Do you ever think, “I wish I’d thought of that?â€Â Chances are you have. We have all from time to time recognized a great idea for its value, and of course wished we’d been the one to have the idea. The truth is, you can have great ideas of your own. All you have to do is think outside of the box.
What does outside-the-box thinking mean?
Inside the box is where we live 99% of the time. It’s where the rules are. It’s where our habits, beliefs and limitations keep us. Inside the box is safe because it’s what we know. We can therefore predict with a certain level of certainty, the potential success of any thought or action inside the box.
Outside the box, it’s a free-for-all. There are no rules, no limiting beliefs and no preconceptions. It’s total and wonderful chaos. When we allow our thoughts to travel to where there are no rules or guidelines, where anything is possible, the world opens up. This is where true innovation happens, creativity inspires us and growth has a chance to occur.
What was once impossible
The internet was definitely an outside-the-box leap. Someone took the concept of linking computers together and the idea grew. Where would you be today without the internet?
Airplanes wouldn’t exist either. When you think about what those Wright Brothers conceived, it is both mind-boggling and inspiring. At the time the only things that flew were birds and kites. Who could imagine that you could put thousands of pounds in the air and keep it up there for hours?
Now think about what outside-the-box thinking could mean for your business
Innovation is really the only way to really grow a business. And innovation doesn’t mean you have to create the next life-changing invention. Outside-the-box thinking means pondering the possibilities of what could be, without restrictions based on what is. Outside-the-box thinking can be:
- A new perspective on how to perform a task
- A new way to market or sell an opportunity
- Finding a new value for a product or service
- Forging a new partnership
- And of course creating a new product or service
When you allow yourself to think outside the box, your business opportunities really take off.
How to think outside the box
This is actually the hard part, because it’s difficult to know where to start. One place to start is to identify problems and then brainstorm solutions – the more absurd the better. Make a game of it and try to come up with 50-100 potential solutions. This will challenge you to get creative with your answers. Many of them will be downright ridiculous. However, if you step back and take a look at your solutions and examine your assumptions and why you believe they’re ridiculous, then you may come up with a new and innovative way of doing things.
Outside-the-box thinking can be an invigorating and motivating practice. Add it to your regular planning sessions and watch the inspiring and creative ideas flow.
People often think of innovation and invention as building a product like the ipod or velcro wallet. But often the best and most successful inventions are an idea – a better way of doing something – that captures exactly what the customers needs and wants.
The goood old brainstorming – In my experience it was always helpful to have people from a completely different area (business wise) attending a brainstorming meeting as the had a totally different view of our topic. The ideas they created sometimes were so good that we directly implemented or they were so contrarian to ours that they sparked lively and fruitful discussions.
Remember Walt Disney – “If you can imagine it, it can be done.”
I completely agree about brainstorming for ideas because the more you do it the easier it becomes letting the mind wonder and explore.
Also having the attitude that mistakes are learning opportunities rather than something bad makes a big positive difference too.
As a small business owner I don’t really have a team to go brainstorming with but have had some of the best ideas come from the least expected places. Since my nephew was little we’ve talked business (my aim has been to train him in the basics early so he has more choices when out in the big world) and we have some great brainstorming conversations that really give a different perspective.
Some of the ideas are completely out there but others have been so clever and simple they are marvelous.
So brainstorming with others, even if not involved in the business, can be really rewarding. And the more you do it the more you can come up with creative ideas regularly.
All the best!
Kind regards,
Belinda
Thinking out of the box in the current business climate is no longer a way to give your business an edge, but it is necessary to survive.
If you are the first, or you can offer an innovative service, then congratulations, you have more chances of weathering the recession.
I would love to think outside the box but I can’t find anything out there! Haha. Seriously, in my industry it seems to be everyone is doing the same thing and going outside the box just means you find yourself all alone- you have to come back inside if you want a share of the business. I’ll keep trying but so far, nothing!
Interesting piece by Malcom Gladwell about entrepreneurs recently in the New Yorker. He found that the supposedly “mavericky” investors were actually very conservative in their approach to risk-taking. They stayed very much “in the box”–it’s just they were playing in a different box.
The article is good and very much informative. The facts stated for out of box logic like, when we allow our thoughts to travel to where there are no rules or guidelines, where anything is possible, the world opens up. This is where true innovation happens, creativity inspires us and growth has a chance to occur. These facts are simply effortlessly – classic. The internet has led to the formation of information revolution. Thanks a lot for providing such a wonderful peace of text.
People cannot always think out of the box, some are really good at it tough and they have become successful. When we imagine something that we can do or market, then we can probably do that, it’s free after all. But the part where you need resource to implement that imagination is the one pulling you back.
I normally have a brainstorming sessions with my colleuges. No suggestion is to silly. We write all the suggestions up on a board and leave them up for a few days. During that time people can write comments.
I do appreciate those who think outside the box because pretty much every greatest improvement we have ever had in all fields of life come from persons doing something different.
I admire people who can think outside the box, usually people are afraid to do something different because of unexpected risk behind it, but when they are able to overcome the risk, the satisfaction they will get is priceless. Once you try to think outside the box, you will addicted to it.
There are certain things that a person can do to induce out of the box thinking. I think most people associate creative thinkers as fly by the seat of their pants kind of personality who are generally a little messy and disorganized. I think some people shy away from being to organized and planned out thinking they will miss out on opportunities and will have too many constraints on themselves limiting creative thinking.
These assumptions are wrong. When a person is disorganized and flying around with no direction, this causes disonance and stress in your mind. For example, if I come in the office Monday morning and organize my day and look at my entire week as a whole then I’m much better off once I’ve gone through this process. My stress starts to reseed and I can focus much better. One is much more creative when they can focus and are not stressed out. Another thing one should do is to finish as many unfinished tasks as possible. Nothing feels better than to complete a project and once its done it is out of the mind. Writing down notes is also a great way to clear up RAM in the brain. Once you have downloaded all these things off the brain and into a system that has reminders set up, you will fill much better and your brain will be ready to create more than you can imagine.