Lateral thinking... is the process of using information to bring about creativity and insight restructuring. Lateral thinking can be learned, practised and used. It is possible to acquire skill in it just as it is possible to acquire skill in mathematics.
Lateral thinking is closely related to insight, creativity and humour. All four processes have the same basis. But whereas insight, creativity and humour can only be prayed for, lateral thinking is a more deliberate process. It is as definite a way of using the mind as logical thinking — but a very different way.
Lateral thinking, also described as sideways thinking, is a term originally coined by Edward de Bono in 1967 to describe an alternative process to conventional linear thinking — one that breaks out of the habitual cognitive patterns learned at school.
Could 'sideways thinking' be another term for what Arthur Koestler calls ? Koestler coined this term to describe a phenomenon he calls the 'Act of Creation'. It's the spark that ignites original concepts, an event that takes place in semi-consciousness or absent-mindedness where the mind is free-associating. Koestler likens it to a sort of mental short-circuit that sparks a connection between two hitherto unconnected frames of reference.
Sideways thinking is that way of approaching a problem from a new direction—not evolving a solution from something that already exists and not looking down upon it and breaking it up into smaller parts but actually backing off, looking at in different than normal ways and thinking from the side.
The ancient world's greatest puzzle was there, a knot that couldn't be untied. Alexander cut it in two with his sword. Lateral thinking, you see. Centuries ahead of his time.
Liberal Arts may ultimately prove to be the most relevant learning model... People trained in the Liberal Arts learn to tolerate ambiguity and to bring order out of apparent confusion. They have the kind of sideways thinking and cross-classifying habit of mind that comes from learning, among other things, the many different ways of looking at literary works, social systems, chemical processes or languages.
Sideways thinking [is] the cross classifying habit of mind that comes from learning many different ways to look at things.