Review the characteristics of lateral versus vertical thinking in Table 14.3. Try to think of a “personal” decision situation in which you would have benefited from lateral thinking but you instead used primarily vertical thinking. Why do you think lateral thinking would have been useful?

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TABLE 14.3 Characteristics of Lateral versus Vertical Thinking LATERAL THINKING VERTICAL THINKING 1. Tries to find new ways for looking at things; is concerned with change and movement. 2. Avoids looking for what is "right" or "wrong." Tries to find what is different. 3. Analyzes ideas to determine how they might be used to generate new ideas. 4. Attempts to introduce discontinuity by making "illogical" (free association) jumps from one step to another. 5. Welcomes chance intrusions of information to use in generating new ideas; considers the irrelevant. 6. Progresses by avoiding the obvious. 1. Tries to find absolutes for judging relationships; is concerned with stability. 2. Seeks a "yes" or "no" justification for each step. Tries to find what is "right." 3. Analyzes ideas to determine why they do not work and need to be rejected. 4. Seeks continuity by logically proceeding from one step to another. 5. Selectively chooses what to consider for generating ideas; rejects information not considered to be relevant. 6. Progresses using established patterns; considers the obvious. Source: Based on de Bono, E. Lateral Thinking: Creativity Step by Step. New York: Harper & Row, 1970; de Bono, E. Six Thinking Hats. Boston: Little, Brown, 1985.