LateralDeck

LateralDeck is a real-time multiplayer card game for remote teams to approach issues from different perspectives. Each session involves one to nine players who each receive a different card representing a lateral thinking technique, such as methods from Edward de Bono's work. A full session takes about ten minutes and does not require an account, facilitator, or prior setup.

The platform is built on 24 cards drawn from established lateral thinking frameworks, including Edward de Bono's 6+1 Hats model and the Colour Thinking Insights colour model. Each card pushes players to invert, reframe, or constrain their thinking to address a shared problem before revealing their thoughts simultaneously.

Sessions are designed for groups ranging from one to nine players, allowing teams to think differently together without hierarchy. The process forces a room of capable people to think from a direction they would never have chosen themselves in just ten minutes.

No account, facilitator, or prior setup is required to start a session, making it accessible for quick problem-solving. The tool aims to break the pattern where most teams think together and end up thinking the same way.

Dr. Sven Mulfinger, the founder and a partner at Kuma Partners, built LateralDeck after observing that smart people often circle the same conclusions. He worked with leadership teams at companies like L'Oréal, GSK, Danone, Unilever, Bertelsmann, and Scopely to develop this approach.

The company is operated by Kuma Partners, a team of seasoned coach-advisors dedicated to business and human growth. They work with founders and leadership teams to build clarity, systems, and leadership capacity required to execute under disruption and uncertainty.

The site states that 85% of executives say their organisations are bad at problem diagnosis, according to McKinsey & Company. LateralDeck aims to address this by introducing a discipline to separate critical strategic data from everyday noise.

The platform claims that lateral thinking occurs when you stop trying to solve the problem and start questioning whether you are addressing the right one. This quote is attributed to Edward de Bono on the website.

The website mentions that the ultimate bottleneck in problem-solving is often cognitive range, which is the ability to look at a high-stakes problem from an entirely new angle. LateralDeck is designed to force a room to think differently, simultaneously, without hierarchy.

The platform is built on three principles: clarity, which avoids oversimplification, and two others that shape how the tool was designed. These principles ensure the discipline required to focus on critical strategic data.

The tool is intended for teams that want to build clarity, systems, and leadership capacity required to execute under disruption and uncertainty. It helps leaders see what they are missing and make harder decisions faster.

The platform is described as a direct response to a pattern seen in rooms where smart people face real problems but end up with the same thinking. It was built to address this specific issue.

The tool is designed to help organizations capable of absorbing increasing complexity while maintaining alignment. It aims to achieve faster execution and stronger leadership stability during growth.

The official website of LateralDeck is lateraldeck.com.

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