He Lateral thinking Reflects a way to solve problems, s E tries to find alternatives and solutions in a creative, indirect way, trying not to fall into the most obvious and immediate options.
It moves away from vertical logic, which is the traditional method for solving problems (step by step, following the available data). Nor is it identified with the so-called"horizontal"thought, that it is about having many ideas, but not knowing how to detail them to start them. The first one to describe him was the doctor Edward de Bono In 1967.
For Edward de Bono, there are very intelligent people because they have accumulated a lot of knowledge. However, there are others that have average intelligence, but possess extraordinary thinking strategies that lead to success. This is lateral thinking.
In short, it is a habit of thinking that is excellent for analyzing conflicts, solving them and increasing motivation.
In fact, more and more companies are counting on their workers to implement lateral thinking, and are even beginning to evaluate it in job interviews.
In addition, lateral thinking can be trained through multiple exercises. Some of them can be a real challenge if you're not used to seeing things from another perspective. You dare?
The lateral thinking exercises that I will explain below will help you train your creativity, ingenuity and ability to innovate.
26 Lateral Thought Exercises
Edward de Bono, describes"provocation techniques"to learn to think creatively about anything you set out to do. To do this, you have to start visualizing the topic as if it were the first time and recognizing what information you are taking for granted.
During the process you must answer two questions:
A) What preconceived information do I have about a certain topic?
B) What ideas do I think to achieve my goal or solve the problem, which are novel?
eye! Do not be afraid to let your imagination fly, even the seemingly crazy ideas can activate your most creative self.
1- Generation of random relations
Choose a random object or a noun, and try to associate it with the subject you are dealing with at that moment or the problem you want to solve.
To make it easier to choose the word, you can use a dictionary. Write down all the relationships you can think of, no matter how strange they may be!
2- Challenge of ideas: the reason of things
Start using"why?"But in a comprehensive, open and instructive way. The goal is to challenge any ideas. The more established it is in our mind, the better. Remember that you should avoid obvious and typical explanations.
An example would be to ask the following question:"Why do coffee cups carry handles?"The most obvious answer would be"not to burn."
However, we may question this fact:"Yes, but cups could have separate handles for each finger, or two handles on each side. Or, why should the coffee be hot?"
Try to ask these questions with phenomena around you and try to find alternative and ingenious ideas. I leave you some questions for you to practice:
- Why do colors exist?
- Why are keyboard keys organized in this way?
- Why do shirts have buttons?
- Why are televisions rectangular?
After these exercises, it will be easier for you to solve these riddles that I add to below:
Witty questions and riddles
3- The bottle of wine
Imagine a bottle of wine, half full and plugged with a cork. How could you drink wine without taking out the cork or breaking the bottle?
4- The glass cleaner
The guy who cleaned the windows in a skyscraper, was on the 25th floor when he slipped and fell. He was not wearing a safety harness and nothing stopped him from falling. However, he had no injuries, how do you explain it?
5- The dead in the meadow
They find a dead man in a meadow. There is a closed packet near you, and there is no other person, animal, or any being in that place. How he died?
6- The three rooms
You have to choose between three rooms:
A) In the first, there is a fire.
B) The second is full of tigers that have not eaten in 3 months.
C) And the third is full of murderers with loaded machine guns.
Which room would you choose?
7- The abandoned house
Imagine that you are alone at night in an abandoned house. There you find an oil lamp, a candle and firewood; But you only have one match. What would you turn on first?
8- The sponge cake
Using only a straight cut, how would you cut a rectangular cake into two equal parts when you have previously cut a rectangular piece?
9- The man of the tenth floor
A man lives on the tenth floor of a building. Every day he takes the elevator from his house to the ground floor to get out. When he returns, he climbs the elevator and hits the seventh floor. Then go up the stairs to the tenth floor. Why do this?
10- The cat
What part of the cat has more hair?
11- Coffee
This morning I dropped a slope in the cafe. And although the cup was full, the earring did not get wet. How could it be?
12- The race
During a race, you advance to the second runner. What position are you in?
13- The war
In World War I, soldiers had to wear a brown cloth cap. Soon, the military authorities began to be alarmed by the large number of wounded in the head. For this reason, they made the decision to replace the cap with metal hooves. However, the incidence of injuries to the head increased.
In addition, the intensity of the war did not change, it was the same as before. Why do you think the number of wounded in the head increased after implanting the metallic cases instead of the caps?
14- The hungry dog
A dog is tied by the neck to a rope of 2 meters in length. How can you reach a bone that is 4 meters from it?
15- The days
Name three consecutive days without using the words"Tuesday,""Thursday,"or"Saturday."
16- The building of 20 floors
How can a person fall from a twenty-story building and survive? It does not matter what falls, nor is it related to luck.
17- The bear
A man built a rectangular house, and each side faces south. He saw a bear, what color was it?
18- Join the points
Join the 9 points using four straight lines or less without lifting the pencil from the paper, or draw the same line more than once. You can print the image to make it easier.
19- The armed waiter
A man enters a bar and asks the waiter for a glass of water. The bartender crouched for something. At the moment he draws a weapon, and points the man with it. He pauses, before saying"thank you"and leaves. What happened?
20- World record
In 1930 two men traveled in a Ford car from New York to Los Angeles, a journey of 5,375 kilometers that took 18 days.
It was not the fastest, the slowest, or the first trip. The car was normal, as were the roads and drivers. However, these men beat a world record thanks to this tour. Why?
