Lateral thinking, is the ability to think creatively, or “outside the box” as it is sometimes referred to in business, to use your inspiration and imagination to solve problems by looking at them from unexpected perspectives. Lateral thinking involves discarding the obvious, leaving behind traditional modes of thought, and throwing away preconceptions.

“Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower” Steve Jobs (founder of Apple)

“Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.” Edison

“The great composers did not set to work because they were inspired but became inspired because they were working.” Ari Kiev

“An essential aspect of creativity is not being afraid to fail.” Edwin Land

Lateral Thinking Quiz

The following questions will test your ability to think laterally.

If you get more than 50% of these right you’re strong on your lateral thinking skills (or maybe you’re just good at quizzes!)

If you get more than 80% of these right you’re certainly very strong on your lateral thinking skills (and we want to know you better)

1. A graduate applying for pilot training with a major airline was asked what he would do if, after a long-haul flight to Sydney, he met the captain wearing a dress in the hotel bar. What would you do?
2. If you have two coins totalling 11p, and one of the coins is not a penny, what are the two coins?
3. A man built a rectangular house, each side having a southern view. He spotted a bear. What colour was the bear?
4. If you were alone in a deserted house at night, and there was an oil lamp, a candle and firewood and you only have one match, which would you light first?
5. What can you put in a wooden box that would make it lighter? The more of them you put in the lighter it becomes, yet the box stays empty.
6. Which side of a cat contains the most hair?
7. The 60th and 62nd British Prime Ministers of the UK had the same mother and father, but were not brothers. How do you account for this?
8. How many birthdays does a typical woman have?
9. Why can’t a man living in Canterbury be buried west of the River Stour?
10. Divide 40 by half and add ten. What is the answer?
11. To the nearest cubic centimetre, how much soil is there in a 3m x 2m x 2m hole?
12. Is it legal for a man to marry his widow’s sister?
13. If you drove a coach leaving Canterbury with 35 passengers, dropped off 6 and picked up 2 at Faversham, picked up 9 more at Sittingbourne, dropped off 3 at Chatham, and then drove on to arrive in London 40 minutes later, what colour are the driver’s eyes?
14. A woman lives on the tenth floor of a block of flats. Every morning she takes the lift down to the ground floor and goes to work. In the evening, she gets into the lift, and, if there is someone else in the lift she goes back to her floor directly. Otherwise, she goes to the eighth floor and walks up two flights of stairs to her flat. How do you explain this?
15. A window cleaner is cleaning the windows on the 25th floor of a skyscraper, when he slips and falls. He is not wearing a safety harness and nothing slows his fall, yet he suffered no injuries. Explain.
16. The band of stars across the night sky is called the “…… Way”?
17. Yogurt is made from fermented ……..
18. What do cows drink?
19. A farmer has 15 cows, all but 8 die. How many does he have left?
    
20. The Zorganian Republic has some very strange customs. Couples only wish to have female children as only females can inherit the family’s wealth, so if they have a male child they keep having more children until they have a girl. If they have a girl, they stop having children. What is the ratio of girls to boys in Zorgania?
21. If the hour hand of a clock moves 1/60th of a degree every minute, how many degrees will it move in an hour?
22. How many hands does the clock of Big Ben have?
23. How many degrees are there between clock hands at 3.15 pm?
24. How many times do the hands of a clock overlap in 24 hours?
25. John’s mother has 3 children, one is named April, one is named May. What is the third one named?
26. You are running in a race. You overtake the second person. What position are you in?
27. In the same race, if you overtake the last person, then you are in what position?
28. Using just ONE straight cut, how can you cut a rectangular cake into two equal parts when a rectangular piece has already been removed from it?
29. A man went into a store to buy an item. He asked the assistant:
    “How much does it cost for one?”
    The assistant replied 2 pounds, Sir”
    “And how much for 10?”
    The assistant replied “£4”
    “How much for 100?”
    He got the reply “£6”
    What was the man buying?
30. A man and his son were in a car crash. The father was killed and the son was taken to hospital with serious injuries. The examining doctor exclaims: “But, this is my son!”.
    How can this be?
31. There are 23 football teams playing in a knockout competition. What is the least number of matches they need to play to decide the winner?
32. You have to choose between three rooms.
    The first is full of raging fires
    The second is full of tigers that haven’t eaten in 3 years.
    The third is full of assassins with loaded machine guns.
    Which room should you choose?
33. Removed
34. Name three consecutive days in English without using the words Tuesday, Thursday, or Saturday
35. What’s unusual about this paragraph? Just how quickly you can find out what is so funny about it. It looks fairly ordinary and plain that you might think nothing is wrong with it. In fact, nothing is wrong with it! It is highly curious though. Study it and think about it, but you still may not find anything odd. But if you work at it a bit, you could just find out.

END of QUIZ

“The fear of making a mistake, of risking an error, or of being told you are wrong is constantly with us. And that’s a shame. Making mistakes is not the same thing as being creative, but if you are not willing to make mistakes, then it is impossible to be truly creative. I f your state of mind is coming from a place of fear and risk avoidance, then you will always settle for the safe solutions—the solutions already applied many times before.

Failing is ?ne, necessary in fact. But avoiding experimentation or risk—especially out of fear of what others may think—is something that will gnaw at your gut more than any ephemeral failure. A failure is in the past. It’s done and over. In fact, it doesn’t exist. But worrying about “what might be if…” or “what might have been if I had… ” are pieces of baggage you carry around daily. They’re heavy, and they’ll kill your creative spirit. Take chances and stretch yourself. You’re only here on this planet once, and for a very short time at that. Why not just see how gifted you are?” Daniel Garr