EN 
What is Thought lateral? It is the ability to identify paths alternative and surprising ways, overcoming the limits of sequential logic to find original and effective solutions in work, study and management of daily challenges.
Do you ever get stuck in front of a problem is to keep repeating the same logical steps without finding A way out? It happens because we are used to using a linear reasoning. This creative approach is a real skill cognitive that anyone can develop to learn how to unlock situations complex.
The starting point is always a remarkable cognitive freshness, necessary to generate new creative connections. For Those looking for practical support, experts in neuroscience have created a drink Functional that helps concentration and reduces mental fatigue: buy Here the brain fuel and recharge the mind.
The concept of lateral thinking is was introduced in 1967 by the Maltese psychologist Edward de Bono as a method capable of breaking logical patterns. In his work, de Bono has drawn a fundamental distinction between two modes of processing of the mind: vertical thinking and lateral thinking.
Vertical thinking is of the logical, selective and sequential. It works like an excavation: it deepens the in the direction already traced, moving only if there is a path justified by logic. In contrast, lateral thinking explores directions alternatives. He doesn't look for the right answer at every single step, but moves to change the structure of the problem, breaking the patterns and looking for answers where they did not look before.
Creativity and problem solving based On the lateral approach are they linked to a flash of casual inspiration? Let's debunk This myth: Edward de Bono's approach to lateral thinking It is configured as a structured technique. There are precise protocols that allow new ideas to be generated in a systematic way, demonstrating that the Mental flexibility can be learned and exercised by anyone.
What happens in the brain When do we stop thinking in a linear way? The brain is a machine programmed to save energy and to do so it constantly builds established cognitive patterns (mental patterns). While these automatisms guarantee efficiency in the management of daily actions, on the other hand, they create a strong limitation, acting as invisible rails that prevent us from seeing alternative and obvious solutions.
Neuroimaging studies show that the generation of unexpected connections involves the Default Mode Network (DMN), a neural network that is activated when the mind is at rest or engaged in mind wandering. This network promotes divergent thinking, i.e. the ability to generate a wide range of variety of responses from a single stimulus. It is the biological reason for whose best intuitions often come in moments of detachment, as below shower or during a regenerating walk.
In this process, the lobe plays a decisive role: it acts by inhibiting dominant patterns and reducing the logic filter to pave the way for cognitive pathways alternatives. Immediately afterwards, convergent thinking comes into play, the that analyzes, selects and organizes the options produced for identify the most effective final solution.
Understanding what lateral thinking is is Just the first step. To apply it, it is important to get used to dealing with the problems from new perspectives. Perhaps with the help of effective stimuli: There are five operational strategies for developing cognitive flexibility, complete with neuroscientific mechanism and examples to be applied immediately.
This famous method serves to unhinge the brain's natural tendency to mix emotions, logic and prejudices when analyzing a complex situation. The goal is to separate cognitive processes by wearing, metaphorically, six different hats, each with an exclusive focus: data (white), emotions (red), criticality (black), optimism (yellow), creativity (green), and process control (blue).
On a neurological level, this subdivision prevents cognitive overload and blocks confirmation bias. Forcing you to take one specific point of view at a time, you deactivate the defenses and reduce decision anxiety.
Application practice: you have to consider whether to accept a new job offer. Instead of being overwhelmed by doubts, spend 10 minutes exclusive to the black hat by analyzing only the objective risks, then passes immediately to the yellow hat by writing only the absolute advantages. Lucidity The final finish that you will get by joining the pieces will surprise you.
The brain struggles to imagine a use different for objects, processes or habits that he already knows. The technique SCAMPER circumvents this limitation by offering a directive checklist: Replace, Combine, Adapt, Modify, Think of another use, Eliminate, Overturn.
It is like providing the mind with a set of new lenses to look at an old problem. Instead of passively waiting the flash of genius, innovation becomes a methodical procedure, accessible to anyone.
Application Practice: You want to improve your boring morning workout routine . Apply the "C" (Combine): You can combine listening to a growth podcast Running staff? Or apply the "E" (Delete): what happens if you completely remove the breaks between sets, halving the total time but dramatically increasing the intensity?
The human brain is an extraordinary associative machine. When you provide him with two seemingly unrelated inputs, will do everything to find a logical sense that unites them. This technique exploits exactly this principle, inserting a random disturbing element within a blocked reasoning.
The introduction of an alien concept immediately reactivates the Default Mode Network, forcing neurons to tracing new synapses and unexplored pathways to connect the problem of starting at the word entered randomly.
Application practical: you are looking for an original corner to present a project to your team and you're running out of ideas. Open a page at case of a book and you find the word "magnet". How can you make the your magnetic presentation? Perhaps starting with an open-ended question and that immediately attracts attention, even before turning on the screen.
Anxiety from performance is a huge obstacle to cognitive fluency: when we seek at all costs the perfect solution, the frontal lobe stiffens. Reverse thinking defuses this pressure. Instead of wondering how to solve a problem, you Ask how you could make it irreparably worse.
This reversal results in psychologically liberating. Thinking negatively requires less effort rational, eludes the emotional blocks of the fear of making mistakes and reveals, by pure contrast, the exact dynamics to avoid.
Application Practice: You need to set up a meeting and fears that it is ineffective. Ask yourself, "How could I create the as boring and disastrous a meeting as possible?". You'll start listing: very long monologues, absence of agenda, closed and hot environment, zero interaction. Now, take this list and do the exact opposite.
There is a known cognitive paradox as paralysis of choice: having infinite options available it quickly depletes mental energy and blocks action. On the contrary, deliberately imposing artificial limitations (of time, budget, space or tools) acts as a scaffolding that supports and it guides thought.
When you delete your usual routes and more comfortable, the brain enters a sort of survival mode going so far as to explore the side area of the problem to find unexpected resources within the established boundaries.
Application Practice: you have written a proposal email commercial two-page long, but it is confused and dispersive. Set yourself the creative constraint of having to rewrite the entire message using a maximum of 30 words. You will be forced to distill the heart of the message, eliminating everything background noise.
Divergent thinking is the ability to to generate a large number of solutions from a single point. The lateral thinking is a broader concept structured by Edward de Bono, who includes both the divergent phase of idea generation and the use of techniques Specifications to bypass vertical logic and restructure problems.
It is a cognitive skill trainable. Although some people show a natural predisposition towards mental flexibility, the constant application of structured techniques allows anyone to modify their brain automatisms and improve creative performances.
This phenomenon depends on the activation of the Default Mode Network (DMN). When the mind stops focusing Actively on a logical and sequential task, this neural network begins to connecting distant information, reworking the problem in background and bringing to consciousness sudden and original intuitions.