lateral thinking

Coined by Edward de Bono in 1967.

lateral thinking (uncountable)

1. The use of reasoned thought in a nonstandard, or nonlinear logical way to find a solution to a problem.

• creative thinking
• divergent thinking
• think outside the box

• lateral thinking on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “lateral thinking”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “lateral thinking”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.