Get Rid Of the Box...
The rational behind 'thinking outside the box' is, simply put, outdated. Our rational? GET RID OF THE STINKING BOX!
It is time for a new wave of thinking patterns. We cannot solve today's task list of issues by using the same route that got us there in the first place. 'Thinking outside the box' was a great step in the creative process, but the stigma behind the box being there in the first place that we must so masterfully jump out of to succeed, is a feat in itself. See, we are taught from an early age that social norms are expected to be followed and if you break them then you are doing it wrong. Then, at some point in our lives we encountered someone who wanted to push the limits a bit and truly succeeded because of it. They probably had great hair, and snappy clothing that we were secretly jealous of too. They were thinking outside the box. Win for individuality!
But we are here to ask, why must there be a box in the first place to jump out of? Boxes are basically this: A lot of trusted and useful tools, a false sense of normalcy, and a perception of perfection all crammed in between four perfectly measured and angled lines, and sealed tight, very tight. We spend so much time trying to fit ourselves and our ideas into that box but honestly, there just isn't any room left. Then, when we realize that isn't working for us, we try to jump out of the box and think outside of it like a beautiful salmon trying to swim upstream with water pressure resisting and attempting to push us back.
Sure, boxes create guidelines which are essential to anything succeeding..we aren't suggesting that we all run amok and without the process in mind. But, boxes were made to be opened.
Consider the following:
Mary buys a box of various tools from the local hardware store. What a wonderful deal that they are all packaged together so that she could purchase them without thinking about if or when she would ever use an extra large taping knife. But, the option of using that tool was there waiting for the day that she could take it out in all its glory, and use it. Boxes were made to hold essential items and information, but the second we have those items in hand and in mind, we open the box. It is not enough for Mary to simply buy a fancy tool set. She must open the box, analyze each piece, find a system of organizing the pieces together that works for her, and then put them to use when they fit. Then, throw away the box. The tools we acquire from it are wonderfully useful. The box, not so much. It only limits our thinking and organization into set parameters. With the tools in specific boxes labeled for predetermined uses, she might have not thought about taking the unused, extra large, 12" taping knife that is stuck at the bottom of a box labeled, Walls, and used it for smoothing icing on her son's birthday cake. (It really works well in case you are wondering-thanks Pinterest).
Our advice? Make the tools given to you in that box over the years useful again. consider each piece of the puzzle you are given, reorganize them so that if and when you need them the are there for you to use them in your own way. And...give yourself a chance and get rid of the box.
