Lateral Thinking

By M. Allen Firester on behalf of IS68;

Mr. Fralin, principal.
 Italian Workman Wants a Job
• An Italian workman wants a job, but the foreman
won't hire him until he passes a little math test.
• 'Here's your first question,' the foreman said.
'Without using numbers, represent the number
9.'
•  'Withouta numbers?' the Italian says, 'Datsa
easy.' and he proceeds to draw three trees.
•  'What's this?' the boss asks.
•  'Ave you gota no brain? Tree and tree and tree
makes a nine,' says the Italian.
•  'Fair enough,' says the boss. 'Here's your
second question. Use the same rules, but this
time the number is 99.'
•  The Italian stares into space for a while, then
picks up the picture that he has just drawn and
makes a smudge on each tree . 'Ere you go.'
•  The boss scratches his head and says, 'How on
earth do you get that to represent 99?'
•  'Eacha of da trees is a dirty now.  So, it's dirty
tree, and dirty tree, and dirty tree. Datsa a 99.'
• The boss is getting worried that he's going
to actually have to hire this Italian, so he
says, 'All right, last question.
• Same rules again, but represent the
number 100.'
•  The Italian stares into space some more,
then he picks up the picture again and
makes a little mark at the base of each
tree and says, 'Ere you go.  One hundred.'
• The boss looks at the attempt. 'You must
be nuts if you think that represents a
hundred!'
•  (You're going to love this one!!!)
•  The Italian leans forward and points to the
marks at the base of each tree and says,
'A little doga come along and shita by
eacha tree.  So now you gota dirty tree
and a turd, dirty tree and a turd, and dirty
tree and a turd, data makea one hundred. 
So, whenna I start?
 Historical perspective:
• Though fictional the following demonstrates the power
of lateral thinking: Witness the success of the cadet
James T. Kirk (Later Enterprise Captain) in star fleet
academy:
• Kirk had the distinction of being the only cadet ever to
beat the "no-win" Kobayashi Maru scenario; he had
secretly reprogrammed the simulation computer,
making it possible to win and earning himself a
commendation for original thinking. When asked how
he was able to win against this no-win situation, he
said, “I changed the rules.”
• Gauss showed indications of mathematical
genius very early. His teacher gave the
students an assignment to add up a series of
100 numbers. Instantly, Gauss said that he
had completed the exercise (the story goes
that he had figured that 100 numbers could
be determined by the equation n(a+b)
(1/2)=50(a+b) where n=100, a = the first digit
in the sequence and b = the last digit in the
sequence.)
 Let me show you how he did it.
Suppose you wanted to sum up:
5+6+7+8
Notice that 5 + 8 = 13 Also 5 + 6 = 13. There
are 2 pairs of 13. 13 x 2 = 26.
Would this be any different for the sum of
the digits 1 to 10? What is the sum? How
many pairs? What is the total?
 Is this just deductive or
inductive reasoning?

