Lateral Thinking

Lateral thinking (LT) is a term coined by the eminent creative thinker Edward de Bono as early as 1967. However, even decades later, the concept is yet to find a true place in the functioning of organizations. The good thing, however, is that people have now started taking cognizance of the concept and have begun to understand it. This implies that we can be optimistic about a different business scenario in the years to come. Again, even this is not true. Lateral thinking has always existed and worked. It is just that we have not always done it very consciously.

But the essential question is - what is lateral thinking? Put in very simple words, LT is nothing but learning to think in an unconventional manner…thinking differently. Technically, they call it out-of-the-box thinking.

The next question that comes to mind is – how can LT be used in an organization? The ‘simple’ answer to this complex question may be that we can practice to look at the regular issues in organizations in a new light. Inherently, LT has a bearing on decision-making. This means that rather than going by what has always been done so far, we can consciously train our mind to look at things in a different framework so that we can make decisions differently.

How has Reliance grown? How did it gain so much popularity among the people? This is because the promoter(s), contrary to the business knowledge that time, believed in reaching out to the volume of people at a cheaper price. What did Tata Motors do? It took a decision which did not come naturally, to other business people – to produce a small car – Nano. Nano is targeted at capturing the lower end of the market. How did the idea of low cost flights come – through a pioneer who had the courage to do something different.

All the above are examples of unconventional thinking. This is what we mean by lateral thinking.

Dr. Meenakshi Khemka
Globsyn Business School