Start Thinking Outside the Box

Start thinking outside the box and find a solution for this problem, is a statement I often heard from my former bosses and I guess many others are being told to do just this as well, especially when the quality of ideas and solutions start to decrease and options seem limited.

What does it mean to think outside the box?

Imagine you would be living in a dark cave that you are completely immersed in, which is symbolic for the box you are living in. Wherever you go, this darkness surrounds you and it also protects you from the real life, from being wrong, or seeing flaws (yours or others), which is so complex that it would flood thoughts, with masses of information that your mind just cannot handle, filter or process. Your cave is safe and it’s an environment that is protected and only selected and important things are being consciously recognized. The selection stands figuratively for your sub-consciousness that filters all the information and rids or erases them if necessary, dependently of your experiences, mindsets, attitudes or your opinions of the way you look at your world.

Thinking outside the box would mean that you have to come out of the safe zone, your cave that envelops you, and step out of the box, leave all of your experiences, mindsets, and attitudes behind and start to view things form a completely different perspective: a paradigm shift so to speak: outside of the box; unfiltered, unbiased, open to suggestions, willing to empathize with others opinions, but also ready to jump in and to think what no one else has ever thought of doing. It also means that you leave everything behind you thought you would know, everything you previously thought was the correct approach to specific situations and problem solving from a completely different point of view.

To me, thinking outside the box does not only include all of the above, but it also the openness not to persist on my own opinion and to change the opinion I conceived, when another person proves me wrong. Sounds simple, right? But the reality is, that many people stubbornly persist on their own opinion and dwell within their very own “box”, even if they are completely mistaken. Pride or maybe a better word is ego….is very powerful.

How to think outside the box?

The sheer ability to think outside the box requires above all abilities; one critical thing: creativity.  Notably, creative people have discovered the approach to “think outside the box” as a tremendous advantage for various facets of their lives as well, often as a characteristic that helps them with a career.

Transitioning into a new role

Being able to think outside the box is all about changing your perspective and shifting into a role of another person, can support you thereby . You don’t necessarily have to slip into the role of your friends, or co-workers, or neighbors, as most of them might have pretty similar knowledge and opinions about the world as you do. Whenever I really want to change my point of view, I close my eyes and pretend I’m a person from the 16th century. I purposefully start to view the world out of the eyes of a person who thinks the earth is flat and has no clue about modern society or how life is viewed or lived today.

By doing this, you can change your perspective and the way you think or feel quite remarkably. You can feely take your time to let your mind wander, let your eyes gaze your surroundings, and discover all the new things you didn’t ever notice before. If you are sitting in your bedroom or kitchen, you might pick up something that looks curious or interesting to you and discover the item all over again. You might even notice something about this item that you didn’t notice before, until this very moment.

Paradigm Shift

Changing your perspective is opening yourself up to insights that remained completely unknown to you before. Changing your lens, of the world around you. But how?  How do you change your view of the world; besides the extremely expensive alternatives of travelling around the world?

*Meeting new people*

*Take classes at community college or online

*Find a new hobby or thing of interest

*Obtain information about areas that interest you

*Join a study or debate group to gain perspective

*Join a diversity program to help clear up your lens

Stepping into another world in general allows you to look at difficult issues differently, which will also increase the possible solutions that start to come up to solve those problems.

Ask the kids!

Kids are wonderful, especially as they are often used to thinking outside the box (on a smaller level) as they haven’t even heard of the possible solution, which forces them to come up with their own ideas before someone shows them how it is done. Just try by simplifying a problem and get inspired by the creativeness of their thoughts. However, a child will not be able to solve your problem but it can be the source of inspiration (and brutal honestly!) and give you some valuable insights that you can work with.

Rethink Routines

I love to reorganize things to put them into another type of context. “Don’t sell the steak, sell the sizzle.” Could be reorganized or reframed into this version of “Sell the crunch not the apple”.

• Rethink Routines

Rethinking routines give you the possibility to change the meaning of a situation, a task at hand, an issue that is present. In a nutshell, it allows you to choose what it means for you, which gives you the freedom to change your point of view.

Hit and Miss

The willingness to try things out does not only require bravery, but the inherent inclination to fail and to make a blunder! Making mistakes; or an oversight is not the end of the world.  Whenever you ready yourself to search for the solutions to problems you are facing, you have a real change to uncover a way to solve whatever problem is present.  However, on the flip side, if you aren’t willing to try, you won’t find a solution, if you don’t try, the answer is always no. Falling down, making mistakes, is another great way to view things from another perspective, in fact: recognizing a mistake as an opportunity you can learn from in order to avoid it the next time, is nothing else than “outside the box thinking”.  Making mistakes is what helps many in a variety of different ways. The next time you make a mistake, try to approach it positively. If you can gain some new perspective, avoid a similar situation this is how we grow and expand and learn.  This is where our innovation can be freed and ideas can commence and we can encourage, empathize and ignite our ideas, and the box….it no longer exists.