Or was he thinking
outside the box?
• Years ago everyone wanted to know why
Chemical Bank was able to reconcile almost all
of their accounts at the end of the day and
avoid massive write-offs to their suspension
account (saving millions). The answer was
that at 3:00 pm daily, all of the people
involved brought their coffee to the
conference room for a brainstorming session.
They found matches where there appeared to
be none. This was the first instance I had seen
first-hand of the power of lateral thinking.
• As Einstein reminds us, “Problems cannot be
solved by thinking within the framework in
which they were created.”
• He was, of course, alluding to problems that
are unusual in nature or plaguing to society.
• There are many instances of scientists or
social scientists who have had breakthroughs
due to creative thinking.
 De Bono identifies four critical
factors associated with lateral
thinking:
• recognize dominant ideas that polarize the
perception of a problem
• Searching for different ways of looking at
things
• relaxation of rigid control of thinking and
• use of chance to encourage other ideas.
 Lateral thinking is our edge in the
global marketplace.
• Dr. Charles Prather (Keynote speaker):
• http://www.bottomlineinnovation.com/500in
n.htm
• http://www.bottomlineinnovation.com/out_
of_the_box_video_hm1.wmv
• http://www.bottomlineinnovation.com/kai_c
reativity_hm1.wmv
• Talks of “Agents of change vs agents of
stability.”
The rules for lateral thinking are
that there are no rules.
 Lateral thinking
• Is actually a form of divergent thinking, which
is also known as creative thinking.
• Supports higher level cognitive skills like:
predicting, hypothesizing, inferring, or
reconstructing.
• In problem solving the use of lateral thinking
is often followed by convergent thinking that
allows us to summarize our findings.
 Lateral thinking supports:
• The workshop model
• Accountable talk
• Critical thinking
• Process skills
 Quotations
• A. A. MILNE:
• One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries.
•  
• ARTHUR KOESTLER:
• Creativity is a type of learning process where the teacher and pupil are located in the same
individual.
•  
• BEATRIX POTTER:
• Thank goodness I never went to school; it would have rubbed off some of the originality.
•  
• BUCKMINSTER FULLER:
• When I am working on a problem I never think about beauty. I only think about how to solve the
problem. But when I have finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it is wrong.
•  
• EDWARD DE BONO:
• It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to be always right by having
no ideas at all.
•  
• MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.:
• Human salvation lies in the hands of the creatively maladjusted.
 Lateral thinking can start with what is
already recognizable
• Visualizations, and pattern recognition may at
times lead to intuitive inspiration.
• At some point, though, you need to step back to
look at alternatives. (Could be a function of PO)
• Lateral thinking involves pattern-breaking,
thinking outside the box and creative ways of
looking at the situation.
• Sometimes a new method or new solution
becomes apparent that is more efficient than the
obvious.
• Divergent----> Many possible answers
 Here is an exercise in lateral thinking:
• Three switches outside a windowless room
are connected to three light bulbs inside the
room. How can you determine which switch is
connected to which bulb if you may enter the
room only once?
• I’ll give you some time to discuss this with
your group.
 Possible Solution
• Switch one light on for a minute; turn it off
and turn on another one.
• Go into the room and feel the off-bulbs.
• The warm one is connected to the first switch
and the on-bulb is connected to the second
switch.
 Another one:
• A man is hanging from a rope in a locked
room. Below him is a puddle of water. How
did he hang himself?
• Do you need some clues?
 Clues:
• There is no furniture. When he hung himself,
the puddle was not there...
• Think about it with your group.
 Possible solution:
• The puddle is all that is left of a large block of
ice. The man stood on this in order to hang
himself...
 Here is a math problem--
• How can you divide 11 horses so that 1 person
gets ½, another gets ¼ and the last person
gets 1/6?
 Possible solution--
• You can add a horse from your own stock.
Then give the first person 6 horses, the second
3 horses and the third 2 horses. That makes
11 horses that are given out.
• You can now take your horse back.
• Is there anything wrong with this thinking?
• Does it solve the problem, though?
How could you divide a square into 4 equal
pieces? Think of all the possibilities.

