1) Lateral thinking involves an indirect and creative approach to problem solving using reasoning that is not immediately obvious or obtainable through traditional logic alone. 2) Vertical thinking is a selective and sequential approach that moves in a linear fashion, with each step being precise, necessary, and logically correct. 3) While vertical thinking is useful for analysis and evaluation, lateral thinking is better for generating new ideas and solutions to intractable problems by considering unorthodox approaches and elements outside typical consideration.

1. LATERAL VS VERTICAL
THINKING
BACHELOR OF LIBRARY SCIENCE
SFD 1123 ANALYTICAL SKILLS & CRITICAL THINKING
26TH FEBRUARY 2014
NUR AINA AMIRA BINTI RASIDI 4134002361
WHITNEY ANGELLY BENDIALA 4134004341

2. LATERAL THINKING: DEFINITION
• Lateral thinking is solving problems through
an indirect and creative approach, using reasoning that is not immediately
obvious and involving ideas that may not be obtainable by using only
traditional step-by-step logic.
• Lateral thinking:
- about reasoning that is not immediately obvious
- about ideas that may not be obtainable
- seeks the solution to difficult problems through untraditional methods

3. LATERAL THINKING: CHARACTERISTICS
• Generative nature of publishing ideas, it aims to find alternatives to target.
• Are interested in finding a variety of possibilities. Interested in making the assessment
or decision.
• Do not like to defend the idea even though it is true. This idea is proved correct
assume still be improved.
• Interested in finding such a good idea to be able to create a better idea.
• Never a judgment. Lateral thinking does not hold a pattern to be wrong but the
rigidity of the same to be wrong.
• Lateral thinking is directly related to the information handling behaviour of the mind.
• Concerned with changing patterns or breaking out of the concept prisons of old
ideas and generation of new ideas and insights.
• Closely related to creativity. Though creativity is too often the descriptions of a result,
lateral thinking is the description of the process.

4. LATERAL THINKING: THE IMPORTANCE
• Ability to be able to think quickly, laterally and if needed, sidestep
conventions and rules.
• Makes new ideas possible.
• As a one way of doing this is to take two random, unrelated ideas, and put
them together to create something new.
• Able to look at things differently, and make an unlikely connection, this will
take us to a new way of problem solving.
• As a prepared to try a new thinking process and our thoughts will be
generative.

5. THE EXAMPLE OF LATERAL THINKING
One day you have just played tennis with your friends, you are
very thirsty when you arrive home. You go into the kitchen and
you find a bottle of soda in the fridge. However, you cannot find
a bottle opener. The solutions to get rid of soda. The person has
already broken free from the given constrains and start to attack
the problem from different directions. Therefore, this group of
solutions are generated from lateral thinking.
Solutions:
• Drink something else, say tap water
• Or buy a drink from convenience store
• Have some fruit instead
• Keep on look for other drinks at home.
• etc...

6. LATERAL THINKING: THE CONCLUSION
• A way of thinking that seeks a solution to an
intractable problem through unorthodox methods or
elements that would normally be ignored by logical
thinking. When you are faced with fast-changing
trends, fierce competition, and the need to work
miracles despite tight budgets, you need Lateral
Thinking. Developing breakthrough ideas does not
have to be the result of luck or a shotgun effort.
Lateral thinking will also help with strategic planning
and thinking outside the box of everyday issues.

7. VERTICAL THINKING: DEFINITION
• Vertical thinking is a selective, moves only if there is a direction in
which to move, and also in sequential.
• Vertical thinking is:
- a method of thinking in very liner, selective pathways.
- each step is precise, necessary and must be correct.
- the way of thinking by exact and logical reasoning of the
situation.
- solve the problem in direct ways.

8. VERTICAL THINKING: CHARACTERISTICS
• Reactive thinking.
• Structured: encourages a sequential approach.
• Takes a logical approach.
• Follows the most likely path.
• Analysis on ideas.
• Must be correct at every step.
• Concentrate and excludes what is irrelevant.
• Good in made analysis but hard to accept the opinion.
• May look for different approaches until one finds a promising one.

9. VERTICAL THINKING: THE IMPORTANCE
• Uses information for it own sake in order to
move forward to a solution.
• Each answer needs evidence.
• It will not easily fooled.
• Aimed to evaluate what is right and wrong.

10. THE EXAMPLE OF VERTICAL THINKING
One day you have just played tennis with your friends, you are very thirsty
when you arrive home. You go into the kitchen and you find a bottle of soda
in the fridge. However, you cannot find a bottle opener. The solutions is focus
on how to open the bottle. This kind of solution is the result of processing
known theories, knowledge and experience on ways of opening things.
Therefore, this group of solutions are generated from vertical thinking.
Solutions:
• Open the bottle with teeth
• Open the bottle with the edge of table or wall
• Borrow bottle opener from others
• Put the bottle into the fridge. Soda expands when it is frozen, the pressure
generated by the expanding soda could force the bottle to open.
• Break the bottle
• etc....

11. VERTICAL THINKING: THE CONCLUSION
• Vertical thinking deprives of novelty, which is
essential to find and apply to innovative process
solving direct problem. It does not help generate
any new ideas since it looks for a finite approach
to the problem. So, vertical thinking helps us use
details at every step. If information is not available,
no further course of action can be taken.
Therefore, we do not think one can solely depend
on this problem solving approach, especially if the
problem looks intractable.