21- The old woman, the friend and the couple
One night of heavy storm, you are driving through the city when you see in a bus stop three people:
- An old friend who saved your life.
- An old woman who seems about to die.
- The perfect couple you've always wanted to meet.
You can only choose a passenger. Who would you ride in your car?
22- The killer firefighter
Following an anonymous call, the police enter a house to arrest an alleged murderer. They do not know what he looks like, they just know his name is John and he's inside the house.
In the house they find four people: one is engaged in carpentry, another drives a truck, the other works in a mechanical workshop and the last one, in the fire station.
Without asking a question and without hesitation for a moment, the firefighter is immediately arrested. How did they know he was to blame if they only knew his name and his profession?
23- The driver's license
One lady left her driving license forgotten. He did not stop at the pedestrian crossing, ignored the forbidden direction sign and traveled three streets in the opposite direction on a one-way street. A traffic agent saw all this and did not react. Why?
24- The eggs
There are 6 eggs in one basket. 6 people take one egg each. How can an egg still remain in the basket?
25- The stranger in bed
For work reasons, Mr. González traveled abroad and returned home 2 months later. When he entered his house, he found his wife sharing a bed with a stranger. For this reason, Mr. Gonzalez was very happy, how do you explain?
26- The cup of tea
A man was drinking a cup of tea when he suddenly became blind. What happened?
Selling the truth
One manufacturer claimed that if middle-aged people spoke the truth more often, he would sell a lot more products. What did he manufacture?
28- The suitcase
Pedro entered a luggage store to buy a suitcase. The clerk said:"It is very strange that customers buy suitcases. Why do not you rent it?"Why did she tell you this?
29- The movie
Tom and Joe went to see a movie. There were many other people there. During a quiet scene, Tom drew a weapon. Joe shouted,"Do not shoot!", But Tom shot him.
When Tom tried to leave the theater, the spectators stopped him. The police were there and did not capture him. Why?
Answers
3. The wine bottle: Sinking the cork into the bottle.
4. The glass cleaner: I was cleaning the windows inside the building.
5. The dead in the meadow: The man jumped from a plane because it was going to crash. The closed package that was close to him was the parachute, which did not work.
6. The three rooms: The second room. If the tigers have not eaten in three months, they will be dead.
7. The abandoned house: The match.
8. The cake: Cut the cake horizontally, at half height (parallel to the top).
9. The tenth floor man: The man is dwarf, and his height allows him to press the button of the ground floor, while the button of the seventh floor is the maximum that reaches.
10. The cat: The outside is the part of the cat that has more hair.
11. Coffee: We tend to think that coffee must be liquid, but it could actually be in grain or powder, so the slope did not get wet!
12. The race: If you advance to the second person, then you are the second.
13. The war: It is not the same to have a wound in the head that to die. With the cloth cap, if a soldier was shot in the head he probably died, very few survived with a head wound. However, with the metal helmet the head injuries increased, but the death registry declined.
14. The hungry dog: Running, since the rope that has attached to the neck is not tied to any place.
15. The days: Yesterday, today and tomorrow.
16. The 20-story building: can survive if it falls from the first floor.
17. The bear: The bear was white, since only in the North Pole the four walls can be oriented towards the south.
18. Join the points:
19. The armed waiter: The gentleman came to the bar asking for a glass of water to solve his hiccups. The waiter chose to give him a fright by pretending that he was going to shoot him to remove his hiccups. Finally he got it, that's why he said"thank you"and left without having to drink the glass of water.
20. World record: They broke the record because they made the whole trip back. Those men were Charles Creighton and James Hargis.
21. The old lady, the friend and the couple: You can take the old woman to the hospital, or choose to take your friend to return the favor. But you probably would not meet the person you like.
What is the most appropriate answer? Give the car keys to your friend to take the old lady to the hospital, and stay waiting for the bus with the person of your dreams.
22. The Killer Firefighter: They knew it because all the other people in the room were women.
23. Driver's license: She did not react because the lady was walking.
24. Eggs: There is still one egg because the sixth person took it into the basket.
25. The stranger in bed: The stranger in bed is about his son, a newborn baby.
26. The cup of tea: The man had left the teaspoon in the cup when he drank, and it hit the eye, leaving him temporarily blind.
27: Selling the Truth: Made candles for birthday cakes.
28. The suitcase: Peter was in the western part of Tokyo. There the houses are very small, and people usually try to save space as much as possible. One way to do this is to rent large items that are going to be used occasionally, such as suitcases.
29. The film: Tom and Joe were the protagonists of the film. Tom shot Joe in a scene from the movie. When Tom left the cinema, people kept him because they were fans who were asking for autographs.
These riddles may have other ingenious solutions that are valid, which ones do you think of? Leave your comment!
References:
- Lateral thinking. (S.f.). Retrieved on October 21, 2016, from Wikipedia.
- Lateral Thinking Puzzles. (S.f.). Retrieved on October 21, 2016 from Lateral Thinking and Logic Puzzles.
- Lateral Thinking Skills. (S.f.). Retrieved on October 21, 2016, from University of Kent.
- Sandrini, C.E. (s.f.). What is lateral thinking? Retrieved on October 21, 2016, from Colegio General Belgrano.
- Sloane, P. & MacHale, D. (1994). Great Lateral Thinking Puzzles. Sterling Publishing Co., New York.
- The ideas and works of dr. Of Bonus. (S.f.). Retrieved on October 21, 2016, from Dr. Edward de Bono.