Lateral thinking

Creative thinking techniques work to stimulate original ideas. New ideas happen when two or more ideas are accidentally or deliberately merged when they have never been merged before. Creative thinking techniques provide the method for deliberately combining ideas in ways which you would not normally come across or think about. This combination generates a truly original idea. In traditional brainstorming we keep coming up with the same ideas again and again because we keep providing each other with the same stimuli. For advanced brainstorming to work (ie. lots of new ideas to merge into a solution) is easy access to a series of creative thinking tools. Many creative techniques are used which would provide us with the different and alternative solution. It is the generation of new ideas which matters at the brainstorming stage of the problem-solving process. Uses :

1. Understand the importance of individual perception. 2. Search for alternatives, even when there is no apparent or immediate need to search for alternatives. 3. Avoid negative thinking 4. Develop the skill of listening, empathically to the perceptions of others: 5. Always be aware of the role of emotion, feelings and values in thinking. 6. Use a broad scan of a situation or issue before coming to a conclusion about appropriate action. 7. Develop the skill of decision-making. 8. Become skilled in designing a way forward, objectives, sub-objectives, outcomes, priorities, action... 9. Groups in need of fresh new thinking. 10. Solving problems in ways that don't initially come to mind. 11. Companies with an innovation initiative in need of tools that actually work. 12. Teams frustrated with old predicable ideas that keep surfacing in their creative thinking meetings. Techniques used

Derailment (thought disorder) Lateral thinking puzzles, also referred as situation puzzles Oblique Strategies Provocative operation Parallel thinking Six Thinking Hats Thinking outside the box Inductive reasoning Deductive reasoning

All this techniques are used to generate creative thinking process in order to generate new ideas and out of box thinking. These exercises keep helping in new ideas which benefit the company.

Applications Lateral thinking can be used in any stream which needs creation of new ideas time to time. This techniques not only stimulates the way of inventing new ideas but also encourages new ways of doing a particular thing. Some of the areas where lateral thinking is mostly necessary from time to time are automobile industries, R & D department for any sector, concept generation for new ideas for prototypes etc. Short comings The ideas here are large in number and one has to properly understand the uses of this techniques and application in correct sequence. Correct ideas should be generated in needed stages and no deviation should be resulted from this. So a proper application is needed so that the ideas generated adds value to the decision making process.