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Lateral thinking requires you to think outside of the usual and to push your creative spirit to the max. Unlike analytical thinking, creative thinking can't just be turned on and off, but there are ways to encourage it.

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EditSteps

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    Think fast. Lingering is not the way to think laterally. Inspired thoughts come from letting your stream of consciousness pour forth quickly and without reflection. Of course, apply this only to creative thinking, not to judging people or situations!
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    Avoid any form of self or other criticism. Lateral thinking requires freedom to express anything. Criticism acts like a stopper to the flow and prevents expansion of ideas. Allow yourself and others to reach beyond the moon when thinking laterally.
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    Take care not to assume that it has all been done before. There is always the possibility of new thoughts, new ideas and new ways of doing things.
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    Be non conformist. Don't worry about what others will think; the moment you do, you stop thinking laterally and start self judging and potentially conforming. Allow crazy, silly, weird, unusual, outrageous, never-been-done-before ideas to pour forth unjudged. Non conformity is the concept of the moment for lateral thinking.
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    Keep a record of your thoughts. You won't know which ones are worth revisiting until later, sometimes because you're too close to it after brainstorming, sometimes because it's simply not clear what is significant until later reflection.
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    Mimic. Don't be afraid to build on the great ideas of others. Perhaps they haven't pushed the ideas far enough yet; maybe you will. But don't be afraid to copy good ideas and make them better. (Nobody has a copyright on ideas.)
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    Avoid over analysis. as soon as you start nitpicking too much and noticing what won't work, you've left lateral thinking and started to think analytically again. Leave details to later. Leave grand visions to later too.
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    Question repeatedly. Is this the best there is? Is this adaptable? Is there a workaround? Be sure to ask plenty of questions, especially "what if?".
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Article Info

Categories: Thinking Skills

Recent edits by: Jadean100, David, Laura

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