Lateral Thinking

In the Gordian Knot legend, Alexander the Great, after being challenged to untie a complex knot, cut it with his sword, which took everyone by surprise. He was expected to untangle it laboriously. The Gordian Knot teaches us always to reframe the problem and question the unexpected or the obvious.

Lateral thinking is thinking outside the box by playing with concepts, assumptions and the expected. It’s not just solving the problem—it’s questioning how the problem is framed.

• Associate two opposed concepts to create something new: gardening and time management, bicycle and spoon, candle and keyboard.
• Take inspiration from another discipline or field: a software engineer takes inspiration from carpentry
• Challenge the premise before chasing the answer

Sometimes, the cleanest solution is the one no one expects.