Creativity/life coaches, productive work places, and the kinds of organizations that make employees take group rope-climbing and trust building exercises are generally pretty cool. And, they all want people to “think outside the box.”
It’s excellent advice…except when it isn’t.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with thinking outside the box, of course. It’s the kind of thinking that led Apple to the amazing slogan, “Think different.” Even though Apple stopped using that slogan in 2002, I bet you still remember it. Unfortunately, a lot of idiots today won’t get that “think different” is actually wrong. Correct grammar, of course, demands “think differently.” However, the twist works. It’s catchy, it’s interesting, it grabs our attention. It’s outside the box thinking. Too bad for hapless victims of its improper English language use, those students who were never blessed with Mr. Bibb for their English teacher, or anyone remotely like him. Those poor suckers might never even know the difference between “think differently” and “think different.” Deep sigh–and sorry if I accidentally called you an idiot.
There is much to be said, so much to be said, for thinking outside the box. It leads to different and new ideas, snazzy and unexpected ideas, even wild ones. It’s fantastic. However, in the wake of the anti-creativity movement (which, if you are paying attention, we are absolutely, positively moving toward, if not drowning in already), it is worth noting that there are many benefits to thinking inside the box, too.
On the one hand, “inside the box” thinking might give us just the same ole’ ideas, going around and around. “Nothing to see here, folks.” On the other hand, inside the box can also be a place for people to let down, socially, emotionally and without feeling the need to one up their colleagues. This freedom can lead to an entirely new way of seeing things, a different perspective. (Have you ever noticed how some of your best ideas come while you are taking a shower?). Without fear of others’ judgment, or the in-fighting and competitive nature that might exist at a Google, Yahoo or some other, “let’s do rope-climbing for team building” kind of company, inside the box environments also give us a sense of safety. Extroverts get to slow down. Quiet people get to be quiet. They get to muse, contemplate. Crazy ideas might not seem like the obvious result of going inward, but the relaxed, less competitive, be-who-I-am mentality might, in fact, help those of us who would rather voice our ideas quietly, rather than boldly or loudly. Those of us who are thoughtful, observant, rather than showy and flamboyant. Sure, brain-storming and riffing off of the ideas of others can create amazing answers to complex problems. Thinking INSIDE the box has its place, too.
Of course, all workplaces need both: a balance of inside the box thinkers and outside of the box thinkers. Those outside-the-boxers who will go wild with all types of pens and colors and those inside-the-box thinkers who may quietly, with gentle determination, insist on Calibri font (sans serif) or serif fonts (like Times New Roman) because “it’s always been done that way.” “Ah, but there are so many, many choices,” says the outside of the box thinker, (e.g., me). Sometimes, “It’s always been done this way,” just isn’t good enough. Yet, sometimes, it’s just what the doctor ordered. Susan Cain, in her book “Quiet,” argues for the importance of quiet in our lives. She points out that for every Martin Luther King, Jr. who speaks loud and proud, changing the way the United States will function forever, there is a Rosa Parks, the gentle, yet oh-so-powerful, complement to his rhetoric. Where King was loud, Rosa was quiet. It took both of them to make a revolution, changing suffrage forever. (As an aside, we sadly see the rights of voters, especially black voters, being wrenched away from our country). There are other rights we are losing and have lost, too. The right to choose. The rights of the trans community, and LGBTIQ communities at large. Environmental rights. Buckle up, ladies and gentlemen. In a Trump appointed Supreme Court, the obliteration of civil and human rights is a travesty we should expect to see a lot more of. Unfortunately.
Inside the box thinkers are not necessarily stuck in the past or rooted in tradition, either. They don’t always insist on the same old, same old. Inside the box thinkers, with time to think, nestled in the security of a steady cubicle (or an executive office with a window) can be some of the best thinkers there are. Sometimes, slow and steady really does win the race. Sometimes, slow and steady leads you to contemplate your issue, and develop a more comprehensive, even global solution. A revolutionary “big idea,” that would never have been born without the safety and quiet that were needed to feel safe enough to form that big idea in the first place. An office with a closed door. For some, it’s the consistency and stability, the quiet that comes from thinking inside the box, that makes us feel free to branch out, to “think different,” if you will. Inside the box thinking doesn’t necessarily mean dull. It could just mean deep.