Lateral thinking, coined by Edward de Bono, encourages creative problem-solving through unconventional reasoning and redefining concepts. It highlights that creative insights often come from thinking differently about well-known issues, as demonstrated by various puzzles illustrating non-obvious solutions. The document includes several lateral thinking puzzles to enhance this approach to reasoning.

1. Lateral thinking

2.  According to the Oxford English dictionary, Lateral Thinking is “…a way of
thinking which seeks the solution to intractable problems through
unorthodox methods, or elements which would normally be ignored by
logical thinking.
 Lateral thinking is a term coined by Edward de Bono, a Maltese
psychologist, physician, and writer
 de Bono defines Lateral Thinking as methods of thinking concerned with
changing concepts and perception.

3. 1
Lateral Thinking - Theory
The brain is not intended for creative thinking
The brains power is in forming patterns
and sticking to these patterns
SO
To become creative you need to block
normal channels and “cut across patterns
in a self-organizing information system”

4. Explaining lateral thinking
 Mind is like mud – grooves are formed where water/thoughts run. Need to
form new avenues
 “Discovery consists of looking at the same thing as everyone else and
thinking something different” Albert Szent-Gyorgyi, Nobel Prize Winner

5. Lateral Thinking
 Lateral thinking is a term coined by Edward de Bono, a Maltese
psychologist, physician, and writer
 de Bono defines Lateral Thinking as methods of thinking concerned with
changing concepts and perception.

6. Lateral Thinking Example
It took two hours for two men to dig a
hole five feet deep. How deep would
it have been if ten men had dug the
hole for two hours?
The answer appears to be 25 feet deep

7. But did you consider…?
A hole may need to be of a certain size or
shape so digging might stop early at a required
depth.
The deeper a hole is, the more effort is required
to dig it, since waste soil needs to be lifted
higher to the ground level. There is a limit to how
deep a hole can be dug by manpower without
use of ladders or hoists for soil removal, and 25
feet is beyond this limit.

8. But did you consider…?
Deeper soil layers may be harder to dig out, or we
may hit bedrock or the water table.
Are we digging in soil? Clay? Sand? Each presents
its own special considerations.
Digging in a forest becomes much easier once we
have cut through the first several feet of roots.
Each man digging needs space to use a shovel.

9. But did you consider…?
It is possible that with more people working on a
project, each person may become less efficient due
to increased opportunity for distraction, the
assumption he can slack off, more people to talk to,
etc.
More men could work in shifts to dig faster for
longer.
There are more men but are there more shovels?

10. But did you consider…?
The two hours dug by ten men may be under
different weather conditions than the two hours dug
by two men.
Rain could flood the hole to prevent digging.
Temperature conditions may freeze the men before
they finish.
Would we rather have 5 holes each 5 feet deep?

11. But did you consider…?
The two men may be an engineering crew with
digging machinery.
What if one man in each group is a manager
who will not actually dig?
The extra eight men might not be strong enough
to dig, or much stronger than the first two.

12. What is Lateral Thinking?
Lateral thinking is about reasoning that is not
immediately obvious
Ideas may not be obtainable by using only
traditional step-by-step logic.
Techniques that apply lateral thinking to problems
are characterized by the shifting of thinking patterns
away from entrenched or predictable thinking to
new or unexpected ideas.

13. What is Lateral Thinking?
 A new idea that is the result of lateral thinking is not always a helpful one
 When a good idea is discovered in this way it is usually obvious in hindsight

14. Lateral Thinking Puzzles
The Surgeon... A father and his son are
involved in a car accident, as a result of
which the father is very badly injured and
his son is rushed to hospital for emergency
surgery. However, the surgeon takes one
look at the boy and says "I cannot
operate on him". When asked why, the
surgeon replies "Because he's my son...".
How could this be the case?
Answer: The surgeon is the boy's mother...

15. Lateral Thinking Puzzles
GOAL

16. Puzzle # 1
Bottleneck
Put a coin in a bottle and then stop the opening
with a cork. How can you get the coin out of the
bottle without pulling out the cork or breaking the
bottle?
Push the cork into the bottle, and shake the coin
out.

17. Puzzle # 2
Can You Explain?
Question: How can you throw a ball as hard as
you can and have it come back to you, even if
it doesn't hit anything, there is nothing attached
to it, and no one else catches or throws it?
Answer: Throw the ball straight up in the air.

18. Puzzle # 3
Can You Explain?
Question: Two students are sitting on opposite
sides of the same desk. There is nothing in
between them but the desk. Why can't they
see each other?
Answer:
The two students have their backs to each
other.

19. Puzzle # 4
 Can You Explain?
 Question: There are only two T's in Timothy Tuttle. True or false?
 Answer: True. There are only two T's (upper case). There are also three t's
(lower case).

20. Puzzle # 5
Question: A man died and went to Heaven. He saw thousands
of people there all naked and young. He saw a couple and he
immediately recognized them as Adam and Eve. How did he
know?
Answer: no navels

21. Puzzle # 6
 Crossing the River
 Jake was standing on one side of the river, and his dog Scruffy was
standing on the other side. "Come on Scruffy, come, boy!" shouted Jake.
Scruffy crossed the river, ran to Jake, and got a treat for being a good dog.
The amazing thing was that Scruffy didn't even get wet! How did Scruffy do
that?

22. Puzzle # 6
 Possible Answers:
 The river was frozen.
 There was a bridge over the river, and Scruffy crossed the bridge.

23. Puzzle # 7
 Getting Younger? In the year 1201, a woman was 35 years old. In the year
1206, the same woman was 30. How is this possible?
 Answer: The dates are B.C. rather than A.D.

