Exactly how does one think outside of the box?
Obviously, this is something which is inherently a task to be undertaken by an individual – let us look at an example of “outside the box” thinking.
Try cutting a cake into eight slices with three cuts or less.
A lot of people will have some difficulty thinking of how this could be done; but the answer is to look at the cake differently. You can cut the cake into halves and stack them on top of each other. Cut these two halves into halves again and then stack all of these pieces and make one last cut – you now have eight slices, all thanks to “outside the box” thinking.
Another example would be solving this: here are four words: add, subtract, multiply, decrease – which does not belong? Most would tell you right away that “decrease” is the odd word out here. Why? Because all the other words are mathematical terms and “decrease” is not. However, an out of the box thinker might say that “add” is the one which does not fit, having three letters instead of six or more. There are several right answers here and the more creative your answer, the more you will stand out.
The way our minds usually work when solving a problem is to draw on our past. For instance, what if you were asked to name two days whose names start with the letter T. You’d sat Tuesday and Thursday, right? What about Tomorrow and Today? That is thinking out of the box. Companies are always testing new products to make sure that their design is effective and provides a good cost/benefit ratio. However, most of these companies are losing out by only looking to their past to provide a template for future development. While patterns be very useful for some activities (like driving), these patterns can keep us from coming up with effective alternate solutions when we face problems.
One thing you can do to break your pattern-based way of thinking is to try out the reverse of what you would normally do; this lets you get a new and different perspective on the problem. This is how Henry Ford came up with his innovations. He began with “bring people to work” and by looking at things differently, decided to try “bringing work to the people” – which is what made him such a success.
Another method to find creative solutions is to try not to think about the subject. Instead, think about people or subjects in motion and use this as your basis for an entirely new design or solution.
If you want to really think outside of the box, don’t worry if some of your ideas are really off the wall – they might be just crazy enough to work!
Move away from your old, rigid ways of thinking and go ahead and use your absurd ideas; consider all of your ideas, no matter how odd.
Let go of the question and let go of your stress by not trying to force the square peg of your creativity into the round hole of the problem. Once you let all of this go, you may find that the solution comes right to you.
You can try out of the box thinking just for fun too. Just don’t do it in situations where it could cause you trouble!
Using creative thinking, you can put together disparate elements to produce truly innovative solutions. Being someone who thinks outside of the box can work well for you professionally – and is rewarding in its own right as well.
Never forget that you could have your very own brand of genius. You may have some creative and different ideas which can assist you in your personal growth. That’s what living life abundantly is all about.
Try thinking a little differently and you may be surprised at how effective you can be in solving problems. Think outside of the box and you can achieve things that may surprise you»
It is a risk to think outside of what is conventional, you will either be accused of being folly or wise…
Going beyond the box and not being boxed is what we need to day to be more creative and not be part of a single-headed monster…
This article is truly a good read for me! Informative and very interesting!
Thank you, you should be proud of your blog.
It can be hard to think outside of the box, but from a business perspective, it can really pay off. I think it is important to find a balance though and carefully consider any ideas before you go with them. The balance between too crazy and success is often very thin.
Nearly each week look in I here and read with large interest the interesting and always well written contributions. Today I would like to leave gladly to a greeting from Thuringia in Germany!
Congratulations with a great post!!! I’ve just figured out for me what this “outside the box” thinking means
I think it would be better if we have more people with such thinking in our days. Also I agree that it is difficult to realize. But I promise that I begin trying this.
wise words here – “It is a risk to think outside of what is conventional, you will either be accused of being folly or wise…”
It never hurts to look at a problem from a different perspective. It’s not always easy, though, because we get so caught in our ruts so easily. Thanks for the reminder, Marenda.
Think outside the box? I can’t even think inside the box.
Great post, very inspirational indeed.
It is very hard to think outside the box when you have habits to think inside the box. But problems are solved easily when you think outside, of course, because creativity fastens the process.
Being creative and imaginative is thinking outside the box.
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It is so funny how much of a buzz word this "outside the box thinking" is these days. I appreciate you bringing this thinking to light! I need to teach my students this on the court. Maybe we'd score more points!
–Andy
That’s good man, keep it going.
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Stunning blog and good article. High 5 for u man !
I find that having a brainstorming session with like minded people is a great way to come up with "out of the box" ideas!