Thinking outside the Box
By Paul Salzer
Have you heard the term, “think outside the box”? The phrase is often associated with innovative or creative thinking. But what does it really mean? Where does the term come from? And how does one actually think outside the box?
To think outside the box simply means to look at something differently. Solutions to problems may only present themselves after you view them from a new perspective. Often, employees find themselves doing things a certain way, because that is how it has always been done. But sometimes unexpected events occur that don’t quite fit into the normal process. What do you do in a situation such as this? It requires that you be creative or innovative in your approach or methodology. When all else fails, you “think outside the box,” and try something they you haven’t tried yet. But this doesn’t mean that you need to start with a problem to apply out-of-the-box thinking. If something works just fine, maybe you could think of something that will make it work better.
So where does the term “think outside the box” come from? The term comes from the nine dot puzzle with challenges people to draw lines to connect the dots in the puzzle. The puzzle itself originally dates back to 1914, but the slogan “think outside the box” wasn’t used until the late 60’s. Imagine a box three dots wide and three dots high with the dots equally spaced from each other. In the most common version of the puzzle, you are asked to use 4 lines to connect all the dots in the box. When people first do the puzzle, most find the task impossible, because they confine themselves within the three-by-three box. Only when they think about the space outside the box do they see the solution to the puzzle, hence the term, “think outside the box”. In fact, if you extend the lines far enough outside the box, you can complete the puzzle with just three lines. Or better yet, if you think creatively enough, you will be able to do it with one curvy line.
It is that type of innovative reasoning that is needed to think outside the box. One way to use out-of-the-box thinking is to continually questioning the norm or status quo. For example, do you remember having to go inside the building to pay for your gas or having a gas station attendant take your card in for you? That was the normal way of doing things a few decades ago. But someone eventually thought, “Why can’t we just pay at the pump with my card?” Another out-of-box thinking tip is to apply what you know to something that normally doesn’t apply. Just think, corrugated paper (pleated) was first used in 1856 for the liner of tall hats. But it wasn’t until 1871, that someone used the same technique to make corrugated boxboard for shipping material. And at first, it was only used for glass and pottery. Eventually, some (excuse the pun) out-of-the-box thinker used it for moving fruit and produce to prevent bruising. And that is why it is important to never stop educating yourself. Because you never know when something you learned might be used or adapted for other use.
So now you know what how to think outside the box. We talked about where the term comes from. And from that, I hope you have a better understanding of what the term actually means. So if someone says, “think outside the box”; feel confident that you know what they are asking for. And hopefully, you might surprise them with your creativity.
