The Fallacy of Thinking Outside of the Box

Thinking outside the box.

No doubt a fresh idea when it originated but constant repetition by an army of consultants and businessmen who’ve understood the words but not the concept have rendered it a cliché. Unfortunate, but perhaps this will help. Tear down the walls. Free yourself of any constraints and preconceptions. Use any and every resource and viewpoint at your disposal when encountering a problem. Locking yourself into any one approach leaves you ill-equipped to deal with the entire problemset.

Thinking outside of the box still admits the existence of the box you’re trying to escape. Don’t think outside of it. Think without the box. Imagine it into nothingness and look with a set of eyes – at a world similar but different from your own.