Whole eternity to think inside the box?

Thinking outside the box (or thinking beyond the box) is to think differently, unconventionally, or from a new perspective. This phrase often refers to novel or creative thinking. The term is thought to derive from management consultants in the 1970s and 1980s challenging their clients to solve the “nine dots” puzzle, whose solution requires some lateral thinking.

The catchphrase, or cliché, has become widely used in business environments, especially by management consultants and executive coaches, and has been referenced in a number of advertising slogans. To think outside the box is to look further and to try not thinking of the obvious things, but to try thinking beyond them.

To think freely, not bound by old, nonfunctional, or limiting structures, rules, or practices. You won’t come up with good ideas until you think outside the box. Let’s think outside the box for a minute and try to find a better solution. There are ALWAYS more than one possible solution to every problem, crisis or business process.

Psychologists who study prodigious accomplishments, in science, music, or art, speak about the 10,000-hour rule, meaning that in order to do something notable in some field, one must devote 10,000+ hours to mastering the discipline in question. Practice, practice, and practice, and appreciate that much of this practice needs to be done inside the box.

If you never venture outside the box, you will probably not be creative. But if you never get inside the box, you will certainly be stupid.