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Saturday 19 January 2013

Thinking Outside the Box












Meaning
Think creatively, unimpeded by orthodox or conventional constraints.

Thinking outside the box (also thinking out of the box or thinking beyond the box) is a metaphor that means to think differently, unconventionally, or from a new perspective. This phrase often refers to novel or creative thinking. The term is thought to derive from management consultants in the 1970s and 1980s challenging their clients to solve the "nine dots" puzzle, whose solution requires some lateral thinking. 







While solving the problems you will be encouraged to think aloud. When thinking aloud you should do the following: Say whatever’s on your mind. Don’t hold back hunches, guesses, wild ideas, images, plans or goals. Speak as continuously as possible. Try to say something at least once every five seconds. Speak audibly. Watch for your voice dropping as you become involved. Don’t worry about complete sentences or eloquence. Don’t over explain or justify. Analyze no more than you would normally. Don’t elaborate on past events. Get into the pattern of saying what you’re thinking about now, not of thinking for a while and then describing your thoughts. Though the experimenter is present you are not talking to the experimenter. Instead, you are to perform this task as if you are talking aloud to yourself.









1.   Set parameters to focus your ideas. Ironically, too much freedom can hinder your creativity. Boundaries help your memory function, giving your ideas more depth and breadth. Too many times, people start off really broad. That's a lot of pressure. It's easier to anchor an idea somewhere.

As you brainstorm, focus your thinking by asking specific questions. For example, if you're looking for new marketing strategies, list ten things you could do on Facebook or five ideas that involve crowd sourcing. Play with a variety of prompts and write down whatever comes to mind, no matter how loosely associated. 
2.   Search for random inspiration. To think outside the box, you need to trigger your brain to make connections it normally wouldn't make. To do that, look for inspiration that seems entirely unrelated to the problem. 

To find prompts, look at popular photos on Pinterest and trending words on Twitter, or click 'I'm Feeling Lucky' in a Google search.
3.   Aim for quantity, not quality. While you're generating ideas, turn off your internal editor. Exhaust your good ideas and start throwing out suggestions that seem absurd or wrong. Remember, you can always make a bad idea better after the fact.

Speed and friendly competition help people churn out ideas without judgment.

Happy Creating!! :-)


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