I might be a loner in this, but I highly doubt that is the case – I have had so many people say this so confidently, with conviction, “Think out of the box!”, this expression is usually made when we are stuck and have a problem or challenge to solve. One of the hardest things I have found is that it’s so hard to “think out of the box” when I am not even aware that I am in a box and more importantly, how I got in that box.
Where exactly is this box? I am either delusional or have some form of impairment that I miss to not only see, but to also not start thinking outside of this box. It is very frustrating!
So, on one encounter, I asked the facilitators what they meant when
they said we need to think out of the box? The response from them was “what we have covered and discussed, that is the box.” My response to them, was that which means anything unrelated to what we have discussed is out of the box then – “so any response I have is correct and is out(side) of the box, correct?” They disagreed with me – and I was also dissatisfied. “So, you are creating another box which I don’t know about and you expect me to give you responses from your already preconceived thoughts and ideas, about how this box looks like.” After this comment, I was kindly asked to leave the “creative solution” session.
Since that encounter, I have realized that people overrate the concept of thinking out of the box – I don’t think it actually means what people think it does – I would love to get some enlightenment around it. I have also realized that in most cases, people can’t even define this box that I am supposed to think out(side) from. I think people are merely asking you to share your unique experience in a situation or confrontation you have previously encountered and whether that could be applied in a current challenge or problem. There usually aren’t any defined set of rules when people ask you to think out of the box, as long as it doesn’t infringe on their personal beliefs – beliefs being another box they have created in their minds to limit you from being out of their newly designed/defined box.
Like I said, I might be alone in this frustration – so your help in clarifying what “think out of the box” is, will be highly appreciated. Maybe you are brilliant in thinking in(side) the box, and this could shed some light on clearing my frustrations.
So, are you an in(side) or out(side) of the box thinker? How does it feel?