so she asked the question, "What if I was the problem here?" She considered what was she doing, and what she could do differently. Now she was thinking outside the box.

Looking at it this way, she saw that she was dwelling on his unfair decisions and rudeness. When she ignored those, she realized, she actually still liked her job. When she stopped focusing on his behavior, she didn't seem to have much of a problem with her boss.

She also saw that she was making herself a target. Her getting upset seemed to make her boss act

Are you ready to start thinking outside the box, and generating new ideas? You've probably heard the expression enough, but what is the box, and how do you get outside of it? You can start with the following technique.

A Metaphorical Box

Time to play with the metaphor a little. Imagine you are actually in a box, and written on the cardboard walls around you is a description of the world outside. It could be a very detailed and accurate description of the world in some ways, giving you a good idea about what is out there. Perhaps you could even use this knowledge to create some useful ideas.

Of course there is a problem here. The world is larger and more complex than any description can capture - no matter how detailed it is. This means that if you stay inside this box, your thinking will be very limited. To really know the world, and to make your thinking about it more productive, you need to be outside the box, right?

Getting Outside The Box

All of us are "in the box" at times. The "box" consists of our habitual and limiting ways of thinking and solving problems. This is easiest to understand with a simple example.

Suppose that Beth hates her boss, in part because he has been unfair and rude to her. Beth's first approach to this problem was to go above his head and complain. She hoped he would be fired, but this didn't happen.

She considered transferring to another department, or perhaps even quitting her job. This made her angry. After all, why should she quit, when he is the one causing the problem? She even started to think about revenge, which made her smile, but she knew it would only mean more trouble.

Beth finally decided that her thinking wasn't very productive. She needed to start thinking outside the box, but how could she go about this? To begin, she identified key elements about her approach - the assumptions she was making - and she challenged these.

For example, she was assuming that her boss was the problem. You might say that this was part of the description written on the inside of the box she was in. Perhaps it was accurate, but it wasn't helping, so she asked the question, "What if I was the problem here?" She considered what was she doing, and what she could do differently. Now she was thinking outside the box.

Looking at it this way, she saw that she was dwelling on his unfair decisions and rudeness. When she ignored those, she realized, she actually still liked her job. When she stopped focusing on his behavior, she didn't seem to have much of a problem with her boss.

She also saw that she was making herself a target. Her getting upset seemed to make her boss act

re. Perhaps you could even use this knowledge to create some useful ideas.

Of course there is a problem here. The world is larger and more complex than any description can capture - no matter how detailed it is. This means that if you stay inside this box, your thinking will be very limited. To really know the world, and to make your thinking about it more productive, you need to be outside the box, right?

Getting Outside The Box

All of us are "in the box" at times. The "box" consists of our habitual and limiting ways of thinking and solving problems. This is easiest to understand with a simple example.

Suppose that Beth hates her boss, in part because he has been unfair and rude to her. Beth's first approach to this problem was to go above his head and complain. She hoped he would be fired, but this didn't happen.

She considered transferring to another department, or perhaps even quitting her job. This made her angry. After all, why should she quit, when he is the one causing the problem? She even started to think about revenge, which made her smile, but she knew it would only mean more trouble.

Beth finally decided that her thinking wasn't very productive. She needed to start thinking outside the box, but how could she go about this? To begin, she identified key elements about her approach - the assumptions she was making - and she challenged these.

For example, she was assuming that her boss was the problem. You might say that this was part of the description written on the inside of the box she was in. Perhaps it was accurate, but it wasn't helping, so she asked the question, "What if I was the problem here?" She considered what was she doing, and what she could do differently. Now she was thinking outside the box.

Looking at it this way, she saw that she was dwelling on his unfair decisions and rudeness. When she ignored those, she realized, she actually still liked her job. When she stopped focusing on his behavior, she didn't seem to have much of a problem with her boss.

She also saw that she was making herself a target. Her getting upset seemed to make her boss act

ways of thinking and solving problems. This is easiest to understand with a simple example.

Suppose that Beth hates her boss, in part because he has been unfair and rude to her. Beth's first approach to this problem was to go above his head and complain. She hoped he would be fired, but this didn't happen.

She considered transferring to another department, or perhaps even quitting her job. This made her angry. After all, why should she quit, when he is the one causing the problem? She even started to think about revenge, which made her smile, but she knew it would only mean more trouble.

Beth finally decided that her thinking wasn't very productive. She needed to start thinking outside the box, but how could she go about this? To begin, she identified key elements about her approach - the assumptions she was making - and she challenged these.

For example, she was assuming that her boss was the problem. You might say that this was part of the description written on the inside of the box she was in. Perhaps it was accurate, but it wasn't helping, so she asked the question, "What if I was the problem here?" She considered what was she doing, and what she could do differently. Now she was thinking outside the box.

Looking at it this way, she saw that she was dwelling on his unfair decisions and rudeness. When she ignored those, she realized, she actually still liked her job. When she stopped focusing on his behavior, she didn't seem to have much of a problem with her boss.

She also saw that she was making herself a target. Her getting upset seemed to make her boss act

ch made her smile, but she knew it would only mean more trouble.

Beth finally decided that her thinking wasn't very productive. She needed to start thinking outside the box, but how could she go about this? To begin, she identified key elements about her approach - the assumptions she was making - and she challenged these.

For example, she was assuming that her boss was the problem. You might say that this was part of the description written on the inside of the box she was in. Perhaps it was accurate, but it wasn't helping, so she asked the question, "What if I was the problem here?" She considered what was she doing, and what she could do differently. Now she was thinking outside the box.

Looking at it this way, she saw that she was dwelling on his unfair decisions and rudeness. When she ignored those, she realized, she actually still liked her job. When she stopped focusing on his behavior, she didn't seem to have much of a problem with her boss.

She also saw that she was making herself a target. Her getting upset seemed to make her boss act

so she asked the question, "What if I was the problem here?" She considered what was she doing, and what she could do differently. Now she was thinking outside the box.

Looking at it this way, she saw that she was dwelling on his unfair decisions and rudeness. When she ignored those, she realized, she actually still liked her job. When she stopped focusing on his behavior, she didn't seem to have much of a problem with her boss.

She also saw that she was making herself a target. Her getting upset seemed to make her boss act even worse towards her, so she started answering his rudeness by smiling like she knew some secret. He seemed confused, and he stopped making as many rude comments to her.

In her box, she realized, this situation was painted as a battle between her boss and herself. But did it have to be a battle? She considered what would happen if she tried to help him, and she laughed, mumbling to herself, "Yeah, help him find another job somewhere else." This might be a good idea, Beth decided, so she found his resume and secretly sent it to a corporate "headhunting" service. The next month her boss had a job offer and he left the company. Beth was even promoted to fill his position.

There are many ways you can start thinking outside the box. But one of the first to try is to challenge the assumptions that the box is constructed of.