The most undervalued skill? Lateral thinking.

• Traditional thinking: is vertical and the process flows in a logical manner toward a conclusion, based on available information.
• Lateral thinking: is horizontal and the process is centered on generating many ideas while de-emphasizing the details of how those ideas could be implemented.

These 2 ways of thinking are complementary.

1. The perceived stage, where the brain focuses on identifying a certain pattern (a way in which the brain frames the environment).
2. The second stage uses that pattern and builds upon it to reach a conclusion. 

But to get better at identifying patterns and prevent errors in the first stage, we need to develop our lateral thinking.

• Be aware of how your brain processes information and how it identifies patterns.
• Don't shut out all the outside stimuli and allow some form of randomness into your day. This could expose you to new insights.
• Consider alternative approaches and solutions to problems, even if you think you found the apparently suitable one.
• Deliberately alternate available options (do the opposite of an implied direction, reverse processes, etc.) This could expose you to new insights and tools to create solutions with.