Fly Beyond The Sky

Aakash lives in a high rise building in Mumbai. He stays on the fifteenth floor. Aakash uses the elevator only until the tenth floor and then takes the stairs whenever going home. But, when he has to go out, he goes directly to the ground floor using the elevator. Why such strange behaviour when it comes to lifts?

When asked this as a riddle, many say it's because Aakash is health-conscious. He likes the view as he walks up, etc. None of them is true. The real reason is that Aakash is a dwarf and could not reach higher than the tenth-floor button.

Our regular vertical thinking cannot solve this riddle. The problem with vertical thinking is it is selective, goes in one readily available direction, it is analytical and sequential, it is also finite and follows the most likely path. On the contrary, lateral thinking is generative. You not only get to think outside the box but there is no box in the first place. Lateral thinking is provocative because it is not in a series; it can make jumps. It focuses more on collecting the dots in brainstorming than on connecting the dots in decision-making. And both collecting the dots and connecting the dots is necessary to be effective; thus, both vertical and lateral thinking are relevant. The idea is to acknowledge the presence of both and use them effectively when required.

How can one build lateral thinking? Firstly, by acknowledging that it exists. Then by allowing lateral thinking to happen by not coming in its way. Lateral thinking is generative; it requires open space to explore new ideas freely without the constraints of logic and rationale. The more the collection of dots, or inputs, the better possibility of lateral thinking. This collection is not limited to books and studies. It goes into to domain of observation, experiencing, exploring, listening to different sounds, being in different spaces, learning from different arts and allowing our imagination to fly beyond the sky.