Willingness to look for ideas—even when doing so doesn’t seem necessary—is the very essence of creativity. Becoming adept at working with concepts makes the search for ideas much easier.

Concepts are general ideas or general ways of doing things. Every concept has to be put into action through a specific idea. Thinking of a variety of specific ways to implement a concept is one way to generate ideas. Then each specific idea can be mined for additional concepts. Extracting a new concept creates a whole new pathway for generating further specific ideas.

Alternatives / Concept Extraction Example: How do we stop this area of the city from flooding?

One concept is to erect barriers that prevent the water from entering the area.
So what are some specific ideas for barriers we could erect?

We could create earthen mounds along the river banks.
We could put up a concrete damn to hold the water back.

What is another concept behind creating earthen mounds?

Changing the surface of the landscape near the river.

What are some other specific ideas for changing the landscape to help prevent flooding?

Dig auxiliary channels that drain the excess water safely away from the city.
Make the main river channel deeper and wider so that its capacity to hold water is expanded.

Learn more about Edward de Bono's Lateral Thinking Thinking Tools.