Lateral Thinking and Mind Mapping

Lateral thinking is a technique that seeks to solve problems by using unorthodox ideas. It involves approaching problems from unexpected angles and from different perspectives.

Mind mapping is a graphical technique that connects thoughts, ideas or concepts from a central word in a diagram form.

I like the lateral thinking approach because it “forces” you to challenge the assumptions you may have about a specific problem and to think “outside the box”. However, with lateral thinking, your thought process is less structured which can be an issue when you have a clear goal. In addition, it’s difficult to come up with a feasible solution when you only have abstract ideas.

As for mind mapping,  I like it because it connects all your ideas to the problem that you are trying to solve. Since you can visualize what you are doing, it helps structure your ideas and concepts. However, if there is too much information on your map, it can create a lot of confusion.

In summary, I believe that these idea generation techniques are complementary.  On one hand, lateral thinking helps you think “outside the box”. You are not restricted in the type of ideas that you want to generate. On the other hand, mind mapping helps you refocus on your problem and connect your ideas and concepts to the problem that you are trying to solve.