Alternative Perspective

Lateral Thinking ‘Alternative Perspective’ – A strategy of disruption that involves canvassing the perspectives of others, or, imagining (or role-playing) perspectives other than your own.

Imagine this scenario.

A Police Officer is called to a nighttime disturbance at a residential address. A neighbor has reported the sound of a man’s angry voice, a woman’s desperate scream, and several gunshots. Upon arrival, the neighbor tells the officer that the married couple that resides there often have violent arguments. The officer cautiously enters the premises to find a dead woman with a gunshot to the heart, and a dead man with a gunshot to the head, the smoking gun still in his hand.

The officer gets onto his police radio and reports a murder/suicide.

We call the police officer’s process ‘critical thinking’. Solid evidence presents a logical explanation, allowing an experienced (or qualified) person to make a judgment call (or critical decision). It is the pathway of dominant thinking.

Now imagine you are an accomplished lateral thinker and senior detective sent to investigate the scene. While the evidence seems to corroborate the police officer’s assumption that this is a case of domestic violence murder/suicide, you decide to explore some alternatives while the scene is ‘fresh’ and uncontaminated. To break the shackles of dominant thinking, you employ the lateral thinking strategy ‘Alternative Perspectives’.

A burglar’s perspective – Sneaking into the home to rob the premises, the burglar is discovered. He kills the couple, leaving the smoking gun in the husband’s hand to cover his crime.

You immediately ask the police officer to talk to the neighbors to be sure that the male voice that they heard is identified as the husband. You send patrols around the neighborhood to question and record anyone wandering the area. You look for any signs of robbery and obvious missing items. You make sure that forensics know that they need to check the dead man for powder burn residue to be sure he fired at least one of the shots.

An angry neighbor’s perspective – Could a neighbor have staged the whole thing? You decide to check for any ‘history’ of neighborhood disputes and ask one of your fellow detectives to immediately talk to neighbors about any disputes, theories, and if they recognized/identified any voices other than those of the murdered couple.

A jealous lover’s perspective – Could a third party be involved in the crime? A quick check of phone records, text messages, and some ‘discrete’ inquiries into what friends and family knew of the couple’s personal circumstances.

The workmate’s perspective …

And so on.

This lateral thinking strategy is used by many REAL detectives in REAL investigations. ‘Alternative Perspectives’ are used to break the shackles of dominant/critical thinking to explore creative thinking alternatives while the crime scene is fresh and not ‘contaminated.

Creative thinking is something that everyone can achieve.

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