The skill that is not talked about enough

Watching the Jeff Bezos podcast with Lex Friedmann (it’s like getting an MBA in two hours, by the way) I bumped into the term lateral thinking. I had no idea what it meant, so I looked it up.

Lateral Thinking

1. the solving of problems by an indirect and creative approach, typically through viewing the problem in a new and unusual light.

In other words, “think outside the box.” In what context is it important to practice lateral thinking in your personal and professional life?

Well, if you want to get the outcome that everyone else around you is achieving, it isn’t. If you don’t, it is of vital importance. 

A famous example of lateral thinking in play is the story of Isaac Newton and the falling apple. According to legend, Newton was sitting under an apple tree when an apple fell on his head, prompting him to wonder why the apple fell straight down, rather than moving sideways or upwards.

This simple observation led him to consider the forces acting on the apple. Unlike his contemporaries, who might have taken the apple's fall for granted, Newton approached the problem from a different angle. He began to think about the forces of nature in a way that no one had before. This line of thinking eventually led to his formulation of the law of universal gravitation.

Or take the story of Steve Jobs: During his time at Reed College, Steve Jobs dropped out of his formal program but continued to audit classes that interested him. One of these was a calligraphy course. At the time, it seemed like an unconventional choice with no practical application in the world of computing, which was largely dominated by text-based, monospaced fonts with little to no concern for typography or aesthetics.

Years later, when Jobs was working on the first Macintosh, he recalled the beauty and artistry of the calligraphy he had learned. He decided to integrate a variety of typefaces and proportionally spaced fonts into the Macintosh's graphic user interface. This was a radical departure from the norm in personal computing, where such aesthetic considerations were largely ignored.

As sellers, we have a wonderful testing ground for lateral thinking. There are so many disciplines that can be related to selling – from acting to marketing and storytelling, to online dating, there are so many elements of daily life that can teach us about the art of persuasion and communication. 

When I leverage the creative side of selling, my job becomes way more stimulating and I manage to shake myself out of the daily monotony of cold-calling and keeping my CRM organized. It also turns out that finding different angles to problems can lead to extraordinary outcomes. 

What is your experience with lateral thinking, have you had moments of integrating other disciplines to selling?

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