This content was created by Paul Sloane. This content was uploaded by Paul Sloane. This is a YouTube video titled "Paul Sloane on lateral thinking puzzles" (created 2009-02-06) featuring Paul Sloane giving a solo introduction to lateral thinking puzzles. He explains what lateral thinking puzzles are and how to play them (quizmaster format with yes/no/irrelevant answers), mentions uses in families, schools and management training, cites his first book Lateral Thinking Puzzlers (1991) and the well-known "man in the elevator" puzzle, and directs listeners to the Lateral Puzzles Forum and his website Destination Innovation.
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Hello, my name is Paul Sloane, and I'm the author of 18 books of lateral thinking puzzles, many co-authored with Des McHale. My very first book was this one, Lateral Thinking Puzzlers, which was published in 1991, and has gone on to be a bestseller in many, many countries across the world. So what are lateral thinking puzzles? Well, they're strange situations where you're given a little bit of information, and you have to figure out what's going on. And the way you do that is by asking questions. It works best as a game where one person acting as quizmaster knows the answer and other people fire in questions. And the quizmaster can only answer yes, no, or irrelevant. When you get stuck, you have to come at the problem from different directions. That's where the lateral thinking comes in. You have to check your assumptions, you have to try different approaches, and you have to piece together the information. They're great fun with family and friends. With children on long car journeys. They've been used in schools. They've been used in management training. Probably the best-known lateral thinking puzzle is the very first one in this book, the man in the elevator. It goes like this. A man lives on the 10th floor of a building. Every day he takes the elevator down to the ground floor to go to work or to go shopping. When he returns, he takes the elevator to the 7th floor and then walks up the remaining flights of stairs to his apartment on the 10th floor. Why does he walk up those stairs? You may know the answer to this. If you don't, drop me an email or look on the internet and you'll find it. But it's a satisfying solution. The best puzzles have an aha experience when you reach the end and you think, oh yes, that's such a good explanation. Here are some of my other books. They're all available on Amazon. And if you're interested in setting and solving lateral puzzles, then come to the Lateral Puzzles Forum. If you search for that on the internet, the Lateral Puzzles Forum, you can set and solve puzzles interactively, or come to my website, Destination Innovation. Please enjoy your puzzling.
