WEBVTT 00:00:00.057 --> 00:00:00.794 Lateral thinking. 00:00:00.794 --> 00:00:04.716 So, if you're thinking out of the box, then lateral thinking is... 00:00:04.716 --> 00:00:10.316 well, almost – not quite, but almost the same thing in different words. 00:00:10.316 --> 00:00:15.878 And this idea of doing things that are breaking the mold, that are not following a line 00:00:16.596 --> 00:00:20.076 obviously covers a lot of creativity techniques, 00:00:20.076 --> 00:00:23.396 but particularly lateral thinking, de Bono's lateral thinking. 00:00:23.396 --> 00:00:28.396 The idea there is, wherever you are, you've got your problem, you've got your start point. 00:00:28.956 --> 00:00:32.916 Linear thinking, in de Bono's terms, is very much about 00:00:32.916 --> 00:00:35.596 trying to follow the standard path, going along. 00:00:35.596 --> 00:00:40.196 So, if you're doing mathematics, you might pull the standard techniques off the shelf; 00:00:40.196 --> 00:00:45.276 if you're writing a poem, you might be thinking line by line and 00:00:45.276 --> 00:00:48.836 you're thinking how each line fits and rhymes with the one before 00:00:48.836 --> 00:00:51.316 – if you're doing rhyming poetry, that is. 00:00:51.316 --> 00:00:54.796 So, it's all about following the same path of reasoning, going on and on. 00:00:54.796 --> 00:00:57.440 *Lateral thinking is about trying to expand*; 00:00:57.440 --> 00:00:59.756 so, instead of following the same path of reasoning, 00:00:59.756 --> 00:01:03.396 are there different places to start? 00:01:03.396 --> 00:01:07.756 Are there different ways of thinking from the way, where you are? 00:01:07.756 --> 00:01:11.916 So, it's about trying to expand your idea of where you are *outwards*. 00:01:11.916 --> 00:01:15.556 So, that might be thinking of different solution strategies. 00:01:15.556 --> 00:01:18.366 So, it might be thinking of different ways to start. 00:01:18.366 --> 00:01:22.046 Crucially, though, if you want to see out of the box 00:01:22.046 --> 00:01:25.166 – or get out of the box, you actually often need to see the box. 00:01:25.166 --> 00:01:28.686 If you're literally in a cardboard box, you know you're in it, but... 00:01:28.686 --> 00:01:32.246 *mental boxes* – you don't actually know you're in them. 00:01:32.246 --> 00:01:35.646 It's not that there's a cardboard wall and you don't go beyond it; 00:01:35.646 --> 00:01:40.366 it's more like a hall of mirrors, so you never realize there's anything 00:01:40.366 --> 00:01:42.926 outside at all. 00:01:43.526 --> 00:01:47.366 Sometimes *unusual examples* can help you see that. 00:01:47.366 --> 00:01:51.326 And that's, again, part of the reason for the Bad Ideas method, like Random Metaphors; 00:01:51.326 --> 00:01:55.246 things that – as soon as you've got something that isn't in the box, 00:01:55.246 --> 00:01:57.726 even if it's not a very good thing, 00:01:57.726 --> 00:02:02.046 it helps you to realize – you can say, "Well, *why* isn't this a good solution? 00:02:02.046 --> 00:02:04.806 Why doesn't it work as a solution?" 00:02:04.806 --> 00:02:10.366 And as you answer that question about why, what you're doing is you're *naming* that cardboard wall. 00:02:10.366 --> 00:02:13.326 And once you've named the cardboard wall and you know it's there, 00:02:13.326 --> 00:02:18.486 you can start to think of what might be outside of that box but perhaps is a better solution. 00:02:18.486 --> 00:02:22.086 If you think about some of the analytic methods combining those, those are about 00:02:22.086 --> 00:02:26.006 building a map of the territory, which is very much about naming the box, 00:02:26.006 --> 00:02:28.486 naming the walls, naming the boundaries. 00:02:29.166 --> 00:02:33.526 And by naming them, by seeing from a distance what is there, 00:02:33.526 --> 00:02:38.646 being able to then think of alternative solutions that are completely different. 00:02:38.646 --> 00:02:44.646 So, both alternative solutions help you to see the territory, help you to see the box; 00:02:44.646 --> 00:02:49.286 of course, by seeing the box, that gives you the potential to have alternative solutions, 00:02:49.286 --> 00:02:53.846 and actually you can iterate back and forth between those and hopefully build 00:02:53.846 --> 00:02:57.886 a better understanding of what is there and what is constraining you. 00:02:57.886 --> 00:03:02.869 If you understand what's constraining you, then you can start to break those constraints.