Lateral instinct

24/4/2019

‘Spontaneous counter-intuition.’ Those odd moments when, out of the blue, we find ourselves, suddenly and unexpectedly, acting radically-contrarily to our normal thinking patterns and behaviours – and yet with near-miraculous results. Have you ever experienced such a moment? What happened? What sense do you make of it?

'If you give children a problem, they may come up with a highly original solution, precisely because they don’t have the established route to it.’ (Edward de Bono)

It was dark as I meandered through heavy, stationary traffic on my trail bike, trying not to be dazzled by headlights of on-coming cars. Suddenly, I noticed the strange shadowy figures of two men, one man attacking the other, punching him violently in the face against his car. Feeling like Bradley Cooper on NZT in Limitless, I pulled over fearlessly and strode towards them. I flipped up my visor, approached the aggressor, held out my arms in open gesture and asked, compassionately, if he was OK. He looked confused, stopped and skulked away.

The other man, still propped against the side of the car with face covered in blood, thanked me profusely with breathy, gasping voice, ‘You saved my life.’ Now coming to my senses, as if waking up from sleep, I think I felt almost as surprised and relieved as he did. What on earth had just happened? How is it that I had acted so counter-intuitively in the moment and, in doing so, had ended the assault rather than escalated or become embroiled in it? I felt both stunned and amazed as I helped the man back into his car. It felt like a miracle.

Edward De Bono coined the phrase, Lateral Thinking, to describe an approach to innovation and problem-solving that involves use of creative techniques that disrupt normal thinking patterns and stimulate fresh ideas. His ingenious methods helped to solve the human-psychological problem, ‘How can I think out of the box when I am the box?’ They help to break the frozen gaze, the ‘fixed Gestalt’, the mental webs of our own creation that become so entrapping for us (Gareth Morgan). And he made it possible to learn how to do it too.

Yet how do we account for moments of instinct, of intuition, where we act, apparently laterally, without thinking, without conscious process of reasoning or decision-making? This looks and feels qualitatively different to lateral thinking, even if the results of it may appear so similar. How do we make sense of that sudden dream-like state, that doing the wildly unexpected thing that feels strange and unfamiliar, even to us? Is it something that we can learn, pray for, prepare for, especially in readiness for sudden crises? What do you think?

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46 Comments

Stacey Ashley

24/4/2019 12:26:36 pm

‘Lateral instinct’ - thought provoking concept. Thank you Nick.

Nick Wright

24/4/2019 12:28:44 pm

Thanks Stacey. 😀

Martine Bolton

24/4/2019 12:42:47 pm

No, I don't think we can prepare for it Nick. It's happened to me 2 (arguably 3) times, and it's just like a higher aspect of our nature overrides the frontal lobes and takes over temporarily! Kind of spooky, but also amazing.

24/4/2019 12:46:22 pm

Hi Martine. I would love to hear at least one of your stories! Would you be willing to share one here? I think we can develop our intuitive capabilities, e.g. in readiness for emergencies, but I too am unsure where counter-intuitive instincts come from. Mysterious and amazing.

24/4/2019 03:22:22 pm

It doesn't make for pleasant reading, but twice I've been out and about - once when walking into a club, once out on the street... similar scenario both times - extremely drunk and upset male beating up a woman. First time (club) I walked straight into the fray, cool as a cucumber, gently put my hand on the man's arm and said something I can't even remember now (gentle, understanding undertone). Fight just stopped. Same on the street some years later when I was out with my husband - I just floated over to the man, said something like "Ok, she's had enough now", and it was like consciousness just came back and everyone dispersed. The third time was a woman sitting next to me on a train who kept kicking her dog and shouting at it to settle (or similar). I don't think she was quite right. After wincing a few times and not knowing quite how to handle it, this voice just came out of me (cringe-fest, quite high pitched!) "Please can you stop kicking your dog - it's making me feel very distressed!". Note, about me, not the poor dog!! Anyway, the woman actually apologised about 3 times then went quiet. After each occasion I've had that "Fools rush in" thought. Wouldn't recommend it, but glad to have helped.

24/4/2019 03:23:58 pm

Hi Martine. Yes - harrowing stories, but what great examples of what we could call 'spontaneous counter-intuition'!

