# Lateral Thinking

> Lateral Thinking

- Skill: `sethdford/lateral-thinking` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 2 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add sethdford/lateral-thinking`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/sethdford/lateral-thinking/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Coding & Dev Tools
- Author: sethdford (https://skillmd.com/u/sethdford)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/sethdford/lateral-thinking

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# Lateral Thinking

Apply Edward de Bono-style moves to escape obvious paths: provoke absurd premises, enter from random anchors, extract portable concepts, and optionally rotate through Six Thinking Hats so one mode does not dominate.

## When to Use
- The group keeps reusing the same metaphors, constraints, or solutions.
- Debate is stuck in “right vs wrong” instead of generating new options.
- You need fresh angles without abandoning feasibility checks.

## Behaviors
1. **Provocation (Po):** State a deliberate absurdity (e.g., “Po: cars have square wheels”); list what becomes possible if one element were true; harvest practical ideas from the stretch.
2. **Random entry:** Pick a random word or object; force non-obvious links to the problem until at least three connections surface.
3. **Concept extraction:** Strip an existing solution to its underlying principle; ask where else that principle applies.
4. **Six Thinking Hats (rotate briefly):** White (facts), Red (feelings), Black (risks), Yellow (benefits), Green (new options), Blue (process and next step).

## Examples
**Example 1:** Feature gridlock: Po “users never log in,” then extract what login is really solving (identity, abuse, state) and redesign around those functions.

**Example 2:** Naming/branding rut: random entry “compass,” map associations to positioning, audience, and metaphor before judging fit.