Be My Leader! – Lateral Approach to Economic Higher Education

Abstract

The term of lateral thinking in Oxford dictionary is seeking to solve problems by unorthodox or apparently illogical methods. On the hypercompetitive markets agile, value-oriented, inspiring, collaborative, appreciative leaders are needed. These AVICA-type leaders have the ability to catalyze and develop adaptive processes. They are receptive to innovation and also open to the creative thoughts of others. The leader himself is also a lateral innovator and unfolds the creativity of the employees in business life and the students in higher education. The educators, in a lateral approach, are leaders, but can also be Renaissance-type people, polyhistors, homo ludens. Creativity researchers generally agree that educators’ view on creativity determines the way in which they deal with developing students’ mindset. In our research, we evaluate how important students consider the knowledge of lateral innovation to their related subjects, the development of their innovative way of thinking and how they perceive the activities of the lecturers in this direction. The other question is whether educators see lateral approach as an important value creation process. The ultimate goal of the research is to explore the factors that contribute to the implementation of the lateral mindset for the sustainable competitiveness of higher education in economics.

Citation

Szalai, I. and Toth, A. (2022), "Be My Leader! – Lateral Approach to Economic Higher Education", Akkaya, B., Guah, M.W., Jermsittiparsert, K., Bulinska-Stangrecka, H. and Kaya, Y. (Ed.) Agile Management and VUCA-RR: Opportunities and Threats in Industry 4.0 towards Society 5.0, Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 99-114. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80262-325-320220007