If you said that he was carrying an umbrella, or driving a car, though you might be right, excuse us for saying this, but… you may not have put much effort into your answer. Wouldn’t you agree? If you came up with a basic answer, one that’s a bit bland, it may be time to jump on the bandwagon of a fashionable term, a concept that is revolutionizing the way of solving all the problems that have existed and that will exist.

LOGICAL OR CREATIVE THINKING?

We’re talking about lateral thinking, a term used by Edward de Bono for the first time in his book New Think: The Use of Lateral Thinking (1967). We’ll explain it to you in case you haven’t heard of it before: lateral thinking is a method of solving problems in an imaginative way; that is, by using creativity (which, in our opinion, is the best way).

Of course, you might be thinking, “OK, great, that’s good to know. But, if the other answer I gave was correct and logical, why do I have to come up with something different?” That’s a valid argument, it really is. Even so, we’re going to try to get you to see things our way, which, apart from getting you to think differently and become really practical, is also much, much more fun.

Edward de Bono says that thought is divided into two phases: the first is perception, and the second, the place where your perceptions are processed. Lateral thinking is engaged in the second phase, the processing one. What this technique proposes is to proceed by conceptual leaps instead of following the more straight-line approach of logical thinking (referred to as vertical thinking).

Even so, and even if it might seem otherwise, this way of thinking does not preclude logical thinking. Rather, they complement each other. It’s true that logical thinking helps us to keep our ideas clear and orderly while we jump from one concept to another. Therefore, it helps to keep us going round in circles in the roundabout, which will, ideally, lead us to the right road, the one we’ve been waiting for, that of a creative solution to our problem.

Oh, and it must also be said that lateral thinking is not the solution to all our problems. In fact, despite using lateral thinking, you may not come up with any solution at all. But that’s all right! To reach the outcome, you have to travel a long road, and it may be that you find reflections or questions along that way that help you to speed up the process of better understanding the problem. So… don’t throw in the towel.

PUTTING LATERAL THOUGHT INTO PRACTICE

So, now you’re probably saying, “OK, I understand what this lateral thinking thing is, and what it’s used for, but… how can I put it into practice?” There is no specific step-by-step guide for you to employ this technique, but you can follow some tips given by experts to get yourself on the right track:

1. Try to focus on the problem instead of thinking about the possible solution. Reflect on where the problem comes from, on what its causes are, on internal and external factors, and on anything else that occurs to you.
2. Make diagrams and find words that you can associate with your challenge. These will pave the way for you to think about other related topics and – what can we say? – a good sketch always helps.
3. Compare the situation you’re analyzing with other similar situations. Think about how those situations were handled and see if you can tap into any of the thinking that led to their resolution.
4. Break the problem down into parts. You know, not everything can be fixed at once.

So… is it OK with you if we train your brain a bit? Below, we’ll give you some riddles that require creative solutions. The solutions will be given in the footer, but we advise you not to cheat, and to be patient, as you’re bound to be able to come up with some creative ways to solve the problems. Oh, and before we forget, we wanted to tell you that the person in the riddle above didn’t get wet because the poor guy was, well… no longer with us, and the other four people were transporting his coffin to his burial site. We should also say that if you thought of another answer, it’s also valid. To each their own. Now, let’s get to that brain training!

• 1st riddle: Jon and Maite planned a trip to Bilbao to celebrate the promotion that Maite had received. Even so, tragically, Maite never returned home. The police arrested Jon for her murder after a tip-off from their travel agent. How did their travel agent know that Jon was the killer?
• 2nd riddle: Two people were playing checkers. Out of five games, each won three. How can that be?
• 3rd riddle: A person arrives with their car at a hotel and immediately, they’re bankrupted. Where are they?
• 4th riddle: A man enters a bar and asks the bartender for a glass of water. They had never met before. The bartender pulls a gun from under the counter and points it at the man. The man says “thank you” and leaves. Why?

Solutions

• 1st solution: Jon had bought two tickets to go there, but only one to return.
• 2nd solution: They weren’t playing against each other.
• 3rd solution: They’re playing Monopoly.
• 4th solution: The man who came in had the hiccups. When the bartender took out the gun, it gave him the scare he needed to get rid of them.

*In another article you’ll find some challenges related to the government. You can take advantage of this article to think of some creative solution to those GovTech challenges, since creativity makes it possible for anyone with a good idea to work in conjunction with the government to help citizens live better. Are you up for it?