lateral-thinking
Lateral Thinking
Core principle: Most thinking is vertical — digging deeper in the same direction, refining what already exists. Lateral thinking moves sideways — deliberately escaping the dominant pattern to find a different place to dig. The goal is not a better version of the current solution. It's a different solution entirely.
"You cannot dig a hole in a different place by digging the same hole deeper." — Edward de Bono
When Vertical Thinking Fails
Vertical thinking is efficient when the problem is well-defined and the solution space is known. It fails when:
- The problem keeps recurring despite fixes (the frame is wrong)
- All solutions feel like variations of the same idea
- The best available option is "least bad"
- Everyone in the room agrees on the approach (groupthink + vertical thinking)
- The problem is genuinely novel
When any of these are true, stop digging. Move laterally.
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