The 9 dots and 4 straight lines exercise

Draw 9 simple dots on a sheet of paper, as in the image below, or download the printable PDF here).

The exercise is to connect all 9 dots by drawing 4 consecutive lines: you must never lift your pen from the paper, and each new line must continue from the end of the previous one.

The exercise invented by Edward De Bono is very old, but illustrates the obstacles to creativity. I recommend giving it to children as a game.

As you can immediately see, the solution to connecting all the dots is to draw a line that goes beyond the imaginary square. If you found the solution difficult, the culprit is our linear thinking, which created the non-existent constraint of staying inside a square!

Recommended books

Marketing Management by Kotler and Keller

Blue Ocean Strategy

Lateral thinking