CHAPTER 7

LATERAL THINKING &

ASSOCIATED METHODS

Tugas Presentasi Kelompok 4

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 LETERAL THINKING

• Dalam buku “Berpikir Lateral” oleh :

Edward de Bono, berpikir lateral adalah
cara berpikir yang berusaha mencari solusi
untuk masalah terselesaikan melalui
metode yang tidak umum, atau sebuah cara
yang biasanya akan diabaikan oleh
pemikiran logis.
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THREE MAJOR ACTIVITIES GO INTO MAKING UP
LATERAL THINKING

Awareness

Alternative Proactive
Ways Methods

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 1. AWARENESS
• Dominant idea - how is the
problem being viewed?
There may be other ways.
Example
Imagine for a moment that your male
boss has sent around a message saying
that he has noticed that people are
coming in late from the lunch-break and
that he assumes that it is because they
are doing their personal shopping. How
would you react? Depending upon
whether you are male/female,
married/single, old/young, have a
family/have no family may very well
influence your immediate response to
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such a communication.
 1. AWARENESS
• Tethering factors -
unjustified assumptions.
Eg; workers will not strike
if management is heavy
handed.
Example
Workers have threatened to strike over a
job demarcation issue.There has been no
history of strikes in the factory, so
management acts in accordance with the
principle that the workers are bluffing.
This is a tethering factor, for the workers
may well come out on strike – we cannot
assume that what has occurred in the past
will as a matter of certainty continue into 5
the future
 1. AWARENESS
• Polarising tendencies - TWO
viewpoints can polarise the
situation in to an EITHER / OR
situation, reducing possible
solutions.
Example
Trains are invariably held up for one reason or
another. If passengers have to ‘like it or lump it’,
they develop very unfavourable attitudes to the
providers of the rail service and eventually may
find alternative means of travel.This means lost
custom as far as the railway company is
concerned. By providing compensation to
customers when trains are late or cancelled the
railway company creates good will; and,
although the customer may be disgruntled, he
or she will not be put off entirely from travelling 6
with the railway company in future.
 1. AWARENESS
• Boundaries - problem
boundaries limit the
amount of room available
to solve a problem, They
need to be ignored if
solutions other than
variations on old ideas are
to be found.

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 1. AWARENESS
• Assumptions - they
should be
recognised, even if
their validity cannot
be assessed. Through
recognition of
assumptions new
insights may be
obtained.
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ASSUMPTIONS

ASSUMPTION SMASHING
A useful technique for generating ideas is to list the
assumptions of the problem, and then explore what
happens as you drop each of these assumptions
individually or in combination

ASSUMPTION REVERSAL
The method involves:
1 listing all the major assumptions about the problem, including
the obvious
2 reversing each assumption in any way you want – anything
goes 9
3 using the reversals as stimuli to generate new ideas
2. ALTERNATIVE WAYS OF VIEWING A PROBLEM

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2. ALTERNATIVE WAYS OF VIEWING A PROBLEM
• Avoidance devices  Avoidance devices consist of developing a frame
of mind in which one tends to ignore old ideas and be open to new
ways of looking at things.The essence of this approach is summarised
in the wellknown saying ‘Prevention is better than cure’.
• Rotation of attention  Rotation of attention involves moving away
from the core of the problem and shifting focus to the surrounding
factors. It is natural to focus attention on the core of a problem, but
this may not lead to creating new ideas
• Change of entry point  The change of entry point is a method which
entails identifying the starting-point for viewing the problem. People
think in sequence, therefore by changing the point at which that
sequence is started different outcomes can be achieved
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2. ALTERNATIVE WAYS OF VIEWING A PROBLEM
• Quota of alternatives  Setting a quota of alternatives involves keeping
only a few decidedly different options for consideration
• Concept changing and challenging  Concept challenging involves
considering in depth any important statement usually taken for granted
and challenging it in all ways possible.This assists with suspension of
judgement and helps one to escape from habitual thinking patterns
• Key word omission  Keyword omission enables fresh ideas to be
generated. In examining ways to improve productivity, wages and salaries
may be dropped from a discussion and other terms may be used in their
place
• Fractionation and bridging devices  Fractionation and bridging divisions
are two opposite concepts. The former involves separating a problem
into its parts without any regard to logical subdivisions, while the latter
involves bringing the parts of a problem together
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3. PROVOCATIVE TECHNIQUES

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3. PROVOCATIVE TECHNIQUES

• Random stimulus – Sample any rich set of random stimuli

to seek a relationship between the object and the problem
under consideration. ‘Absenteeism and a butterfly’
example.
• Intermediate impossible – Use an ideal but impossible
solution to a problem and adapt it into a viable option.
‘shoplifting problem’.
• Reversal - turn the direction of the problem around -
instead of "how to make the factory safer for workers" it
could be "how to make workers more safe for the factory".
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RANDOM WORD EXAMPLE

• The problem is how to reduce absenteeism.

• The word ‘butterfly’ is randomly obtained.
• The properties of a butterfly are listed e.g.
• only lives for a short while
• is very pretty to look at
• Only lives for a short while: Can be compared to the staff interest level.
How do we improve the interest levels of the staff so they do not get
bored or lose interest?
• Very pretty: We have to improve the working environment , people are
more relaxed and comfortable in a pleasant working area. We need to
make them feel that they are not actually going to work.
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 INTERMEDIATE IMPOSSIBLE EXAMPLE

• problem: reduce theft in supermarkets

• solution: give food away free
• Food free , but entrance fee to store - one trolley per week -
standard fee calculated on sales turnover of store and
number of customers.
• As above but collected as a district tax.
• As above but based on club membership
• Food is free but pay for change in weight between entering
and leaving supermarket - hand in weight ticket at weighout
point. 16
 3. PROVOCATIVE TECHNIQUES
• Distortion - take a situation to an extreme. In quality control,
where production rejects are high, view everything produced
as a reject. Could lead to thinking of redesigning the
production line.
• Exposure - consider things unrelated to a problem. A plastic
duck could be related to organisational problems - those
above the surface and those below it.
• Cross fertilisation - ask experts in other areas how they might
solve the problem using their own methods.
• Problem switching - move from one problem to another and
then back again.
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METAPHORICAL ANALOGIES

• To draw an analogy between a problem for which

one does not have a solution and a comparable
problem from a totally different sphere of activity
for which an answer does exist.
• Problem: management development programme
not producing right calibre executives
• Problem analogy taken: gardener growing prize
flowers
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 MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT CASE (1)
Gardener
• Prepares the ground well taking account of
the site's suitability
• Selects prize winning seeds
• Sows the seed and protects from pests and
frosts while keeping them fed and watered
Trainer
 What is the equivalent? Are some
areas or departments more
suitable than others?
 Are right people selected for
development? How to improve?
 Equivalent of pests and frosts? Best
way of feeding and watering
developing managers
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MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT CASE (2)
Trainer
Gardner  How might weeding out

 When shoots begin to show, be accomplished in a

weed out weaker ones to leave positive way in an
space for healthier ones organisation?
 Care continues and the plant is
 What support is given?
tied to a stake for support
Mentor? What else?
 Exhibit the flowers before
 Equivalent of exhibition?
judges; obtain certificate to
commemorate success Assignment? Who are
the judges? Who receive
prizes?
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THANK YOU

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