Audit – The Origin of the Phrase, “Think Out of the Box”

As you think about how to introduce the box, here are some thoughts on how I talk about it that you can use as a reference.

My name is Jim Clark and I have a box on my head.

The box on my head impacts what I can see, and hear. It impacts how I understand others and how others interact with me. It bounds my thinking and limits my choices.

While the image of me writing this book with a physical box on my head might be comical, it is not the case as the box on my head is not a real box, but rather, an invisible box that represents the boundaries of my thinking.

If the box is invisible, how do I know I have one on my head?

I know I have a box on my head because people keep telling me to “think out of the box.”

Oh, and by the way, if I have a box on my head, you have a box on your head too.

Where did the phrase ‘Think out of the Box’ come from?

‘Think outside the box’ is a cliché that’s often used but rarely defined. People say it when existing ideas aren’t working and they need to think differently.

But what does it really mean?

The phrase, “Think out of the box,” is thought to have originated from the solution to the so-called Nine-dot Puzzle. You might be familiar with this; it first appeared in Sam Lloyd’s Cyclopedia of 5000 Puzzles Tricks and Conundrums with Answers by Sam Lloyd (Ishi Press International 2007.)

The idea is to join all the nine dots in the grid shown opposite with no more than four straight lines and without taking your pencil off the paper.

You may have seen and tried this puzzle before; whether or not you have, please indulge me and try to solve it now.

 

The Solution Lies In and Out of the Invisible Box

What approach did you use? When looking for a solution, many people will confine themselves to working inside an imaginary boundary defined by the eight ‘outside’ dots. But, of course, there isn’t a boundary; it’s just a limitation we set for ourselves.

We must THINK OUT OF THE BOX to solve this puzzle.  The box in this case is the invisible boundary that we create as we are exploring possible solutions to this puzzling situation.

Although 80% of the solution to the puzzle lies within the grid itself, we must go beyond the boundaries our mind has created if we are to solve it.

Take a look at the nine dot puzzle again. Would it have made it easier to find a solution if I had told you that there was an invisible box around those dots? And would it have been helpful if you knew you would have to go out of that boundary and back into it again in order to solve the puzzle?

Now think about the puzzling situations of your life.  There is an invisible boundary to your thinking which limits your possible responses in a similar way to the nine dot puzzle.  But instead of an imaginary box on the paper surrounding the nine dots, it is an invisible box that encloses our thinking.

And just like the nine dot puzzle, it will be easier for you to find a solution if you know that the invisible box is there, and understand how to go outside of the box and back into it to find a solution.

We call that Thinking In & Out of the Box, and getting better at doing this is what this book is all about.