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There would be the usual taxis, exactly as at present. They would be used
by tourists and out-of-towners. Then there would be another type of taxi
distinguished by the large question mark on the roof - indicating that the
driver did not know his way about. (T 61
DE BONO S THINKING COURSE
By definition this type would be restricted to residents who did know the way
about and could instruct the driver. The driver could thus be earning money
even as he learned his way about (if he had to find his way back without a fare
he would use a map or a telephone). So there would be more taxis both
immediately and eventually. Residents and visitors would both benefit.
Learner taxi- drivers would benefit.
We take for granted that there should be but one currency in each country.
There are some interesting economic possibilities of escaping from this
concept: for example to have two currencies one of which is indexed against
the other so providing a sort of internal gold-standard.
As an exercise try to get movement from each of the following escape
type provocations:
1 Po car steering wheels do not move.
2 Po drinking glasses have no bottom.
3 Po envelopes do not carry addresses.
4 Po restaurants do not serve food.
5 Po classrooms have no teachers.
6 Po doors have no handles.
There are many other ways of using the escape method . As before, those
who want more details should consult the book Serious Creativity.
The random stimulation method
This is the easiest method of all. It is also the most fun. It is now used in a
formal manner by most of the major advertising agencies in the world. The
random stimulation is provided by a random object or word or person or
magazine or exhibition. The main thing is that it cannot be chosen because if
it is chosen then it is chosen through its relevance to current ideas and
therefore will reinforce rather than change them. It is a matter of exposing
oneself to a random influence or deliberately producing one.
The most convenient form is a random word. You can get a random word
by specifying a page number in a dictionary and then the position of the word
on that page. You count down until you come to the word. To make it easier
you can continue until you come to the nearest noun.
For example, I was once discussing the training of teachers for a 62J) country that
rapidly needed a lot more teachers. The dictionary
LATERAL THINKING
page number and the position of the word on the page gave
tadpole which has no obvious relevance to teacher training. The
visual conception that comes from a tadpole is that of the tail. So
we might say Po teachers have tails . In practice what might that
mean? It could mean having two assistants or apprentices who
followed the teacher around and eventually came to take over
more and more functions. In this way each teacher could be multi-
plied twice over. Training colleges could still be set up and teach-
ers brought in for in-service training later on.
The random word serves to tap into lines of thought that might
otherwise have been hidden. The association of traffic lights with
cigarettes produced the notion of a red band around the cigarette,
1.5 centimetres from the butt end, to indicate that the smoker was
entering the most dangerous zone and to give him the option of
discarding that cigarette.
At first sight it seems illogical to suppose that a random word
will help in any problem (which must follow if the word is truly
random). In a patterning system, however, it makes sense. If you
lived in London and I dropped you in any part of London you
would eventually find your way home (your knowledge, maps,
asking directions). As you arrived home you might find yourself
approaching it from a direction quite different from the one you
normally used on leaving home. That is exactly how the random
word works. This is illustrated below. In our thinking we move out
of a certain area along the traditional route. If we toss in a random
word it has its own associations. Sooner or later these link up with
the associations of the problem . We can now move out of the
problem along this new route and see what we find.
In practice it does sometimes happen that the association of the
random word is so close that little provocation is obtained. It has
never happened that the word is too remote. This is not so surpris-
ing because we follow the asso-
ciations of the word and this
opens up other words until a
large fan of connectors is
obtained. We may also extract
a function from the word. For
example, the word elephant
might give the function very
large , and clearly this can be
applied to most situations. (^63^)
DE BONO S THINKING COURSE
Several people have told me how by using the random word they have
designed important new products in a variety of fields: financial services,
household products, bridge construction etc.
In each of the following cases use the random word given to stimulate new
ideas in the situation that is given.
1 Random word soap : situation designing furniture .
2 Random word forest : situation running a bank .
3 Random word rocket : situation choosing a place for a holiday .
4 Random word vote : situation reducing traffic congestion in cities .
5 Random word cloud : situation encouraging energy saving .
6 Random word newspaper : situation a new television programme .
General use of lateral thinking
The three methods: stepping stone , escape and random stimulation can
be used as specific and formal methods for generating a new idea or a new
approach. What is even more important is the lateral thinking attitude which
involves the willingness to search for better concepts. In a sense each of the
methods illustrates an aspect of the lateral thinking attitude. In the stepping-
stone method we treat an idea for its movement value instead of just its
judgement value. This is a positive, constructive attitude. In the escape
method we focus on things we take for granted and wonder whether they are
indeed the only or best way of doing things. We are willing to improve them or
escape from them. In the random stimulation method we open ourselves to
influences other than those we directly look for. We allow ourselves to be
stimulated.
The logic of lateral thinking
If we consider the behaviour of self-organizing patterning systems in
perception then the logic of lateral thinking follows. Lateral thinking is quite
logical in the universe of patterning systems. We need methods for cutting
across patterns instead of just moving up and down them.
Lateral thinking is to do with change, especially when change involves escaping from a
pattern that has been satisfactory in the «T) past. In another section in this book I shall
be looking at our more
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