Your Box Is Too Small
How can you “think outside the box”? This old phrase has new meaning when viewed in a different way. Here are three strategies to help you get things done, solve problems and be more creative.
There is an old phrase or business cliche that people still use: “You need to think outside of the box”. Which is a way to tell someone they need to be more innovative or creative. Because when you are inside the box you are hemmed in, limited by the walls, cannot escape your reality. This phrase was popularized by management consultants in the 70s’ and 80s’ as a way to promote more creative thinking.
Are you in a box? Is your life, your career, your relationships contained within a box or several boxes as the case may be? Have you decided that perhaps there’s nowhere else to go or to thrive?
I have often been accused of being a contrarian or that I argue for the sake of arguing. I feel that what I am really doing is offering different perspectives. I am working on how I present “out of the box” thinking rather than being accused of the former. My former colleagues and family members might not agree.
In the book The Obstacles is the Way by Ryan Holiday devotes a chapter called “Think Differently” to describing how Steve Jobs managed ideas and innovation at Apple. Jobs pushed people to their limits, requiring them to be “malleable, adamant, self-confident…for the purposes of accomplishing something, and not in a delusional sense.”
Most of the inventions and technology we have today would not have been made without someone thinking differently or pushing against the common knowledge of the present moment. It takes courage and fortitude to bring ideas and innovation forward. It takes courage to be willing to consider that your ideas might not work, they are likely to fail and they have no chance.
The combination of failing fast and courageous fortitude brings about innovation. When you step outside your comfort zone you can also trigger flow and this triggers creativity. Here are a few ways you can “think differently”:
Break it Down — When confronted with a repeated problem or project that frustrates you, sit down and write out the steps. Take the first step and then the second and the third. Keep going until you have completed all the steps you take to complete the project. Then take each step and break that down. Keep repeating this until it gets ridiculous. As you move through the steps you will begin to ask yourself, why do it this way? How did this step get into the mix. Can I combine steps? Can I get rid of a step or process?
This may sound tedious and long, and in some cases it might be, but it will help you understand the detailed nuances of what you are doing, flush out inconsistencies, or inefficiencies. This exercise also works when you are stuck or procrastinating on a project or task. Breaking down the tasks into small individual details and then completing each one gives you a sense of accomplishment and pretty soon the job is done.
2. Take the Opposing View — Take your problem, task or dilemma and write out your reasons or philosophy for how you feel about it and why it is important or necessary. Perhaps it is a business strategy that isn’t working or that you feel might get pushback from your boss or others. Once completed put this aside and do it again, but now take the opposite position. Pretend someone gave this proposal or idea to you. Be the worst devils’ advocate you can be and tear it apart. Be brutal. From this you will find the flaws and make improvements to the proposal or idea. It will perhaps cause you to scrap the whole thing and start over. If nothing else it will give you the opportunity to be able to answer the critics and naysayers once your idea is public.
3. Absolutely, Positively, Yes — Looking at your problem, project or issue, and ask yourself is this absolutely true? In other words if you are trying to work through a problem, you can say to yourself, “If I (or we) take this action, can I be absolutely, positively certain that the perceived or projected outcome will happen?” If the answer is no, then what other possible outcomes are there? Rank each possible outcome from most likely to least likely to get you the results you want. Then go through each and ask the same question again. If the answer is yes, then ask the absolutely, positively question again. Keep going through this exercise until you have come to a conclusion as to what you should do.
While this looks like a decision making system, ideas and thoughts will sneak into the process giving you additional insight and ideas.
All three of these look like they take a long time and overkill, but as you move through the process and do it again and again, you will find that it almost becomes automatic in your own mind. However, writing things down helps clarify and brings in other senses into play.
Pretty soon you will find yourself climbing out of the box and into a creative mind set that helps you create and discover new ideas and bring you to a level of high performance and output.
