NICE !
A very good post, as an Engineer I think (or try to think), about both existing / mundane, and about new/ unformed.
I think, maybe too much like East Asia folks; Thailand, Vietnam, India. But a good thing, avoiding (extreme) superstition.
But I need to comment: This thread is already going to take some days, to read, proper.
I think about seemingly TRIVIAL and meaningless factors, to creative success. What about a 'clean', tidy DESK... (So What ?)
My opinion, clean-tidy, AND EMPTY work areas 'INVITE' creation...a sort of VACUUM pulling, out of 'nowhere'...
Try, leaving your desk piled high, crap on crap, and an old sandwich half, in there ...
Then, start your creative efforts, for the day...
"LATERAL ...?" golly, that's a Hallmark, of inventors like Edison, Tesla, even artists like Mark Twain and...my favorite: Stanley Kubrick.
Don't forget Jimi Hendrix, helped usher in the 'feedback' thing, in popular music.
(Photo shows YOGA, stokes the flame of 'Lateral Thinking, big time...).
-Rick B.