The Theory
Sometimes the answer to a problem is not harder thinking — it is different thinking. Lateral thinking, coined by De Bono, means deliberately introducing a provocative element that breaks the expected logical path. Instead of digging the same hole deeper, you start digging in a completely different spot. Koestler called this bisociation: creativity happens when two previously unrelated frames of reference collide. A joke works this way (the punchline reframes everything), and so does a scientific breakthrough (the solution requires seeing the problem differently). The key insight: when you are stuck, the problem is usually the frame, not the content.
What the Research Found
De Bono developed specific techniques for lateral provocation — random input (pick a word from the dictionary and connect it to your problem), reversal (what if the opposite were true?), and "PO" (a provocative operation that suspends judgment). Koestler documented that major creative breakthroughs across art, science, and humor share the same structure: collision of incompatible matrices of thought. Ohlsson showed that insight problems require representational change — the solution is impossible within the original framing and only becomes visible after the problem is restructured.
How We Use It
Question C1 option (c) — "I look for a completely different angle from the obvious one — a radical shift in perspective" — maps directly to lateral thinking (dimension value 3.3). C3(d) — improving something by changing the frame rather than adding or removing — captures lateral reframing in an optimization context. If your instinct when stuck is to change the angle rather than push harder in the same direction, your thinking direction is lateral.
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References (3)
- De Bono, E. (1967). The Use of Lateral Thinking.
- Koestler, A. (1964). The Act of Creation.
- Ohlsson, S. (1992). Information-processing explanations of insight and related phenomena.