Rising above boundaries: The transformative role of lateral thinking

IN 1968, a good, but not exceptional, athlete won the high jump gold medal at the Olympics. The man, Dick Fosbury, leapt higher than every other competitor at the Mexico City Games. And he did it by jumping backwards while everyone else dove over the bar.

Since then, a whole lot of athletes have jumped higher than Fosbury. But many of them used his technique – which remains the most common and most successful jumping style today.

The so-called “Fosbury flop” is a rather literal example of an important truth: We make the biggest breakthroughs when we approach challenges from new angles. And in today’s constantly changing business environment – from globalisation to climate to technology – companies and their leaders cannot afford to keep jumping over the bar the same way, year after year.

Thinking fast, slow, in all directions

Approaching problems from new approaches is known as “lateral thinking”. The term was coined in the 1960s by Maltese psychologist Edward de Bono, who believed that “the human brain has been trained to think ‘inside the box’ and seek typical, predictable solutions”. To break away from such limitations, de Bono proposed lateral thinking as “a new way to move past our cognitive biases and be more inventive”.

This approach has many benefits for businesses.

First, lateral thinking enables companies to address complex challenges that traditional thinking might overlook. Take, for example, the challenge of chronic pain. Globally, about 20 per cent of adults suffer from chronic pain. However, since pain is influenced by biological, psychological and social factors, it can be difficult for healthcare providers to accurately assess its severity. In fact, even today, there is no single test or measurement that can be used to diagnose it.

Instead of providing patients with more of the same traditional solutions – such as medication and physiotherapy – to reduce the sensations of pain, some scientists have been experimenting with jumping over the pain-relief high jump bar backwards, using virtual reality (VR) to help patients manage the way they perceive pain. Recently, a VR-based therapy called RelieVRx was tested on 179 people with lower back pain, and 46 per cent of the participants stated that it decreased pain intensity by over half.

Or take construction, an industry faced with rising material costs. To keep construction budgets in check, China-based software company DataMesh found an unexpected source of inspiration: video games. Specifically, DataMesh uses Unreal Engine, a real-time 3D creation tool typically used in video game development, to build high-fidelity, 3D models of projects and digital twins. This not only leads to improved planning and better visualisation of the project, but digital twins also allow for accurate quantity take-offs and cost estimation, enabling better budget planning. Construction teams can optimise material usage, streamline procurement and minimise waste.

Second, lateral thinking promotes creativity, which can lead to the development of innovative products, services and processes. A prime example of this is e-commerce and its impact on traditional bricks-and-mortar retail stores. Instead of closing their shops or moving their operations wholly online, some brands have chosen to tackle both online and offline markets at once. Ikea, for example, has an app that allows users to see how the company’s furniture will look in their home. Users can simply point their phone’s camera at a room and the app will overlay 3D models of Ikea furniture in the space. From there, they can either purchase the item straight away or visit the physical stores to try them out.

Finally, thinking laterally enables organisations to adapt quickly to market shifts. As an example, the Singapore government’s road map for the built environment highlights a major focus on sustainability. In response, companies like Johnson Controls are rolling out innovations that apply artificial intelligence (AI) and data analytics to make buildings smarter and more sustainable. For instance, the company’s OpenBlue product is a suite of connected platforms, solutions and services that connect and automate all systems and devices within a building. By reading and analysing live activities using the power of AI, OpenBlue can identify and optimise energy usage across all building systems, thereby creating a cleaner, comfortable and sustainable environment for its occupants.

Lateral thinking is about challenging the current paradigm, which can be a painful, disruptive process in any industry. However conservative or risk-adverse your business may be, lateral thinking must come from the top. Business leaders need to put several things in place before lateral thinking can be allowed to flourish and thrive across the business.

Experimentation in the workplace must be encouraged. Leaders can create a conducive environment where teams can experiment, play around with new ideas and, most importantly, fail without consequences. Instead of celebrating only those with the “right ideas”, it is important to recognise the contributions of others that helped to push the transformative and beneficial ideas forward.

Lean into new ideas; invite exploration, even those that seem counter-intuitive or disruptive at first. By inviting exploration, you are showing curiosity – and curiosity is a contagion that should be encouraged, not stifled. Leaders, too, must come with “intellectual humility”, or a willingness to engage in things we do not necessarily agree with. In fact, having done some research on this front, intellectual humility is the No 1 skill businesspeople can develop to become more innovative.

Finally, start small: Instead of a company-wide campaign to promote lateral thinking, start with smaller groups. Small groups have lesser power dynamics and can help build psychological safety. Plus, it gives teams the chance to build resilience and, over time, get better at dealing with ambiguity, uncertainty and change.

Faster, higher, further

That said, it is human nature to resist change. Even the most successful organisations seek typical, predictable solutions, as de Bono said many decades ago. Do this often enough and we become cognitively entrenched and cannot see alternate ways of jumping over the high jump bar, even if we want to.

Ultimately, lateral thinking is more than just thinking outside the box – it is to recognise that there is no box other than the one we build for ourselves. The truth that leaders and their teams must embrace is that what helped us get to where we are today is not what will take us to the next level. We need to think differently to go faster, higher and even further beyond.

The writer, an entrepreneur, will be speaking at the Built Environment Leaders’ Summit on Sep 6 at Sands Expo and Convention Centre