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Passages Of The Day |
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| Application of the Lateral Thinking Techniques - Conflicts |
Bargaining, negotiating, and fighting are all aspects of the conflict situation in which opposing interest seek to have their own way. The usual methods involve power, pressure fear, and pain. There is much more scope for creative thinking than most people (especially those involved in conflict resolution) suppose.
The search for alternatives is the basic process. These include alternative perceptions, not just of the overall scene but of every move or development. How is this being perceived? How could it be perceived? There are alternative ways of presenting suggestions. There are alternative values and interests. There are alternative packages. Being clear about the “fixed points” makes it easier to be precise about the alternatives.
The creative pause is very important. Instead of instant knee-jerk reactions to what is proposed, there is need for a pause in which the proposal is seen as much as opportunity as a threat.
The process of “challenge” is not directed at the opposing party but at one’s own thinking. Why does the situation have to be looked at this way? Are these things really important? How much is continuity? Are we locked into certain positions? What are the polarizations? What are the “essential factors”? Are they really essential?
The escape process, which so often goes along with the challenge process, can also be applied to one’s own thinking. If the conditions of discussion are suitable, then the escape provocation can be attempted on a joint basis (Po, there was no need to have fixed working hours).
There needs to be attention to concepts of value. The ability to perceive different concepts of value is the basis of successful conflict resolution. Once concepts of value have been perceived then there can be attempts to design ways of providing this value. Concepts of action and pressure also need to be extracted and redesigned (or blocked). It is a mistake to believe that all the pieces are already on board as in a chess game and that it is only a matter of moving the pieces around.
The stratal can be useful both at the beginning of, and also after, a lot of thinking has taken place. The stratal allows the thinker to pause and stand back so that new ideas can emerge.
As always the random word can be useful in one’s own thinking in order to turn up some new lines of thinking when an impasse is reached. If conditions are very favourable then the random word can be tried on a joint basis with both parties taking part in the creative exercise. |
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Passage taken from: "Serious Creativity," by Edward de Bono, ISBN 0006379583 Copyright © The McQuaig Group Inc. 1992
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