Lateral Thinking for Every Day

04

Contemplate the opposite

When you want to make progress the obvious thing to do is to adapt and improve the current system or product. The lateral thinker goes way beyond this approach. They contemplate doing the opposite.

In the 1930s there were 2,000 salesmen in the US knocking on doors and selling sets of the Encyclopaedia Britannica. They were selling a highly regarded product and were on handsome commissions. By the year 2000 the set comprised 32 volumes of carefully researched entries provided by 100 full-time editors and 4,000 contributors. First published in Edinburgh in 1768, Encyclopaedia Britannica became a trusted reference work in homes, schools and offices around the world. But in 2012 the print edition ceased production. Why ...