Curious about where the phrase ‘out of the box’ comes from? It was coined in the 1930s after the famous nine-dot puzzle by American industrial psychologist Norman R. Maier as part of his work on problem solving. Maier asked his students to draw four continuous lines so that each of the nine dots has at least one line running through it – but without lifting the pencil.
The clue to the puzzle's solution demonstrates Meier's hypothesis. People are often prevented from solving problems because of real or perceived assumptions, limitations or restrictions. In other words, you must draw the lines outside of the "visual" box to solve the puzzle.
A prospective client last week asked if "in the box thinking" was bad. Generally no -- but it depends upon the topic itself and what you're trying to accomplish. Many professions and occupations need consistency more than they need creativity. For example: the law, science or accounting (Enron notwithstanding). At the same time, don't expect new outcomes if you only apply old solutions to old problems. That was the point behind Einstein’s definition of “insanity.”
Instead, think of "in the box thinking" as going by the rules, using existing or standard policies, or following common methodologies. As it’s been said before, only after you know and understand the rules can you break them -- or, in other words, to think "outside the box."
More important, if you’re going to ask someone else to think "out of the box" -- then you too must think beyond your own assumptions, restrictions and limitations as well. Otherwise, it’s a pointless exercise.
Finally: If you think you can solve the nine-dot puzzle, then put your genius to work on a new puzzle. Try thinking ‘out of the triangle.’ Can you create four triangles from six lin es of any length. Unlike the 9-dot puzzle, the lines here don’t have to be continuous.
Answers to both puzzles next Monday. (Go here.)
