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Problem
1
A
hotel had a problem in that people complained about
the lifts being slow (especially those for the top floor)
and so they asked a consultant to look at the problem.
What was his solution?
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The
consultant advised the hotel management to
put mirrors at the lift door so that those
waiting for the lifts had something to do.
Complaints dropped by over 50 per cent.
The
consultant didn't focus on the lifts, he focused
on the people using the lifts.
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Problem 2
A
firm producing paint for road lining some years ago
recognised that their market was quite static. For growth
in sales they were relying on new roads and replacement
of old road lines. One day they sat down and looked
at a road. What did they see?
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They
saw not only the middle of the road but also
the two sides of the road. They went to a
local authority and offered to put white lines
along the sides of several miles of the most
dangerous stretch of road within the authority's
boundaries. Road accidents dropped by over
20 per cent.
By
looking laterally at the problem the firm
trebled the size of its potential market.
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Problem 3
Uncle
Ben's Rice manufactures wanted to sell more rice.
How
did they go about it?
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They
asked themselves why people don't eat more
rice. A lot of time has to be spent preparing
the sauce. Busy people don't have time to
prepare these meals. Therefore Uncle Ben's
devised and produced a range of easy-to-use
sauces which allow the cook to simply add
meat and stir for a few minutes. The instructions
on the jar add the magic words - "Serve
with a generous helping of Uncle Ben's rice".
That is an example of lateral thinking!
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Problem
4
A
small bakery produces doughnuts that they sell for 20p.
Each doughnut costs them 4p to make. Unfortunately,
material prices go up and the cost of making each doughnut
rises to 5p. Given that it is impossible to raise the
price because of fierce competition, how can the bakery
still make the same amount of money?
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Problem
5
A
foreign businessman has owed you £1000.00 for
some time. You eventually manage to get a cheque from
him just as he leaves for his home country far away.
You have no chance of contacting him again so you are
particularly relived to get the cheque. Unfortunately
your bank phones you a few days later to say that the
cheque has bounced. On further investigations you find
that he has £995.00 in his account. What do you
do?
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Pay
£5.00 into his account and then re-present
the cheque.
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