Repurposing Lateral Thinking

Ah the left brain/right brain model of the brain. It was the rage at one time, but has since proven too simplistic to capture the brain's complexity. BUT it is an excellent thinking model nonetheless.

When given a problem to solve your impulse will likely fall into one of two categories:

1. You will identify a strategy, seek evidence and find an answer;
2. You will identify the answer and seek evidence to prove it.

These strategies resemble deductive and inductive reasoning as a means of solving a problem. The reason you choose one form of reasoning over the other comes from cultural background, early conditioning, education and your own unique way of thinking.

Your mission is to initially act on your impulse and then switch gears to use the other method to assure that your thinking is thorough, comprehensive and solves the problems from differing points of view.

Ideological Empathy

Like Alice, consider exercising your mind by trying on a particular belief or idea as though it were clothing to see how it suits you. An internal logic has led to that belief or idea, whether or not is rational. Discovering that internal logic can give you insight into that belief or idea, as well as into the minds of those who support it. Activities that encourage this exploration include:

• watching or listening to news programs whose opinions you do not share with an open mind
• playing devil's advocate when discussing issues with friends or family
• building a case with supporting evidence for an unlikely belief
• aligning yourself with others who share that particular belief or idea

You may be surprised by what your learn.

If you are writing fiction, this exploration will deepen your characters. 

Thinking and Empathy

To maximize your ability to think, you are required to learn empathy Empathy is more than understanding how another thinks, you are asked to embrace the feelings behind what they think. Many try to avoid empathy because there are pitfalls:

• Empathy requires crossing emotional boundaries by opening up to the thoughts and feelings of others.
• Empathy can suck you into a black hole of irrationality or madness of another as you try to better understand why they think they way they do.
•  Empathy can change what you think and believe.

Empathy takes practice. You learn how to balance the vulnerability that comes from sharing the thoughts and feelings of others with your ability to derive information from the experience of doing so. A few ways to practice include:

• Talk to a stranger at a grocery store shopping for a food you know you dislike.
• Engage a homeless woman into a light conversation.
• Watch a news station whose views you do not share.
• Participate in an online discussion with those who do not share your opinions.

Eventually, your skills in empathy may advance to the point where you can even empathize with family members who drive you crazy!

Spiral of Creative Thinking

Creative thinking  skills assure more success in all areas of life, especially when accompanied by critical thinking skills. The path of gaining creative thinking skills is less linear and more multi-dimensional that may require periods of backtracking, wandering aimlessly or standing still. Skills also demand emotional intelligence to manage the feelings that arise -- emotions that often have little or nothing to do with the task at hand.

The learning curve for developing creative thinking skills can be steep, but well worth the effort.

Ask Questions

We like to have answers. You can learn a lot about what and how you think by asking questions of others because:

• the answers will give you insight into what you are really asking, especially if not answered
• you may gain knowledge you didn't previously possess
• new information may open the door to new areas of thought
• if the answer is an opinion, you can compare it to what you believe
• the question you ask may lead you to what you what you really want to know

Thinkers try on new ideas like a compulsive shopper. When they fit, they can make for an entirely new presentation of your core ideas. Sometimes they don't suit one model of thought, but coordinate beautifully with another. Other times they won't fit and you are required to discard them. This seems simple and obvious, but requires practice to assure emotional baggage doesn't color or distract from what you believe to be true.

Practice asking questions for insight and the integration of new information rather than confirmation and validation. In taking yourself and your personal needs out of the questions, you are better able to focus on the ideas and the mental processing that goes with understanding those ideas.

Thinking and Feeling

Too often, thinking becomes emotional. Maybe a thought triggers old baggage. Perhaps embracing new knowledge threatens the way you see reality. The greater your resistance, the more volatile the reaction. Being open-minded is a lofty goal, but you are an emotional being.

When confronted with information that provokes an emotional reaction you have any number of choices including:

• hold onto what you know with righteous indignation and shut down your thinking
• let go (if you can) and see what happens
• distract yourself from this particular line of thinking and return when you are ready
• work through your feelings until the path is clear to move your thinking forward
• do something physical to help work through your feelings
• fight the emotional battle within yourself to allow better thinking

You will make different choices depending on the thoughts and feelings you experience. You may even cycle through many of the choices listed above or find choices of your own. Part of thinking is developing emotional intelligence, a personal process only you can design.

Opinions & Creative Thinking

Take a stand. What harm could it do? Generate discussion? Create conflict? Maybe you will learn you are mistaken? All of the above? These are good things for both the creative and critical thinker. Why?

• generating discussion opens doors to new information and pushes the limits of what you think you know
• conflict that isn't personal is an opportunity to contrast ideas and/or find ideas that embrace opposing ones
• learning to be mistaken and move on is a lifelong lesson that will haunt you unless you practice

Part of critical thinking, learning and embracing new knowledge requires overcoming resistance. You want to be right, right now, but sometimes you're not only wrong, the scaffolding of your arguments are faulty or your story is inauthentic. To others, a shift in thinking may not seem as big of a deal as it is to you. When you can set your ego aside and let go, your thinking and writing will be clearer, sounder and far more creative.