24/4/2019 06:07:29 pm

Nick, nice turn of phrase.☺️

24/4/2019 06:08:37 pm

Thanks Martine. 😀

Amy Wallin

25/4/2019 10:03:31 am

Highly appreciate the post, Nick, I’d love to share it.

25/4/2019 10:04:20 am

Hi Amy. Thanks for such encouraging feedback. Please feel free to share!

Felicity Clarke

25/4/2019 10:59:07 am

Fight or Flight mode springs to mind when reading this. Thanks for sharing Nick.

25/4/2019 11:00:56 am

Thanks Felicity. Yes, if we think of 'fight' or 'flight' (or 'freeze') as default responses, a lateral instinct might be to find ourselves doing something completely different in that critical moment.

Sharman Jeffries PhD

25/4/2019 11:17:42 am

The ‘free child’ in action. A good post Nick. Thanks for this.

25/4/2019 11:18:45 am

Thanks Sharman. Yes, perhaps an example of 'free child' at its most free..!

Julie Bullen

25/4/2019 01:29:19 pm

Thank goodness!

25/4/2019 01:31:28 pm

Hi Julie. Indeed! 🙏😎

Cynthia Gregory, MFA, CPCC

25/4/2019 02:19:40 pm

Such a great example of nonviolent communication. Thanks for the reminder.

25/4/2019 02:21:09 pm

Thanks Cynthia. I wish I could say it had been a conscious decision at the time. This lateral instinct took me, too, by surprise.

Terry Pearce

25/4/2019 04:44:06 pm

Good use of storytelling to pose an interesting question. I feel maybe an answer lies in the child quote.

When we're so far outside or normal challenges and therefore options, we have no established choices. You've used what's on the face of it an inappropriate approach (asking the aggressor if *he* is okay), but it worked, maybe because it shocked him out of his range of 'normal' responses and left him without a familiar/prepared option.

What might have seemed a more 'appropriate' response like counter-aggression or threats to call the police might have got a much worse result because they might well have been within his range of experience (if he's the kind of person who does things like assaulting people), and might have prompted a 'standard' response in his terms, like further aggression.

For me, there's something good here in terms of the unexpected having more value purely for its unexpectedness. It's hard to know how to use this in the split second of a moment like that, but when we have time to consider, I think we should definitely value the unexpected.

25/4/2019 04:50:23 pm

Thanks Terry. I found your comments very insightful, particularly in terms of: 'when we're so far outside or normal challenges and therefore options, we have no established choices' and 'it shocked him out of his range of normal responses and left him without a familiar/prepared option.' I guess that's the value of a lateral instinct experience. It is unexpected and disruptive of the norm, thereby opening out new possibilities.

Alan Grills

25/4/2019 04:51:25 pm

Amazing repose you had, you are riding a dirt bike in challenging weather, and you are able to be in a Positive Neural response as you see another’s life being threatened, good self regulation (pfc)or you have laid down positive pathways that override “fight, flight, freeze etc”hypo campus”.... now you had some seconds to park bike and walk up to guy, you felt powerful v powerless, your gesture was totally open with words that didn’t fit the usual response he would have expected, aggression...please excuse my “talking out loud” trying to process all of this...you were able to call on your desired best self in this event but surprised yourself, but should we be surprised if you have been diligently laying down pathways that bring out the best in you??? Thanks for sharing this great thought provoking moment..I know what I’ve just written isn’t hitting the mark but you have got me thinking Nick😎👏

25/4/2019 04:55:40 pm

Thanks Alan. You've got me thinking too! I especially like the notion of 'laying down pathways' over time that, perhaps, create the possibility for new and different intuitive-instinctive responses to emerge to those that we ordinarily experience as the norm.

25/4/2019 08:14:31 pm

Thanks Nick for reading my unchecked response ie hypo v hippocampus etc...yes, I’m thinking from a plasticity point of view, and ones self regulation from positivity v negativity emotional attractors...anyway, great to chew on some more👍

25/4/2019 08:15:44 pm

Hi Alan. Not sure I understood that point...hypo vs hippo? I'm intrigued.

Joanna Sapir

25/4/2019 04:56:36 pm

Wow!

25/4/2019 04:58:34 pm

Hi Joanna. You made me smile. 😀

25/4/2019 05:10:43 pm

Likewise :)

25/4/2019 05:12:48 pm

Hmmm... does that constitute a spontaneous counter-intuitive response? 🤔

26/4/2019 05:36:12 pm

Heehee, I think spontaneous and intuitive yes, but counter-intuitive no. Smiles beget smiles!

