According to Wikipedia, “Lateral thinking is solving problems through an indirect and creative approach, using reasoning that is not immediately obvious and involving ideas that may not be obtainable by using only traditional step-by-step logic.”
This definition nails down what I am trying to do with this blog to a T.
I want to solve problems in unique and creative ways.
I want to approach technical challenges the way John Lennon approached songwriting.
Rather than following a series of steps or “best practices,” I want to flex that part of my brain that switches contexts. I want to forge new paths.
Don’t we all yearn to break convention and leave our unique mark on the problems of our day?
Last year, our band started working on a new batch of songs. Rather than write them in advance and bring them to the group (as we had done before), we played drums along to existing recordings. We were left with dozens of percussion tracks. These tracks had inherent tempos, fills and form.
When we wrote new songs on top of the existing patterns, our songwriting had to fit predefined and often random-seeming patterns. We couldn’t fall back on our usual bag of tricks. It felt dangerous.
At first glance this approach seems limiting. It was just the opposite. A new entry point to the creative process sparked a sleeping giant. Amazing things happened. Gavin and I wrote lots of new material and, best of all, it was very different from what we’d done before. I didn’t know the term then, but this is Lateral Thinking.
One of the fundamental ideas within Lateral Thinking is questioning the status quo. I should always be skeptical about supposed norms and traditional ways of doing things. Great innovators find new approaches.
Lateral Thinking notes to self:
- Question the questions.
- Always ask, “Why?”
- Be like a child.
- Marry the work that pays my bills with passion. Close that gap.
Lateral Thinking is horizontal, not vertical.
Agile, not rigid.
*PS The new songs mentioned above can be heard here.
published .
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