Materials supplied: Square paper, pencils,

rulers and scissors.
Use the paper supplied to test your solutions.
Did you consider any of these?
 Definition: Lateral Thinking (from:
Infinite Innovations Ltd)
• Similar to Creative Thinking (also called divergent
thinking). Seeking to solve problems by
unorthodox or apparently illogical methods.
• "A set of systematic techniques used for changing
concepts and perceptions and generating new
ones“
• "Exploring multiple possibilities and approaches
instead of pursuing a single approach." (Edward
de Bono, originator of the phrase)
 Why isn’t critical thinking a form of
lateral thinking?
• Critical thinking is primarily concerned with
judging the truth value of statements and
seeking errors. Lateral thinking is more
concerned with the movement value of
statements and ideas. A person would use
lateral thinking when they want to move from
one known idea to creating new ideas. It can
also be put as, critical thinking is like a post-
mortem while lateral thinking is like diagnosis.
 When starting a new unit--
• If you ask many tantalizing and divergent
questions in your classroom, your students
are likely to model after your behavior for
example, "What would have happened if
Lincoln was shot in the first month of the war?
Why did Lincoln only free the slaves in the
rebel states? How did it feel to be a woman in
the path of Sherman's army?"
Increasing wait time increases the
probability that students will
think creatively
• Research into wait-time for American
classrooms paints a distressing picture. Many
teachers wait less than two seconds for the
answer to each question and ask hundreds of
questions per hour. These types of questions
are generally recall questions demanding little
thought.
 Lateral Thinking often begins with
brainstorming
• The four rules of brainstorming:
• 1. all contributions are accepted without
judgment;
• 2. the goal is a large number of ideas or
questions;
• 3. building on other people's ideas is
encouraged;
• 4. Far-out, unusual ideas are encouraged.
 Try visual brainstorming
• In the 1500’s, Leonardo da Vinci employed
both drawings and words to describe his
incredible ideas and inventions. By using
sketches with captions, his concepts became
clear, exciting graphic presentations. And we
think Lenny had it right.
Leonardo da Vinci's concept for a helicopter
used both his inventive sketch and descriptive words.
In modern business this has led to
blamestorming
Where a group of people gather to discuss
what went wrong and who is to blame for a
project's failure. Similar to the brainstorming
rules, blamestorming requires vast flows of
wild and exaggerated ideas with an initial
emphasis on quantity rather than quality.
It's also legitimate that blame given by one
participant can be built on by others.
However, unlike brainstorming,
blamestorming requires total criticism and
judgment of ideas, and an idea's worth is
dependent on the management level of the
person giving it.
 Other methods for divergent
thinking
• Breaking components into sections for
modular analysis
• Keeping a journal
• Freewriting
• Mind and subject mapping
 Divergent thinking questions
begin with these words or
phrases:
• Imagine...
• Suppose...
• Predict...
• If..., then...
• How might...
• Can you create...
• What are some possible consequences...
Examples of divergent thinking
questions:
Can you imagine ways that soccer typifies Mexican
culture?
Suppose that Caesar never returned to Rome from Gaul.
Would the Empire have existed?
What predictions can you make regarding the budget
deficit if McCain had won?
How might life in the year 2100 differ from today?
The computer corrects spelling. Is it then unnecessary for
third graders to take spelling tests?
 Other possible activities:
• Students will create a salad to go with the
reading of one of the Walter Dean Mayer’s
novels. What salad would be appropriate and
why? (does anyone think of macaroni salad or
potato salad?)
• What kind of rock would be best for
construction and why? What makes concrete
so durable?
• If I were an animal that could possibly survive
on Mars, what animal would I be and why?
• Why walls are a great way to allow students
the latitude for exploring new concepts.
• We need to take historical events and relate
them to today’s problems (How can we solve
our immigration problem today?)
 Some of these connections might
at first seem “silly” but students
need to be freed from the ordinary
in order to examine the
extraordinary.
It is precisely for this reason that
DeBono devised the use PO
 PO is a method by which you
introduce:

• Random Entry
• Provocation
• Challenge
• Random Entry: Choose an object at random,
or a noun from a dictionary, and associate
that with the area you are thinking about.
• For example imagine you are thinking about
how to improve Wikipedia. Choosing an object
at random from an office you might see a fax
machine. A fax machine transmits images over
the phone to paper. Fax machines are
becoming rare. People send faxes directly to
known phone numbers. Perhaps this makes you
think of providing ways to embed wiki articles
in emails and other websites, as is done with
youtube videos. Does it stimulate other
Wikipedia ideas for you?
• Provocation: Declare the usual perception out
of bounds, or provide some provocative
alternative to the usual situation under
consideration. Prefix the provocation with the
term 'Po" to signal that the provocation is not
a valid idea put up for judgment but a
stimulus for new perception.
• Consider the statement “PO -Cars should have
square wheels." When considered with critical
thinking, this would be evaluated as a poor
suggestion and dismissed as impractical.
• The lateral thinking treatment of the same
statement would be to speculate where it
leads.
• Humor is taken intentionally with lateral
thinking. A person would imagine "as if" this
were the case, and describe the effects or
qualities.
• Someone might observe: square wheels
would produce very predictable bumps. If
bumps can be predicted, then suspension can
be designed to compensate.
• This leads to the idea of active suspension. A
sensor connected to suspension could
examine the road surface ahead on cars with
round wheels too. A car could have a sensor
for determining when it was going to hit a
bump that feeds back to suspension that
would know to compensate.
• The initial "provocative" statement has been
left behind, but it has also been used to
indirectly generate the new and potentially
more useful idea.
 Here is another example:
• PO – Suppose we could control the way traffic
lights change?
• Actually, this is being tested now in New York
with special bus routes that have sensors to
keep the lights green till the bus passes.
• In Charlotte, NC, the lights count down from
60 seconds to let you know how long you
have before the traffic flows.
• Challenge: Simply challenge the way things
have always been done or seen, or the way
they are.
• This is done not to show there is anything
wrong with the existing situation but simply to
direct your perceptions to exploring outside
the current area.
• For example you could challenge coffee cups
being produced with a handle. There is
nothing wrong with coffee cups having
handles so the challenge is a direction to
explore without defending the status quo. 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.
 Can milk containers be square?
• They’ve just begun producing gallon milk
containers that are square.
• People don’t like it or aren’t used to it but..
• It saves a great deal of time and expense in
shipping.
• It is a more efficient way to package.
• Someone was definitely “thinking outside the
box.”
PO is used to alert people that you
are about to make a somewhat
outrageous remark.
PO can be used for:
• Provocation or Challenge
• Random Input
• Escape
 Po: Provocation
• Four basic ways to create a provocation:
• EXAGGERATION
• REVERSAL
• DISTORTION
• WISHFUL THINKING
 PO Provocation -examples
• PO - The bathtub is only half full
• PO - The traffic lights never change color
• PO - The angles of a triangle don’t total 180
degrees
 PO: Random Input
• Our thinking target is Ambulances. We want new ideas on
Ambulances.
• I open the dictionary at random and stop at the first "noun
thing word" that I find.
• Firth: Arm of sea; estuary. OK that's it!
• Po statement: Ambulances po firth
• If a firth is an arm of the sea that suggest something jutting
out. Could there be a couple of bicycles strapped to the
sides of ambulances to get into difficult spots?
 Po: Escape
• With ESCAPE we are developing the habit of
asking: "Is it necessary to do things this way?“
• Example: Credit cards po benefit.
• This is a chosen statement rather than random
one.
• "Credit cards po benefit" means "instead of
seeing or designing a credit card around the
concept of 'benefit' how else might we do things?
 Explorative readings
• Teachers will read the Rosen Article and the
Analysis Questions at the end. Which of these
questions inspire critical thinking and which
do you think might lead to creative or lateral
thinking? Can you create another question
that inspires creativity?
• Teachers should practice using PO when
discussing this.
 Problem solving is not just for
math
• In design, a problem is any situation where
you have an opportunity to make a difference,
to make things better. 
• Whenever you are thinking creatively and
critically about ways to increase the quality of
life (or to avoid a decrease in quality), you are
actively involved in problem solving. 
 How else can we use problem
solving and lateral thinking?
• Teaming
• Interdisciplinary projects
• Academy themes
Why do we need lateral thinking in
America?
• Edison said, “Invention is 99% perspiration
and 1% inspiration.”
• What would happen to our society if we could
increase inspiration to 25% of the mix?
• Could we find a cure for cancer?
• Could we create the first engine that will bring
us to space exploration beyond our solar
system?
How can we give more than 100%?
• If: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W
X Y Z Is represented as:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
20 21 22 23 24 25 26.
• H-A-R-D-W-O- R- K

8+1+18+4+23+ 15+18+11 = 98%

• K-N-O-W-L-E- D-G-E

11+14+15+23+ 12+5+4+7+ 5 = 96%

• A-T-T-I-T-U- D-E

1+20+20+9+20+ 21+4+5 = 100%

 But Thinking---
• T-H-I-N-K-I-N-G
• 20 + 8 + 9 +14 + 11 + 9 + 14 + 7 = 92% and
doing this laterally, critically, sequentially or
even globally, puts you over 100%