24. Puzzle # 7
 Getting Younger? In the year 1201, a woman was 35 years old. In the year
1206, the same woman was 30. How is this possible?
 Answer: The dates are B.C. rather than A.D.
30 YRS OLD 35 YRS OLD BC AD
1206 1201 0 1201 1206

25. Puzzle # 8
 Name the Dog:
 Once a dog named Nelly lived on a farm. There were three other
dogs on the farm. Their names were Blackie, Whitey, and
Brownie. What do you think the fourth dog’s name was?
 Answer: Nelly. (If there are only four dogs on the farm, the fourth
one must be Nelly!)

26. Puzzle # 9
New Shoes:
One day, two mothers and two
daughters went shopping for shoes. Their
shopping spree was successful — each
bought a pair of shoes, and all together,
they had three pairs. How is this possible?
Answer: Only three people went
shopping: a grandmother, a mother, and
a daughter — but remember that the
mother was the grandmother's daughter!

27. Puzzle # 10
 Ups and Downs: 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.

28. Puzzle # 10
 Answer: The man is a dwarf. He can't reach the upper elevator buttons, but
he can ask people to push them for him. He can also push them with his
umbrella.

29. Puzzle # 11
Three Switches and Three Bulbs:
Three switches outside a windowless room are
connected to three light bulbs inside the room. How
can you determine which switch is connected to
which bulb if you may enter the room only once?
Answer: Switch one light on for a minute; turn it off
and turn another one on. Go into the room and feel
the off-bulbs. The warm one is connected to the first
switch, the on-bulb is connected to the second.

30. Puzzle # 12
 Reading Light:
There is a girl reading quietly in a dark room. All the lights are off
and she has no special night vision or anything. How is she
reading?
 Answer: The girl is blind, she is reading Braille .

31. Puzzle # 13
 Make a word from boas that can be used to keep you clean.

32. Puzzle # 14
 ALPHABET TICKLE: Take away one of the letters in this grid and yet still leave
all 26 letters of the alphabet. Which letter can be taken away?

33. Puzzle # 14
 ALPHABET TICKLE: Take away one of the letters in this grid and yet still leave
all 26 letters of the alphabet. Which letter can be taken away?

34. Puzzle # 15
 Monday: A man rode into town on Monday. He stayed for three nights and
then left on Monday. How come?
 Answer: Monday is the name of his horse.

35. A Chess Piece
 Two grandmasters played five games of chess. Each won the same number
of games and lost the same number of games. There were no draws in any
of the games. How could this be so?

36. A Chess Piece
This is the kind of problem that depends on the
reader or the listener making the wrong
assumptions. Test all the assumptions with questions
like the following:
Q: Were they playing normal chess?
A: yes
Q: In chess, if one player wins then the other loses?
Yes, always.

37. A Chess Piece
 Q: So when one of the grandmasters won a game, the other grandmaster
lost it?
 No.
 Q: Was there anybody else involved?
 Yes.
 Let’s see it one more time.

38. A Chess Piece
 Two grandmasters played five games of chess. Each won the same number
of games and lost the same number of games. There were no draws in any
of the games. How could this be so?
 Answer: Who said they were playing each other?

39. Sizzler
I sizzle like bacon.
I’m made with an egg.
I’ve got lots of backbone,
but not even one leg.
I peel like an onion,
yet still remain whole.
I’m long like a fish pole,
but fit in a hole.
(Click for answer)

40. Sizzler
I sizzle like bacon.
I’m made with an egg.
I’ve got lots of backbone,
but not even one leg.
I peel like an onion,
yet still remain whole.
I’m long like a fish pole,
but fit in a hole.

41. Exciting!
I start with the letter E.
I end with the letter E.
I usually contain one letter.
But I am not the letter E.
(Click for answer)

42. Exciting!
I start with the letter E.
I end with the letter E.
I usually contain one letter.
But I am not the letter E.
I am an
envelope

43. I’m Never Blue
Sometimes I’m green,
sometimes I’m black.
When I’m yellow,
I’m a very nice fellow.
That’s when I’m feeling
mighty a-peeling.
What am I?
(Click for answer)

44. I’m Never Blue
Sometimes I’m green,
sometimes I’m black.
When I’m yellow,
I’m a very nice fellow.
That’s when I’m feeling
mighty a-peeling.
What am I?

45. Out of Touch
 Hey, What’s up?
They Don’t touch when you say “TOUCH.”
-- but they do touch when you say “SEPARATE.”
What are they?
(Click for answer)

46. Out of Touch
 Hey, What’s up?
They Don’t touch when you say “TOUCH.”
-- but they do touch when you say “SEPARATE.”
What are they?
Your lips

47. SSSSSSS
 What word becomes plural when an “s” is added, but becomes singular
again by adding another “s”?
hint
(Click for answer)

48. SSSSSSS
 What word becomes plural when an “s” is added, but becomes singular
again by adding another “s”?
hint
Prince
Princes
Princess

49. Peanut Riddle
 A peanut tree was planted on the west side if a house. The wind is blowing
from the north. When the peanuts fall to the ground, will they fall on the
north or south side of the tree?
(Click for answer)

50. Peanut Riddle
 A peanut tree was planted on the west side if a house. The wind is blowing
from the north. When the peanuts fall to the ground, will they fall on the
north or south side of the tree?
Peanuts don’t grow on trees – they grow under ground

51. Day by Day
 Some months have 30 days; others have 31. How many months have 28
days?
 All the months have 28 days.