Lateral Thinking OUTSIDE the box

Morning!

Quick!  Tell me!  Of what does the picture for this blog post remind you????

If you say

"Sunny-side up egg that went wrong in its childhood!"

You’re wrong!

How ’bout:

"Top view of stylish judge fashion wig that just never caught on!"

El-wrongo again!

It’s actually the unwrapped foil that contained the mass of uncooked brown rice you see in the bowl next to it.  And no, the dark splotch on the aluminum foil is NOT "brown rice color"; instead (get this!)

The brown rice has something in it that REACTS with the aluminum…and discolors it.

Think about this now – a METAL is mercilessly devoured by a GRAIN.

This is what arrived in my inbox from Nicky510, along with an explanation (really fascinating) and a segue into the word CRISIS – the Chinese word for that is composed of the two following concepts.

Disaster

and

Opportunity

I was reminded of this myself over the weekend, when Honorable Daughter 1 flung herself down next to me on the bed where I was actually (yes!  it happens!) relaxing and said, "MOM!  I need to drop an egg and not have it break!"

I mean, hey.  Don’t all kids want to do this?

It turns out it’s part of a science experience she’ll be doing in her tech ed class.  Now, this particular young’un of mine thinks very scientifically and can solve the majority of problems that require sheer brainpower….but when it comes to thinking OUTSIDE the box, she’s still in major learning mode.

I call it, casting one’s mind to the universe and seeing what rises in the imagination!

Think about it.  Every time you encounter a problem (ahem, opportunity in disguise), you can remember what has worked before in the past, or research it online….OR, choose to say, what really weird concept can I apply to this that sane human beings would never consider?

Answers to that last question are what gives birth to greatness, I believe.

This process is called ‘lateral thinking’ and it’s one that I’ve introduced to my family years ago.  It’s a really superb way of approaching unique problems….and can often give yourself an opportunity for far greater success then is generally obtained.

Here’s a typical lateral thinking puzzle:

A man lives on the twelfth floor of an apartment building. Every morning he takes the elevator down to the lobby and leaves the building. In the evening, he gets into the elevator, and, if there is someone else in the elevator — or if it was raining that day — he goes back to his floor directly. Otherwise, he goes to the tenth floor and walks up two flights of stairs to his apartment.

Why is this?   If you know the answer, feel free to add it in the comments below.

As you can see, lateral thinking is ‘way way way WAY different than, well, normal thinking!   But practiced regularily, it can really help you think outside the box.

Enjoy,

Barbara Ling

ps – speaking about lateral thinking: