Thinking outside the box
Encyclopedia
Thinking outside the box (sometimes erroneously called "thinking out of the box
" or "thinking outside the square") is to think differently, unconventionally, or from a new perspective. This phrase often refers to novel or creative thinking.
This is sometimes called a process of lateral thought
. The catchphrase, or cliché
, has become widely used in business environments, especially by management consultants and executive coaches, and has spawned a number of advertising slogan
s. To think outside the box is to look further and to try not thinking of the obvious things, but to try thinking beyond them.
is a habit of reasoning or a conceptual framework
.
A simplified analogy is "the box" in the commonly used phrase "thinking outside the box". What is encompassed by the words "inside the box" is analogous with the current, and often unnoticed, assumptions about a situation. Creative thinking acknowledges and rejects the accepted paradigm to come up with new ideas.
The notion of something outside a perceived "box" is related to a traditional topographical
puzzle
called the nine dots puzzle.
The origins of the phrase "thinking outside the box" are obscure; but it was popularized in part because of a nine-dot puzzle, which John Adair
claims to have introduced in 1969. Management consultant Mike Vance has claimed that the use of the nine-dot puzzle in consultancy circles stems from the corporate culture of the Walt Disney Company, where the puzzle was used in-house.
The origins of the actual 9 DOT PUZZLE are even more obscure. I have found references to WWII in Germany.
The puzzle proposed an intellectual challenge—to connect the dots by drawing four straight, continuous lines that pass through each of the nine dots, and never lifting the pencil from the paper. The conundrum
is easily resolved, but only if you draw the lines outside the confines of the square area defined by the nine dots themselves. The phrase "thinking outside the box" is a restatement of the solution strategy. The puzzle only seems difficult because we imagine a boundary around the edge
of the dot array. The heart of the matter is the unspecified barrier which is typically perceived.
The nine dots puzzle is much older than the slogan. It appears in Sam Loyd
's 1914 Cyclopedia of Puzzles. In the 1951 compilation The Puzzle-Mine: Puzzles Collected from the Works of the Late Henry Ernest Dudeney, the puzzle is attributed to Dudeney himself. Sam Loyd's original formulation of the puzzle entitled it as "Christopher Columbus
's egg puzzle." This was an allusion to the story of Egg of Columbus
.
with a range of variant applications.
The metaphorical "box" in the phrase "outside the box" may be married with something real and measurable — for example, perceived budgetary or organizational constraints in a Hollywood development project. Speculating beyond its restrictive confines the box can be both: positive— fostering creative leaps as in generating wild ideas (the conventional use of the term); and negative— penetrating through to the "bottom of the box." James Bandrowski
states that this could result in a frank and insightful re-appraisal of a situation, oneself, the organization, etc.
On the other hand, Bandrowski
argues that the process of thinking "inside the box" need not be construed in a pejorative sense. It is crucial for accurately parsing and executing a variety of tasks — making decisions, analyzing data, and managing the progress of standard operating procedures, etc.
Hollywood screenwriter Ira Steven Behr
appropriated this concept to inform plot and character in the context of a television series. Behr imagined a core character:
The phrase can be used as a shorthand way to describe speculation about what happens next in a multi-stage design thinking
process.
Out of the box
Out of the box is the term used to denote items, functionalities, or features that do not require any additional installation. In addition to being used for tangible products, the phrase is often used in a less literal sense for software, which may not be distributed in an actual box but offer...
" or "thinking outside the square") is to think differently, unconventionally, or from a new perspective. This phrase often refers to novel or creative thinking.
This is sometimes called a process of lateral thought
Lateral thinking
Lateral thinking is solving problems through an indirect and creative approach, using reasoning that is not immediately obvious and involving ideas that may not be obtainable by using only traditional step-by-step logic...
. The catchphrase, or cliché
Cliché
A cliché or cliche is an expression, idea, or element of an artistic work which has been overused to the point of losing its original meaning or effect, especially when at some earlier time it was considered meaningful or novel. In phraseology, the term has taken on a more technical meaning,...
, has become widely used in business environments, especially by management consultants and executive coaches, and has spawned a number of advertising slogan
Advertising slogan
Advertising slogans are short, often memorable phrases used in advertising campaigns. They are claimed to be the most effective means of drawing attention to one or more aspects of a product. A strapline is a British term used as a secondary sentence attached to a brand name...
s. To think outside the box is to look further and to try not thinking of the obvious things, but to try thinking beyond them.
Analogy
A simplified definition for paradigmParadigm
The word paradigm has been used in science to describe distinct concepts. It comes from Greek "παράδειγμα" , "pattern, example, sample" from the verb "παραδείκνυμι" , "exhibit, represent, expose" and that from "παρά" , "beside, beyond" + "δείκνυμι" , "to show, to point out".The original Greek...
is a habit of reasoning or a conceptual framework
Conceptual framework
A conceptual framework is used in research to outline possible courses of action or to present a preferred approach to an idea or thought. For example, the philosopher Isaiah Berlin used the "hedgehogs" versus "foxes" approach; a "hedgehog" might approach the world in terms of a single organizing...
.
A simplified analogy is "the box" in the commonly used phrase "thinking outside the box". What is encompassed by the words "inside the box" is analogous with the current, and often unnoticed, assumptions about a situation. Creative thinking acknowledges and rejects the accepted paradigm to come up with new ideas.
Nine dots puzzle
Topography
Topography is the study of Earth's surface shape and features or those ofplanets, moons, and asteroids...
puzzle
Puzzle
A puzzle is a problem or enigma that tests the ingenuity of the solver. In a basic puzzle, one is intended to put together pieces in a logical way in order to come up with the desired solution...
called the nine dots puzzle.
The origins of the phrase "thinking outside the box" are obscure; but it was popularized in part because of a nine-dot puzzle, which John Adair
John Adair
John Adair was an American pioneer, soldier and statesman. He was the eighth Governor of Kentucky and represented the state in both the U.S. House and Senate. Adair enlisted in the state militia and served in the Revolutionary War, where he was held captive by the British for a period of time...
claims to have introduced in 1969. Management consultant Mike Vance has claimed that the use of the nine-dot puzzle in consultancy circles stems from the corporate culture of the Walt Disney Company, where the puzzle was used in-house.
The origins of the actual 9 DOT PUZZLE are even more obscure. I have found references to WWII in Germany.
The puzzle proposed an intellectual challenge—to connect the dots by drawing four straight, continuous lines that pass through each of the nine dots, and never lifting the pencil from the paper. The conundrum
Conundrum
Conundrum may refer to:* A riddle whose answer is or involves a pun or unexpected twist* A logical postulation that evades resolution, an intricate and difficult problem- Literature :...
is easily resolved, but only if you draw the lines outside the confines of the square area defined by the nine dots themselves. The phrase "thinking outside the box" is a restatement of the solution strategy. The puzzle only seems difficult because we imagine a boundary around the edge
Convex hull
In mathematics, the convex hull or convex envelope for a set of points X in a real vector space V is the minimal convex set containing X....
of the dot array. The heart of the matter is the unspecified barrier which is typically perceived.
Sam Loyd
Samuel Loyd , born in Philadelphia and raised in New York, was an American chess player, chess composer, puzzle author, and recreational mathematician....
's 1914 Cyclopedia of Puzzles. In the 1951 compilation The Puzzle-Mine: Puzzles Collected from the Works of the Late Henry Ernest Dudeney, the puzzle is attributed to Dudeney himself. Sam Loyd's original formulation of the puzzle entitled it as "Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus was an explorer, colonizer, and navigator, born in the Republic of Genoa, in northwestern Italy. Under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean that led to general European awareness of the American continents in the...
's egg puzzle." This was an allusion to the story of Egg of Columbus
Egg of Columbus
An egg of Columbus or Columbus's egg refers to a brilliant idea or discovery that seems simple or easy after the fact. The expression refers to a popular story of how Christopher Columbus, having been told that discovering the Americas was no great accomplishment, challenged his critics to make an...
.
Metaphor
This flexible English phrase is a rhetorical tropeTrope (literature)
A literary trope is the usage of figurative language in literature, or a figure of speech in which words are used in a sense different from their literal meaning...
with a range of variant applications.
The metaphorical "box" in the phrase "outside the box" may be married with something real and measurable — for example, perceived budgetary or organizational constraints in a Hollywood development project. Speculating beyond its restrictive confines the box can be both: positive— fostering creative leaps as in generating wild ideas (the conventional use of the term); and negative— penetrating through to the "bottom of the box." James Bandrowski
James F. Bandrowski
James F. Bandrowski is an author, global keynote speaker, trainer, and consultant with a that includes many among the most recognizable companies in the world. He authored Corporate Imagination—Plus: Five Steps to Translating Innovative Strategies into Action . He founded in 1984 in Danville,...
states that this could result in a frank and insightful re-appraisal of a situation, oneself, the organization, etc.
On the other hand, Bandrowski
James F. Bandrowski
James F. Bandrowski is an author, global keynote speaker, trainer, and consultant with a that includes many among the most recognizable companies in the world. He authored Corporate Imagination—Plus: Five Steps to Translating Innovative Strategies into Action . He founded in 1984 in Danville,...
argues that the process of thinking "inside the box" need not be construed in a pejorative sense. It is crucial for accurately parsing and executing a variety of tasks — making decisions, analyzing data, and managing the progress of standard operating procedures, etc.
Hollywood screenwriter Ira Steven Behr
Ira Steven Behr
Ira Steven Behr born 23 October 1953, in New York City, New York, USA is an American television producer and screenwriter, most known for his work on Star Trek, especially Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, on which he served as showrunner and executive producer...
appropriated this concept to inform plot and character in the context of a television series. Behr imagined a core character:
- He is going to be "thinking outside the box," you know, and usually when we use that cliche, we think outside the box means a new thought. So we can situate ourselves back in the box, but in a somewhat better position.
The phrase can be used as a shorthand way to describe speculation about what happens next in a multi-stage design thinking
Design thinking
Design Thinking refers to the methods and processes for investigating ill-defined problems, acquiring information, analyzing knowledge, and positing solutions in the design and planning fields...
process.
Further reading
ISBN 0201100894 (more solutions to the nine dots problem - with less than 4 lines!)External links
- Out-of-the-box vs. outside the box citing Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary (OALD), Word of the Month
See also
- Einstellung effectEinstellung effectEinstellung is the creation of a mechanized state of mind. Often called a problem solving set, Einstellung refers to a person's predisposition to solve a given problem in a specific manner even though there are "better" or more appropriate methods of solving the problem. The Einstellung effect is...
- Seven Bridges of KönigsbergSeven Bridges of KönigsbergThe Seven Bridges of Königsberg is a historically notable problem in mathematics. Its negative resolution by Leonhard Euler in 1735 laid the foundations of graph theory and prefigured the idea of topology....
- Eureka effectEureka effectThe eureka effect is any sudden unexpected discovery, or the sudden realization of the solution to a problem, resulting in a eureka moment , also dubbed as "breakthrough thinking"...
- No-win situationNo-win situationA no-win situation, also called a "lose-lose" situation, is one where a person has choices, but no choice leads to a net gain. For example, if an executioner offers the condemned the choice of dying by being hanged, shot, or poisoned, since all choices lead to death, the condemned is in a no-win...
- Kobayashi MaruKobayashi MaruThe Kobayashi Maru is a test in the fictional universe of Star Trek. It is a Starfleet training exercise designed to test the character of cadets in the command track at Starfleet Academy. The Kobayashi Maru test was first depicted in the opening scene of the film Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan...
- Gordian KnotGordian KnotThe Gordian Knot is a legend of Phrygian Gordium associated with Alexander the Great. It is often used as a metaphor for an intractable problem solved by a bold stroke :"Turn him to any cause of policy,...
- Endless knotEndless knotThe endless knot or eternal knot is a symbolic knot and one of the Eight Auspicious Symbols. It is an important cultural marker in places significantly influenced by Tibetan Buddhism such as Tibet, Mongolia, Tuva, Kalmykia, and Buryatia...
- WorkaroundWorkaroundA workaround is a bypass of a recognized problem in a system. A workaround is typically a temporary fix that implies that a genuine solution to the problem is needed...
- Lateral thinkingLateral thinkingLateral thinking is solving problems through an indirect and creative approach, using reasoning that is not immediately obvious and involving ideas that may not be obtainable by using only traditional step-by-step logic...