WEBVTT 00:00:02.960 --> 00:00:06.194 You've probably all heard that phrase  'thinking out of the box'. 00:00:06.194 --> 00:00:09.095 Everyone tells you, 'Think out of the box.' 00:00:09.095 --> 00:00:12.120 And it sounds so easy, and yet it's so difficult. 00:00:17.600 --> 00:00:21.000 If we're talking about theory and creativity, then 00:00:21.520 --> 00:00:24.593 we've got to think about *de Bono and lateral thinking*. 00:00:24.593 --> 00:00:28.474 So, if you're thinking out of the box, then lateral thinking is 00:00:29.018 --> 00:00:34.195 almost, not quite but almost, the same thing in different words. 00:00:34.195 --> 00:00:39.987 And this idea of doing things that are breaking the mold, that are not following a line 00:00:40.708 --> 00:00:43.995 obviously covers a lot of creativity  techniques, 00:00:43.995 --> 00:00:47.295 but particularly lateral thinking, de Bono's lateral thinking. 00:00:47.295 --> 00:00:50.160 The idea there is you've got, wherever you are, you've got your problem; 00:00:50.160 --> 00:00:53.040 you've got your start point. 00:00:53.040 --> 00:00:59.514 *Linear thinking*, in de Bono's terms, is very much about trying to follow the standard path, going along. 00:00:59.514 --> 00:01:04.119 So, if you're doing mathematics, you might pull the standard techniques off the shelf. 00:01:04.119 --> 00:01:09.147 If you're writing a poem, you might be thinking line by line and 00:01:09.147 --> 00:01:15.079 thinking how each line fits and rhymes with the one before – if you're doing rhyming poetry, that is. 00:01:15.079 --> 00:01:18.813 So, it's all about following the same path of reasoning going on and on. 00:01:18.813 --> 00:01:21.360 *Lateral thinking is about trying to expand.* 00:01:21.393 --> 00:01:26.519 So, instead of following the same path of  reasoning, are there *different places to start*? 00:01:26.720 --> 00:01:31.607 You know – are there different ways of thinking  from the way where you are? 00:01:31.607 --> 00:01:35.885 So, it's about trying to expand your idea of where you are outwards. 00:01:35.885 --> 00:01:39.554 So, that might be thinking of different solution strategies, 00:01:39.554 --> 00:01:42.791 so it might be thinking of different ways to start. 00:01:45.040 --> 00:01:49.629 Crucially, though, if you want to see out of the box  or get out of the box, 00:01:49.629 --> 00:01:54.517 you actually often need to *see the box*. If you're literally in a cardboard box, you know you're in it. 00:01:54.517 --> 00:01:58.778 But mental boxes – you don't actually know you're in them. 00:01:58.778 --> 00:02:02.360 It's not that there's a cardboard wall and you don't go beyond it. 00:02:02.360 --> 00:02:09.120 It's more like a hall of mirrors, so you  never realize there's anything outside at all. 00:02:10.098 --> 00:02:13.964 Sometimes, *unusual examples* can help you see that. 00:02:13.964 --> 00:02:18.086 And that's, again, part of the reason for the bad ideas method, like *random metaphors* 00:02:18.086 --> 00:02:21.992 – things that, as soon as you've got something that *isn't in the box*, 00:02:21.992 --> 00:02:25.885 even if it's not a very good thing, it  helps you to realize because you say, 00:02:25.885 --> 00:02:31.592 'Well, *why* isn't this a good solution? Why doesn't it *work* as a solution?' 00:02:31.592 --> 00:02:36.964 And as you answer that question about why, what you're doing is you're *naming that cardboard wall*. 00:02:36.964 --> 00:02:42.100 And once you've named the cardboard wall and you know it's there, you can start to think of 00:02:42.100 --> 00:02:45.280 what might be outside of that box but perhaps is a better solution. 00:02:45.280 --> 00:02:48.695 If you think about some of the analytic method— combining those, those are about 00:02:48.695 --> 00:02:52.490 building a map of the territory, which is very much about naming the box, 00:02:52.490 --> 00:02:55.783 naming the walls, naming the boundaries, 00:02:55.783 --> 00:03:00.071 and by naming them, by seeing from a  distance what is there, 00:03:00.071 --> 00:03:05.268 being able to then think of alternative solutions that are completely different. 00:03:05.268 --> 00:03:09.223 So, both alternative solutions help you to see the territory, 00:03:09.223 --> 00:03:11.314 help you to see the box. 00:03:11.314 --> 00:03:15.742 Of course, by seeing the box, that gives you the potential to have alternative solutions 00:03:15.742 --> 00:03:19.152 and actually you can iterate back and forth between those 00:03:19.152 --> 00:03:24.547 and hopefully build a better understanding  of what is there and what is constraining you. 00:03:24.547 --> 00:03:29.811 If you understand what's constraining you, then you can start to break those constraints.