Edward de Bono (the inventor of lateral and parallel thinking) has created 62 different games and exercises built around random words, to help encourage creativity and lateral thinking. For example, if the task were to come up with an idea for a new restaurant, and the random word chosen was “cloak,” ideas generated might be: a highwayman theme; a Venetian theme with gondolas; masked waiters. Or, if asked to make a connection between the two random words “desk” and “shorts,” readers might come up with: both are functional; desks have knee spaces and shorts expose the knees.