You’ve heard this before from your boss, colleagues and maybe even a client or two. But is it even possible to be able to think outside the box? No way in hell it seems.
No matter how far away from a ‘box’ you are, there are still various mental constraints that each and every one of us needs to adhere to.
Even if you do manage to jump out a box; you’ll find that you are in a much bigger box. And that big box is in another much, much bigger box. And the boxes just seem to get bigger and bigger.
Look around, you are probably in a box disguising as a cubicle or office space as it is. Then there’s the company culture, your boss’ preference, the politics and not forgetting your own likes and dislikes. Now we know why office buildings are often in the shape of a box – hardly conducive for innovating.
Let’s say you manage to claw your way out, then there are market constraints, client politics, consumer preferences, cultural nuances, industry practices and the hard-coded mentality of “this is how things are done”.
So is there a way to really think out of the box or is this just some slick-ass marketing term concocted to confuse clients and ourselves?
Frankly, I have no freaking idea. Look at it this way, if someone asked me to write outside the box, the copy will hardly be on point. It would be like working without a creative brief.
Let’s face it, we’re not Einsteins, so the box may well be our savior. It gives us a frame of reference, guidelines and limitations (often too much). It’s how creatively we work within these confines that matter.
So when someone asks you to think outside the box, pile some boxes next to your desk. There’s one right on my desk 😉