As we age, we humans tend to follow familiar patterns of thinking. Using the same method that worked is useful but it has huge disadvantages when trying to create new products or services.
We have a tendency to think in a linear way, following logic, adding incremental improvements to the product or service along a predictable vertical.
Lateral thinking is the art of creating something new out of something existent, you achieve this by manipulating elements in the product or service. Lateral thinking is commonly known as thinking outside the box.
Lateral thinking is all about making new connections that aren’t entirely obvious.
Here are 6 lateral thinking techniques you can use to create new ideas, new options and ultimately something new:
Here a simple example of how this works using a pizza delivery service:
Substitute it. Send hot dogs instead.
Combine it. Send the pizza + lasagna for free.
Invert it. Send the pizza only on certain hours during the week and but on the weekend all day.
The Baader Meinhof Complex full Eliminate it. Don’t deliver pizza.
Exaggerate it. Deliver a pizza with double everything and call it extreme pizza.
Reorder it. Customer sends you the ingredients he wants and you make the pizza.
Give it a try, you’ll come up with new ideas in no time!
Solutions are everywhere and the best way to think outside the box is to look in other boxes.
How many times have you meet someone that tries to solve problems using the same method over and over again to no avail? More than you can remember I assume.
This is even more apparent as we grow older, we keep doing what worked before believing that’s the only way it can be done. If it isn’t broke don’t fix it right? The problem with this is that when we’re looking for new ideas we won’t find them looking in the same places, we have to venture off an unknown path where the chances of finding something new are more higher.
Why is it so difficult to try something new?
Because change is hard, we become so fixed in a single view of the world that we filter out all information that conflicts with our beliefs and are unable to see another possible solution.
The box is our mental model.
Beliefs, assumptions of how you think your world (box) works all lock you in to a box, limiting your view of going about solving problems. The problem with this is that all your solutions will always be the same, predictable and linear. More of the same!
Brain researcher Gerhard Roth of the University of Bremen in Germany in his 2007 book whose title translates as Personality, Decision, and Behavior writes:
“The brain is always trying to automate things and to create habits, which it imbues with feelings of pleasure. Holding to the tried and true gives us a feeling of security, safety, and competence while at the same time reducing our fear of the future and of failure.”
To start finding new ideas we first have to become aware of the limitations of doing things the same way, we must become aware of our mental models and question our beliefs and assumption.
Also understand that innovations themselves are combination’s of what came before, rather than an original invention. It’s discovering things in other boxes and then combining them in a useful way that you get something new. Creativity really is all about discovery!
The fact is solutions are everywhere and the best way to think outside the box is to look in other boxes.
Key Takeaway: Develop a take from anywhere mindset. Borrow ideas from other fields, keep an open mind and cherry pick your way to a new solution.
Photo Credit: Gilad Benari
