---
name: lateral-thinking
description: >
  Use for lateral thinking, or when ideas feel stuck or incremental: "we've tried everything", "need a surprising angle", "break the pattern", "give me a wild idea that could work". Uses provocations and reframes. Skip for rule lookups or strict logical proofs.
license: MIT
metadata:
  author: ysskrishna
  version: "2026.10.5"
---

# Lateral Thinking

Edward de Bono's method for escaping a rut: **movement before judgment**. A provocative line is a stepping stone, never a final position.

## When to use

- Brainstorming stalled or every option is a small variation of the current one.
- The user wants a surprising angle, a reframe, or to challenge an assumption they call "just how it works".
- Conventional ideation already ran and produced nothing fresh.

Skip: a single compliant rule lookup, a tight logical proof, or users with no appetite for playful what-if moves.

## Before you start

1. State in one block: **Stuck point** (which pattern or assumption feels rigid) and **Pass**: Provocation, Extract principle, Concept fan, Candidates (or the alternate path below).
2. **Gather first.** If you can read the project or earlier attempts, check what was already tried so you do not repeat it. Ask up to 3 questions only for safety or legal limits that tools cannot answer.
3. **Light path.** Small ask: one Po, one principle, 2 ideas per fan level, 3 candidates.

Alternate paths (use only when the user asks):
- **Random entry:** replace Provocation with one random noun or image, then bridge in 3 steps (property, analogy, mechanism, application).
- **Challenge implicit rules:** list the rules everyone follows; for each give **Challenge / Reframe / Smallest test**; pick the load-bearing rule and give two ways to sidestep it; then Candidates only from that thread.

## Moves

### 1. Provocation
One primary Po (it may be illogical or impossible):

> **Po:** ... - **Movement idea:** what useful idea does this suggest if treated as a springboard?

### 2. Extract principle
From the movement idea, state one operating principle that could work in the real world, even if the Po itself is absurd.

### 3. Concept fan
Step back from the principle to broader aims, then fan forward. Three levels, per de Bono:
- **Directions:** the broadest approaches ("make the problem disappear", "make waiting pleasant").
- **Concepts:** general methods under each direction.
- **Ideas:** specific, actionable ways to carry out a concept.

Give a few branches at each level. If nothing is good enough, step back one more level and fan out again.

### 4. Candidates
Several actionable ideas, each tagged `near-term`, `stretch` or `experimental`.

## Rules

1. Never present a Po as a recommendation. Always pair it with its movement idea or principle.
2. If a provocation touches safety, ethics or law, stop and name the conflict. Do not rationalize harm.
3. Judge only in Candidates, and only for tagging feasibility.

## Pitfalls

- A Po that is merely a bad idea. It should shift your thinking, not be wrong for its own sake.
- Jumping to Candidates from the Po and skipping the principle. The principle is what makes it portable.
- Fan levels that all say the same thing. Each level should widen or narrow, not repeat.

Worked example: [references/example.md](references/example.md).

## Checklist

- [ ] Stuck point and Pass stated (alternate path noted if used)
- [ ] Po paired with a movement idea, or the alternate path completed
- [ ] Fan covers Directions, Concepts and Ideas
- [ ] Candidates tagged near-term, stretch or experimental
- [ ] No Po presented as policy