What do we really mean by Thinking Outside of the Box

This term has become popular within the last few years and makes a lot of sense but my question to you is this: Are you capable of thinking out of the box? We generally solve problems based on what we know to be true and what has worked or seemed to work in past experiences. Now generally this is good but at times it can be detrimental. If you look back at past armed conflicts you will see that most casualties occur during the first few months of the conflict. Personally I believe that the biggest reason for this is that our military has attempted to apply old knowledge to a new situation and it just doesn’t always work. Military planners have caught on to this problem and seem to have corrected it in the last couple of conflicts. I remember how retired generals were criticizing the planning and operations of Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Enduring Freedom when they began. They said that our planners were not using enough troops and were even criticizing the tactics that they employed but they didn’t know that the planners were planning the wars based on current information. In past wars you would see large forces slugging it out and destroying everything in their path. Generally the biggest force won but with modern technology that’s just not the case.

I remember watching a battle where some of our marines were engaging a target but they were moving very slowly and methodically. The interviewer asked the armchair general why weren’t they charging the position and the general replied, “Well these are different types of troops.” Both were wrong. They were thinking inside of the box.

When you think outside of the box you are not concerned about what you did in the past as much as you are just concerned about winning. Let winning be your focus and not politics or appearances. I like to say that there is a solution to every problem in life. It’s just up to us to find out what it is. This approach has helped me and I think it might possibly help you too.

I remember a Macho Comacho fight some years ago where he fought a completely different style than he was known to fight. He was criticized by the sportscasters but he won. He forgot about appearances and what he did in previous fights and dealt with the situation which was before him exactly the way that it needed to be dealt with. Do you remember Mohammad Ali? He had to fight a totally different fight to defeat George Foreman. He called it the Rope a Dope. During the time that he fought this fight his corner people were screaming at him to get off of the ropes. They screamed at him between rounds to stop and fight the fight that he always did but he refused. In the end he defeated the one opponent who could have easily torn him apart. One reason that the strategy worked was because George Foreman had never seen it used so it confused him. He had never prepared for it because he didn’t prepare outside of the box.

Guerilla units are able to defeat large armies in combat because large armies are predictable. They have to do things exactly the same way every time. This is what makes them beatable. The small often ragtag units win by using their imaginations to confuse their superior opponents and defeat them.

In football its called razzle dazzle. The underdog team will use trick or unconventional plays to confuse their opponents and score points. This often works and scores the victory for the team which is not expected to win.

Apply these principles to your own life to overcome adverse situations or obstacles which seem to be insurmountable. There is a solution to every problem. Look at problems as puzzles and think your way out of the box.
TheGood Life