Table Of ContentPRAISE FOR
LATERAL THINKING
FOR EVERY DAY
“From outrageous ideas to weird combinations, Paul’s unique
approach to problem solving will revolutionize the way you think.
Laterally the best book I’ve read this year.”
Sam Kelly, Chief Marketing Officer, AKQA
“An enlightening read at a time when seeing the problem from
multiple perspectives and finding creative solutions to move you
forward has never been more important.”
Tim Leney, Managing Director, TCC
“What a great read – highly entertaining and informative, packed
with stories of real innovators and so many practical techniques.”
Ralph Varcoe, Chief Growth Officer, Connexin
“This is the ultimate inspirational guide to lateral thinking, and a
treasure trove for anyone interested in great stories about how
taking a different perspective can grow yourself or your business
– and having fun doing it.”
Peter Hovstadius, former Chief Scientific Officer, Novartis
Nordic RegionC
“Fascinating historic and current examples of lateral thinking.”
Ian Gander, Managing Director, Gemini Data Loggers
“Paul Sloane has done it again. In his new book, he provides a
number of simple frameworks and activities to build your teams’
ability to think laterally, approach challenging problems in a new
way and enhance their creativity.”
Nick Skillicorn, innovation consultant and speaker
“Paul’s very readable and entertaining presentation ably illus-
trates how you can use lateral thinking to benefit from changing
perspectives and ideas in your home, social and business lives.”
Dalim Basu, Chairman of London Branch,
British Computer Society
Lateral Thinking
for Every Day
Extraordinary solutions to
ordinary problems
Paul Sloane
Publisher’s note
Every possible effort has been made to ensure that the information
contained in this book is accurate at the time of going to press, and the
publishers and authors cannot accept responsibility for any errors or
omissions, however caused. No responsibility for loss or damage
occasioned to any person acting, or refraining from action, as a result of
the material in this publication can be accepted by the editor, the
publisher or the author.
First published in Great Britain and the United States in 2023 by Kogan Page
Limited
Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or
criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act
1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any
form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or
in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms and
licences issued by the CLA. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside these
terms should be sent to the publishers at the undermentioned addresses:
2nd Floor, 45 Gee Street 8 W 38th Street, Suite 902 4737/23 Ansari Road
London New York, NY 10018 Daryaganj
EC1V 3RS USA New Delhi 110002
United Kingdom India
www.koganpage.com
© Paul Sloane 2023
The right of Paul Sloane to be identified as the author of this work has been
asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act
1988.
ISBNs
Hardback 9781398607972
Paperback 9781398607941
Ebook 9781398607958
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Control Number
2022950033
Typeset by Hong Kong FIVE Workshop, Hong Kong
Print production managed by Jellyfish
Printed and bound by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon CR0 4YY
To six helpful lateral thinkers, my grandchildren:
Toby, Jerome, Madeleine, Arthur,
Frank and William
THIS PAGE IS INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK
Contents
About the author xi
Introduction 1
PART ONE
The basics
01 What is lateral thinking? 5
02 The dangers of conformity 9
03 Fight the menace of groupthink 12
THIS PAGE IS INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK 04 Contemplate the opposite 15
05 Break the rules 19
06 Think like an outsider 22
07 Ask dumb questions 25
PART TWO
Historical examples
08 Seven companies that switched 31
09 Why do experts reject new ideas? 34
10 Fly, crash, adapt 38
11 We need to listen to contrarian thinkers 42
12 Lateral thinking at war 46
13 Protect the parts that are not showing hits 52
14 Lateral thinking in architecture 54
viii Contents
15 When something unexpected happens, get
curious 59
PART THREE
Lateral thinking tools and everyday hacks
16 How to use the Six Thinking Hats 65
17 The Disney Method for creative ideas 69
18 Use the three Greeks to improve your powers of
persuasion 72
19 Where do innovative ideas come from? 75
20 The Six Serving Men 77
21 Games that can boost the brain 80
22 Riddles to make you think laterally 84
23 The Random Word method 86
24 Similes displace your thinking 89
25 Roll the Dice 91
26 Lateral thinking puzzles 93
27 Go for quantity of ideas 95
PART FOUR
Practical tips and everyday hacks
28 Force yourself to think outside the box 101
29 Ways to be more spontaneous at work 103
30 Replace logic with emotion 106
31 The open-minded quiz 108
32 Ten things to do when you are stuck 110
33 Improve your powers of persuasion 114
Contents ix
34 Think like a criminal 117
35 Memory technique: Pegging a List 120
36 Memory technique: The virtual journey 123
37 Better a giraffe than a zebra 126
38 Messy beats tidy 128
39 Mix with more creative people 131
40 Questions to ask yourself after a setback 133
41 Lateral thinking in mathematics 135
42 Beware these cognitive biases 138
PART FIVE
Lateral thinking at work
43 Get someone else to do the work 143
44 Repurpose your product 146
45 The founding of Google 149
46 Tony Hsieh – the remarkable cultural innovator at
Zappos 152
47 Turn a weakness into a strength 157
48 Move the kettle! 159
49 Focus on the opportunity, not the problem 161
50 Music without music 163
51 Lateral marketing: The benefits of being
outrageous 165
52 Lateral marketing – Topical mischief 168
53 Transplant an idea 171
54 Café culture 174
55 What’s cooking? 177
56 Weird combinations 179
57 What if your boss is risk-averse? 182
