It's that damned Box. Yet again.
You know the one I mean...
The Box we are supposed to think outside of.
The Box, by the way, is not to be confused with The Paper Bag.
You know the one I mean...
The Paper Bag some folks can't find their way out of even when it has holes in it.
Nor can it be confused with The Paradigm.
You know that one, too...
The Paradigm we sometimes get locked in to.
But back to The Box.
I have often written about it.
Inside The Box.
Out of The Box.
Out of sight of The Box... my favorite.
Think about it -- why is The Box so evil?
Is it sentient in its ability to block smart thinking?
Like some 1950's black-and-white B horror movie...
The Box that strangled the thinking of the world,
Or
The Box that ate my idea...
The truth is, I am guilty of blaming that poor old Box myself.
So guilty, in fact, that I wanted to run from it, leave it alone and empty by the roadside... abandoned and discarded.
Deserted by all and cast off like yesterday's already forgotten thought.
Then it occurred to me...
What if the problem isn't The Box?
What if we had maligned the poor thing and the problem was us?
You see, if we had great ideas in The Box, why would we have to leave it for new ones?
Somehow we schlepped The Box this far -- it served us well -built our business -- helped us evolve -- innovate -- why forsake it now?
My inspiration was the following:
I'll be more enthusiastic about encouraging thinking outside the box when there's evidence of any thinking going on inside it. - Terry Pratchett
And there you have it.
I think the real problem is that we aren't covering the basics. We rip the hell out of The Box -- do our best to distance ourselves from it and somehow forget what works; what's important; what makes a real difference. What delivers results.
We get so consumed and wound up with what we perceive as new and amazing that we revile The Box and blame it for all our woes. Yet we twist ourselves into pretzel-like shapes trying to make things work as if we have created the world and not just built a new road or two.
Here is my new take.
Prove to me that you are thinking in The Box before you trumpet what you have discovered outside of it.
This is going to be a difficult year and I guarantee that if you pay attention to that old Box, you will be surprised by what it will do for you...
Poor damned Box!!! Treat it well. It might just be your salvation...
What's your POV?