Lateral Thinking and Problem Solving
Problem Solving: When something creates a problem, the performance or the status quo of the situation drops. Problem solving deals with finding out what caused the problem and then figuring out ways to fix the problem. The objective is to get the situation to where it should be.
For example, a production line has an established run rate of 1000 items per hour. Suddenly, the run rate drops to 800 items per hour. Ideas as to why this happened and solutions to repair the production line must be thought of, such as giving the worker a pay raise.
Creative Problem Solving: Using creativity, one must solve a problem in an indirect and unconventional manner.
For example, if a production line produced 1000 books per hour, creative problem solving could find ways to produce more books per hour, use the production line, or reduce the cost to run the production line.
Creative Problem Identification: Many of the greatest non-technological innovations are identified while realizing an improved process or design in everyday objects and tasks either by accidental chance or by studying and documenting real world experience.
Lateral Thinking puzzles: This is puzzles that are supposed to demonstrate what lateral thinking is about. However any puzzle that has only one solution "is" not lateral. While lateral thinking may help you construct such puzzles, the lateral thinking tools will seldom help you solve puzzles.
Lateral Problem "Solving": Lateral thinking will often produce solutions whereby the problems appears as "obvious" in hindsight. That lateral thinking will often lead to problems that you never knew you had, or it will solve simple problems that have a huge potential.
For example, if a production line produced 1000 books per hour, lateral thinking may suggest that a drop in output to 800 would lead to higher quality, more motivated workers etc. etc.
Read more about this topic: Lateral Thinking
Famous quotes containing the words thinking, problem and/or solving:
“Middle age is the time when a man is always thinking that in a week or two he will feel as good as ever.”
—Don Marquis (1878–1937)
“What happened at Hiroshima was not only that a scientific breakthrough ... had occurred and that a great part of the population of a city had been burned to death, but that the problem of the relation of the triumphs of modern science to the human purposes of man had been explicitly defined.”
—Archibald MacLeish (1892–1982)
“Will women find themselves in the same position they have always been? Or do we see liberation as solving the conditions of women in our society?... If we continue to shy away from this problem we will not be able to solve it after independence. But if we can say that our first priority is the emancipation of women, we will become free as members of an oppressed community.”
—Ruth Mompati (b. 1925)