Lateral thinking

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   Lateral thinking is solving problems through an indirect and creative approach,using reasoning that is not immediately obvious and involving ideas that may not be obtainable by using only traditional step-by-step logic.The term was coined in 1967 by Edward de Bono.

Lateral thinking is the art of looking at solutions in another indirectly, and not going for the direct and simply answer. When we think laterally, our perspective is broadened.
It can be difficult to think laterally, as we have always been taught to think in a linear and selective pathway; which also is expected of us by the society.

As students, I think we use more lateral thinking as compared to vertical thinking. This is because of our strong desire to learn something new or simply to know. For example, during my GCE O-Level Art examination, we had to choose one themes to relate our piece to. One of it was contrast. Instead of turning to the directly solution, where I can show a contrast between the colors, I did a piece where showed contrast between war and peace. This also shows that lateral thinking is used to stand out of a crowd, to show a person’s creativity.

 As time goings, when we enter the real world, besides the people who work in a surrounding where creativity is constantly needed, we will tend to use more vertical thinking as it is more relevant to the fast paced world.

 I think everyone should be able to practice both lateral and vertical thinking in their daily life. Vertical thinking helps a person in logic, whereas lateral thinking makes new ideas possible.