Thinking method · de Bono, Lateral Thinking
Deliberate provocation
Introducing a deliberately unreasonable statement to break a pattern. When every option on the table is a variation of the same idea.
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Introducing a deliberately unreasonable statement to break a pattern.
The steps
- State the problem as you normally would.
- Write a deliberately impossible version: what if it cost nothing, what if it had to finish today, what if the customer built it.
- Do not evaluate it. Ask instead: what would have to be true for this to work?
- Follow that answer back towards something possible.
When to use it
When every option on the table is a variation of the same idea.
What it will not do
Most provocations lead nowhere. That is the expected hit rate, not a failure of the method.
Where it comes from: de Bono, Lateral Thinking. Described in our own words.
The module it belongs to
- Creative Thinking — Generate possibilities and new approaches