lateral thinking in the army
Edward de Bono has often said that it is the business world which 'gets' lateral thinking because it is a results based world. I was reading recently about the British Army out in Afghanistan and it struck me that the world the frontline soldier inhabits is a similar sort of world with dire consequences if you get it wrong. So I am curious to know if anyone knows whether any armed forces anywhere have been taught lateral thinking in any consistent way. (After all it can't all be drills, standing operating procedures etc.)
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by B Ashley on -
Yes, I was aware of the context in which the army operate but it struck me that it would be a fertile area in which to introduce idea creativity. I would disagree completely about the military option occurring when thinking fails although I understand how you meant it. The military option is completely about Operacy, and this certainly was one area which I would have thought would have been appealing.
But the question was really whether anyone knew whether any armed force anywhere was actually being taught thinking skills as part of basic training.
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Permalink Reply by B Ashley on
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You've been doing some red hat thinking! The military world is not like medicine where doctors are supposed to diagnose and follow through with set solutions. Yes, soldiers do have to follow orders but the possibilies for lateral thinking increase the further you go up the ranks. Officers would have plenty of room to use lateral thinking within the broad framework of their orders. Which arnt always about war or killing.
It isn't a bad idea at times to put morality aside or practise OPV (against one's natural inclinations) simply to get an unbiased picture and that picture is often more interesting than would at first appear. In your first reply you mentioned that you knew some people in the army. Could you ask them whether they have heard of lateral thinking being practised?
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Permalink Reply by B Ashley on
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interesting weekly comment on edwdebono.com concerning doctors . . . !
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Permalink Reply by B Ashley on
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I have a problem with morality in that it can be used to justify anything or any position and all too often is an excuse not to think or to move things forward in a positive way. So I suppose it is a good idea to be very clear which values are being expoused, ( and for what purpose.).
Militarism is bad, and yet if England had'nt fought during the second world war I am absolutely convinced the world would be a far worse place.
Doctors are good, yet in England the average pay of GPs is well above that of most civil servants; a third of the problems they deal with are poverty related. Would doctors consider reducing their salary by a half say and have the money redistributed to their patients? It might be more effective for their patients health. I would have thought this idea would be laughed out of court.
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Permalink Reply by Barry Wah Lee on -
The Army absolutely needs lateral thinking.Also if there was more lateral thinking beforehand,there may not even have to be wars.Send in the Clowns! Make pyrotechnic displays instead of bombings,get people behind you.Make the world a brighter place.
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Permalink Reply by Bhuvaneshwar Joshi on
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Not that I am aware of Lateral Thinking being used by anyarmy anywhere but to me it appeals to reason that all large organisations including army have to manage non-technical operationswhere LT could be a useful tool to get solutions.However,Six hats could very effectively be used by armed forces even for their strategic thinking.
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