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Don't think outside the box!

Will Barratt, Ph.D.

Don't think outside the box! I make this suggestion in all seriousness; thinking outside the box is dangerous. Thinking outside the box leads to disruptions, discord, and dissent. Don’t do it! If you’re not good at thinking outside the box, don’t. You can hurt yourself. As seen on TV "Don't try this at home. These stunts are performed by trained professionals." What you need is a trained outside the box professional.

Most people can't think outside the box; even with training. We can train you in better problem solving skills but problem solving is not thinking outside the box. Even with the very best in problem solving training the problems that get solved are always within the box problems. You can't help it; those are the problems you see.

People in positions of responsibility are successful inside the box thinkers. They make our trains run on time, they pay our bills, they write our procedures, they make our enterprise work. If these successful inside the box managers start messing around outside the box then things can go very wrong, very quickly.

Thinking inside the box brought you your success. Do you want to risk your success?

If you want outside the box thinking you need to collaborate with outside the box thinkers. This is not as easy as it sounds; inside the box thinkers and outside the box thinkers don't play well together!

"You want me to work with those space cadets, those blue sky idea people, those crazies who's every other idea fails? They're impractical, they have no idea how things really work. They have no respect for our traditions and our teamwork, and they don't get along with anyone. They're always trying new things, they never settle down. I try to talk to them but they never make sense."

"You want me to work with those stuck in the mud groundhogs who never had an original idea? They're impossible; their idea of change is to get a new corporate shade of blue. They just rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic. They do the same thing day after day. They like the way we've always done things. I try to talk to them but they never listen."

Sound familiar? Managers, people in positions of responsibility, are inside the box thinkers. They see different problems and see problems differently than outside the box thinkers. No wonder the groups don't play well together. Learning to work collaboratively takes training, time, and effort.

What to do? First, learn to recognize how people think differently. This takes training. The Kirton Adaption-Innovation Theory (KAI) and the Five Factor model provide two of the best mental models of cognitive diversity, ways to recognize how people think differently, how people manage change differently, how people see different problems, and how people see problems differently. Both are grounded in years of practice and research with individuals and group process. The KAI and Five Factor are serious tools for serious times and take serious training to use.

Second, we all need to value both outside the box thinking and inside the box thinking. This takes training. Most of us only value our own kind of thinking. This is about valuing diversity. Ethnic, gender, and cognitive diversity require all of us to move beyond our narrow world views; serious diversity training means seeing different things and seeing things differently.

Third, learn to communicate across the box gap. This takes training. We're like radios that only tune in nearby familiar stations. With help we can learn to tune into distant stations, listen to people who see different problems and see problems differently.

If we want outside the box thinking then we must learn to play well together, to listen to each other, and to value what each of us brings to the table.

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Will Barratt The Box Paradox