ABSTRACT
This chapter intersperses a variety of additional mechanisms suggested by various writers with the main ideas expressed by Edward de Bono about lateral thinking. Lateral thinking can be categorized under the headings of awareness, alternatives and provocative methods. Lateral thinking covers a wide variety of ways of thinking and approaching problems. Some of these approaches are suitable for paradigm stretching problems while others may be more appropriate for paradigm preserving. In making use of metaphors in creative problem solving, one starts by stating the problem, then selecting a metaphor and finally using the metaphor to generate new ideas. Avoidance devices consist of developing a frame of mind in which one tends to ignore old ideas and be open to new ways of looking at things. Intermediate impossible is associated with the idea expressed in lateral thinking that one should go beyond the traditional boundaries of a problem or situation if one is to find new insights into that problem.
