Introduction to Lateral Thinking

1. LATERAL THINKING
[Thinking out of the Box]
• KIC LEARNING SESSION
• -ANIRUDDHA PHATAK
• 19th Dec 2019

2. What is Lateral Thinking?
• Lateral thinking is a manner of solving problems using an indirect and
creative approach via reasoning that is not immediately obvious.
• It involves ideas that may not be obtainable using only traditional
step-by-step logic.
• The term was promulgated in 1967 by Edward de Bono, psychologist,
physician, and writer.

3. Lateral Thinking v/s Vertical Thinking
• Lateral Thinking is a set of processes that provides a deliberate,
systematic way of thinking creatively that results in innovative
thinking in a repeatable manner.
• Critical or Vertical thinking is primarily concerned with judging the
true value of statements and seeking errors.
• Lateral thinking is for changing concepts and perceptions. It is the
ability to think creatively.

4. Vertical Thinking v/s Lateral Thinking
cont..
• Vertical thinking is selective
• Vertical thinking is sequential
• With Vertical thinking one has to
be correct at every step
• With vertical thinking one
concentrates and exclude what
is irrelevant
• Lateral thinking is generative.
• Lateral thinking can make jumps.
• With Lateral thinking one does
not have to be
• With lateral thinking one
welcomes chance intrusions.

5. Do you have lateral thinking mindset?

6. Do you have lateral thinking Mindset?

7. Types of Lateral Thinking Tools
• Idea-generating tools which break free your current thinking patterns
from their usual pathways.
• Focus tools that open your mind to new possibilities in the search for
new ideas.
• Harvest tools that help maximize value received from the idea
generating output
• Treatment tools that ground the creativity process by making the wild
fit the real world constraints, resources, and support.

8. The Six Thinking Hats
• A Lateral Thinking Strategy by Edward De Bono
• Six Thinking Hats is an important and powerful technique
used to look at decisions from several important
perspectives.

9. Introduction to “The Six Thinking Hats”
• This forces you to move outside your habitual thinking
style, and helps you to get a more rounded view of a
situation.
• It has the benefit of blocking the confrontations that
happen when people with different thinking styles discuss
the same problem.
• Each 'Thinking Hat' is a different style of thinking.
• Your decisions and plans will mix ambition, skillful
execution, public sensitivity, creativity and good
contingency planning.

10. The Six Thinking Hats
White Hat: With this thinking hat you focus on the data available. Look
at the information you have, and see what you can learn from it.
Red Hat: 'Wearing' the red hat, you look at problems using intuition,
gut reaction, and emotion. Also try to think how other people will react
emotionally..
Black Hat: Using black hat thinking, look at all the bad points of the
decision. Look at it cautiously and defensively. Try to see why it might
not work. This is important because it highlights the weak points in a
plan. Black Hat thinking helps to make your plans tougher and more
resilient.

11. The Six Thinking Hats
Yellow Hat: The yellow hat helps you to think positively. Yellow Hat
thinking helps you to keep going when everything looks gloomy and
difficult.
Green Hat: The Green Hat stands for creativity. This is where you can
develop creative solutions to a problem. It is a freewheeling way of
thinking, in which there is little criticism of ideas.
Blue Hat: The Blue Hat stands for process control. This is the hat worn
by people chairing meetings. When running into difficulties because
ideas are running dry, they may direct activity into Green Hat thinking.

12. Examples of Lateral Thinking
• Invention: Use of Vaccines - Edward Jenner is considered
the founder of vaccinology in the West in 1796, after he
inoculated a 13 year-old-boy with vaccinia virus (cowpox)
and demonstrated immunity to smallpox.
• Lateral Thinking made possible to overcome disease by
prevention than curing it with the treatment.
• Increase in Productivity:
• 1. Line Assembly Production – Henry Ford
• 2. Combi Pack strips of Tablets

13. Examples of Lateral Thinking
• Safety: 3-D painted Crosswalks

14. Thank you!
-ANDY