Psychology defined is a technique of problem solving by approaching problems indirectly at diverse angles instead of concentrating on one approach at length. This type of thinking is the mental process of generating ideas and solving problems by looking at a situation or problem from a unique perspective. The first one is recognize the dominant ideas that polarize the perception of a problem. Second is searching in a different way to looking at things. Third is relaxing vigil control of thinking. Forth is use chance to encourage other ideas.
It is suitable for organization to find new and better ways to do things. It is a tool for creativity which leads to innovation.In addition, lateral thinking and vertical thinking is a type of approach to problems that usually involves are being selective, analytical and sequential. This thinking is focus on a variety of aspects of creativity including techniques for idea generation and divergent thinking methods of reframing problems to charges in the affective environment and so on. It also can be used as part of problem solving, artistic expression or therapy. For your information, lateral thinking is also ability to think creatively or “outside the box” like divergent thinking as it is sometimes referred to in business to use inspiration and imagination to solve problems by looking at them from unexpected perspectives. It discarding the obvious, leaving behind traditional modes of thought and throwing away preconceptions.
De Bono devised the term ‘lateral thinking’ in 1967 to ‘distinguish between artistic creativity and idea creativity’ (De Bono 2007, p. 49). The term was invented as an alternative to step-by-step thinking, so-called vertical thinking, which must be justified with sequential steps based on logic.Lateral thinking can be used for generation of new ideas and problem solving as it by definition leaves the already-used behind and looks for completely new options. This type of thinking is based on avoiding the intrinsic limitations in the brain, which rapidly sees patterns and handles information in a distinctive way, where long thought sequences are not broken up once formed. Instead, lateral thinking tools and techniques can be used to restructure and escape such ‘clichéd’ patterns and think ‘outside the box’. (De Bono 1971)
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De Bono has designed many tools and techniques for organisations and individuals who wish to enhance their lateral thinking skills. Some techniques for doing this include the mental operations provocation and movement (De Bono 1992). Provocation can be used to introduce instability in our thinking habits. This instability is required to reach a new stable state, which does not exist in our experience, but might be more valuable for moving ahead to a new idea or concept. Humour is a typical example of this, where we are provoked and taken to an instable state. Movement is the absence of judgment, i.e. instead of using logic to decide whether an idea or thought is right or wrong, it asks ‘where does this lead to?’ Lateral thinking is both an ways and a method of using information and hence to connect to the literature on thinking in the past.
