Lateral thinking

According to the Oxford English dictionary, Lateral Thinking is “...a way of thinking which seeks the solution to intractable problems through unorthodox methods, or elements which would normally be ignored by logical thinking.” Edward De Bono differentiates this from vertical thinking, which can be described as traditional, logical thought; vertical thinking looks at a reasonable view of a problem or situation and works through it, generally in a path of least resistance. On the other hand, Lateral Thinking suggests that the student or problem solver should explore different ways of examining a challenging task, instead of accepting what appears to be the solution with seemingly the most potential and going forward. De Bono is not opposed to vertical thinking; he sees Lateral Thinking as complementary (each make the other more effective).