In 1976 Montreal, Canada, hosted the Olympic Games. Montreal incurred such large debt, that it was only able to pay it off in 1993! Thereafter the International Olympic Committee struggled to find a willing host for the Games and were forced to think differently to keep the games alive. Solutions came when one man, Peter Uberroth, adopted the techniques of lateral thinking to turn the games around - from a loss into a profit. The very next host, Barcelona, are still reaping the financial rewards today. Uberroth’s thinking was written up in an article called "Lateral Logic" in which he widely attributed Edward de Bono’s lateral thinking tools as a means of finding successful solutions to the challenging problems of large scale sporting events.
This month we will look at the versatility of lateral thinking as a skill and how it has been applied to both sport as well as in business. We also look at how why these tools are sometimes not implemented and how businesses can incorporate lateral thinking for everyday success.
Adapted from de Bono Business Solutions - South Africa.
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