Unleashing Creative Potential: Thinking Inside Another Box

Harness the Power of Multidimensional Inspiration to Ignite Fresh Perspectives

In a world where creativity and problem-solving are highly valued, the traditional adage "think outside the box" has become synonymous with innovative thinking. I don’t know about you, but I’ve always found it challenging to think outside the box easily. It is such a broad statement. Specially when you’re so used to status quo and suddenly you’re having to innovate from nowhere. Recently however, I saw myself advising someone this exact thing and lo and behold, they were not able to grok what I meant. I had to use several anecdotes and examples to drive home the point. There was one thing that was common in my examples. I was helping them draw inspiration from similar problems solved earlier or elsewhere. Clearly, what I was doing was helping them explore fresh ideas within defined boundaries - a concept I’m calling "thinking inside another box." In this blog post, we delve into this alternative approach and explore how it taps into the brain's ability to combine existing information in unique and interesting ways.

The Brain's Creative Process:

I’m no neuroscientist but it is my understanding that the human brain doesn't generate new information from scratch. Instead, it learns and stores new concepts, allowing it to manufacture new thinking by combining existing knowledge. The brain's ability to synthesize information and make connections forms the foundation of "thinking inside another box." It's like having a mental treasure trove of concepts, ideas, and experiences that we've accumulated throughout our lives. When we encounter a problem or engage in creative thinking, our brain starts to connect the dots by synthesizing this stored information.

Let's consider an example. Imagine you're trying to develop a new marketing campaign for a product. Instead of solely relying on brainstorming sessions or staring at a blank canvas, you can tap into your brain's creative process by thinking inside another box. This involves accessing your mental cache of ideas from various domains and drawing upon them to inspire fresh perspectives.

For instance, you might remember a successful advertising campaign from a completely different industry that captured people's attention through humor. By combining that concept with your knowledge of your product and target audience, you can generate a creative campaign that stands out and resonates with your customers.

Research supports this idea of the brain's ability to combine existing knowledge to generate new thinking. A study conducted by the MIT Sloan School of Management, led by Professor Eric von Hippel, discovered that when companies merge brainpower from distant industries, the ideas generated tend to be better. By tapping into diverse fields and drawing connections between them, individuals can leverage the power of existing knowledge to foster innovation.

Inspiration from other industries

Reed Hastings, the co-founder and CEO of Netflix, provides a prime example of thinking inside another box. When exploring ways to monetize his DVD-by-mail rental service, Hastings looked beyond the traditional video rental industry. Inspired by subscription-based models in unrelated industries, such as gym memberships and magazine subscriptions, he introduced the revolutionary subscription-based model to the DVD rental industry. This innovative approach disrupted the market and laid the foundation for Netflix's transition to a streaming platform, revolutionizing how we consume entertainment.

Of course this isn’t one-off and is not just applicable to the tech industry. Examples like this are abundant. The outdoor apparel company Patagonia, leveraged insights from the food industry to promote sustainability and ethical practices in their supply chain. Taking inspiration from the farm-to-table movement, Patagonia introduced the concept of "farm-to-fiber" by tracing their clothing materials back to the source. This transparency resonated with environmentally conscious consumers, positioning Patagonia as a leader in sustainable fashion.

Likewise, the founders of Warby Parker, the popular eyewear company, looked to the e-commerce industry for inspiration. They noticed that online retailers were providing convenience, affordability, and a personalized shopping experience. By combining these elements with the traditional eyewear industry, which was known for high prices and limited options, Warby Parker disrupted the market by offering stylish, affordable glasses through an online direct-to-consumer model.

Patterns as Catalysts

Thinking outside the box, frees you of constraints. But, it presents another problem - the paradox of abundance. This abundance can lead to decision paralysis and inhibit the creative process. When there are no clear boundaries or constraints, individuals may struggle to focus their thinking and generate innovative ideas. As a result, the potential benefits of thinking outside the box may be more accessible to a select few who are naturally inclined or trained in creative thinking, while the average employee may feel overwhelmed or unsure of how to contribute effectively. So, what can you do to help them? Introduce patterns as a simplifier.

Patterns encourage analogical thinking and accelerate ideation by helping individuals think inside another box.

As leaders, here are some ways you can help your teams and organizations leverage patterns to drive creativity and problem-solving:

1. Encourage Cross-Industry Learning: Expose employees to a diverse range of industries and encourage them to explore successful patterns and solutions applied in different domains. By looking beyond their immediate field, individuals can gain fresh perspectives and discover patterns that can be adapted and applied to their own challenges.

2. Do diversity right: Loop in individuals from diverse backgrounds. But do not bring them together for brainstorming. They tend to be less effective when generating ideas. It increases biases and reduces the value of independent thinking.

3. Optimize to make the whole greater than the parts: Once the individuals have spent enough time thinking and reframing the problem and have their creative juices flowing to generate ideas, bring them in. Get them to hear counter arguments and encourage reverse arguments i.e., get the same folks to argue for someone else’s idea.

By helping employees see and apply patterns and follow the exercise above, organizations can tap into the innate human ability to derive insights from existing information and apply them in new and creative ways. Next time you want to run a brainstorming session to generate ideas, take a pause. Foster a pattern-focused mindset and provide the necessary resources and empower employees to uncover valuable patterns independently.

Instead of asking individuals to generate entirely new ideas, have them think inside another box and capitalize on the brain's ability to combine and recombine existing information.

This process of associative thinking and pattern recognition allows us to make unexpected connections between familiar elements, leading to novel insights and breakthrough ideas.

"Thinking inside another box" offers a fresh approach to problem-solving and unleashing creative potential. By leveraging existing knowledge, embracing diverse perspectives, and tapping into the brain's capacity for combining information, we can break free from conventional thinking and generate innovative solutions. Reed Hastings' success with Netflix and Patagonia’s shift in strategy exemplify the transformative power of this mindset. As we embrace "thinking inside another box," we open doors to new possibilities, revolutionize our approach to creativity and problem-solving, and unlock our full potential.