26/4/2019 05:37:16 pm

True. 😀

Adrian Brown

25/4/2019 04:59:38 pm

Great post and story, we can all do with a bit more lateral in our lives. It reminds me of a story an American Trainer told me. He was walking to his car with his wife from the restaurant they had just eaten at. A man jumped out and pointed a gun at him and shouted: "give me your money". The trainer quietly and resolutely replied by saying " I decline your request". The man with the gun was confused, put his gun away and left. The lateral approach is never expected and is often a great response to bullies and leaders with psychopathic tendencies.

25/4/2019 05:01:40 pm

Thanks Adrian. I love that response!! It reminds me of a friend who, when confronted by a street gang, responded in passionate, animated Shakespearean language. They too looked confused and walked away.

25/4/2019 05:14:12 pm

There is another side to this and relevant to being a great leader. That is when you are really grounded, have clarity, certainty and confidence around your business and your own self-leadership you are more able to think counter-intuitively/laterally about the problem.
You are not concerned about yourself, you are focused on the outside world because you are grounded inside. It points to the distinction between a self-serving leader and a selfless-serving or servant leader.

25/4/2019 05:21:10 pm

Hi Adrian. That's an interesting perspective. It suggests, I think, that if we are relaxed, feel safe in our own skin (so-to-speak), we are more likely to feel free and, therefore, be open and able to think laterally. That contrasts with my own experiences of 'lateral instinct' which has, for me, normally surfaced and taken over in moments of crisis without conscious thought process.

Kathrin

25/4/2019 08:47:52 pm

People often want to plan everything and know what and how to do something. Unscheduled and unintentionally intended action astonishes them. Those who believe in God can be sure that God is working with and through us in this unplanned and amazing action.

25/4/2019 08:55:37 pm

Hi Kathrin. I love your mysterious-sounding expression, the 'unintentionally intended' (in contrast to planned) that so astonishes us. I too see God at work in so many people and situations that I encounter and experience in life!

Kim Winston-Owen

26/4/2019 10:33:31 am

Great example, great story thank you. I tried something much less daring recently- I found it works well when you can recognise fear as a behavioural motivation and can apply a genuine out of the box appeal to offer your support.

26/4/2019 10:35:56 am

Thanks Kim. To be honest, I didn't try anything daring or otherwise in the situation that I described here. That would have required conscious thought and decision-making. I would love to hear what you did and what happened in your out of the box story. I'm intrigued!

E.G. Sebastian - CPC, CSL

26/4/2019 05:32:30 pm

Nick, I hope you have some kick-ass skills; at times when you try to stop a fight, you end up beat up too. Great story and I"m glad it had a happy ending :)

26/4/2019 05:33:51 pm

Hi E.G. I wonder if I did have such skills, I would have relied on them instead and, who knows, things could have become a lot worse..?!

Rebecca Ramsay

26/4/2019 11:47:49 pm

Great story Nick. I love that your alternate instinct was so effective and ultimately came from heart not hurt. (enjoyed the Bradley Cooper pic too :)) I have certainly found in coaching over the years that when I let go and let the unknown intuition do its work the results for clients are magnified. I consider this getting myself out of the way of the work.

26/4/2019 11:50:16 pm

Thanks Rebecca. I like your expressions 'heart not hurt' and 'let the unknown intuition do its work'. Yes, I love the Limitless movie. I often feel like Bradley Cooper on NZT in the film after drinking Pepsi Max! :)

Andi

27/4/2019 11:50:31 am

It seems you had a pure reflex moment, the thought didn’t pass through your brain, your body just acted immediately by itself ~ a pure movie-protagonist superhero moment!! :D

27/4/2019 01:47:38 pm

Hi Andi. That’s a good way of describing it...although I didn’t really think of myself as a superhero! 🦸‍♂️

Lakshmidevi Vasudevan

28/4/2019 05:07:23 pm

It reminds me about the movement we did in Dance movement therapy. Moving like a box - it can be structured and restricted movement with a preconceived notion of a box or I can choose to be a flying box, magical box, treasure box, dancing box....endless possibilities for being a box! :-)

28/4/2019 05:08:16 pm

Hi Lakshmidevi. That sounds very creative! :)