles of lateral thinking – when it follows the right guidelines, such as withholding judgment and exploring dominant ideas.

For best results, the author recommends getting a group of around twelve people together for 30 minutes. Ideally, people will still be bubbling with ideas and enthusiasm by the end of the session.

In one of Sherlock Holmes’s many mysteries, the detective and Dr. Watson were considering what evidence was relevant. There was a dog at the scene of the crime – but because the dog hadn’t done anything, Watson considered it irrelevant. For Holmes, on the other hand, the fact that the dog hadn’t reacted was precisely why it was relevant: it probably meant that the dog was familiar with the criminal.

Like the dog that didn’t do anything, in lateral thinking, what is commonly seen as irrelevant suddenly becomes relevant. You just need to know where – and how – to look.

So far, we’ve looked at descriptions, design, and problem-solving – as well as techniques for triggering lateral thinking around these situations. Many of these techniques involve provocations: simple ways of catalyzing lateral thought that can become second nature with time and practice.

But there are also more random techniques that can be used to help – ones that don’t necessarily have to be associated with descriptions, problem-solving, or design. And when we say random, we truly mean random.