How to learn to think outside the box? What is needed for this? This article provides 4 proven techniques for those who seek to think outside the box.
Success-oriented people understand that hard work is not enough to achieve impressive results. Fundamentally different approaches need to be taken.
And this is possible with non-standard, creative thinking. When a person thinks outside the box, he develops original, interesting, unusual ways to solve a problem, often much more effective in terms of the ratio of time and effort.
The importance of out-of-the-box thinking is understood by HR managers of many large international companies and in the process of hiring employees they are guided not only by education and track record, but also by the ability of the candidate to solve problems creatively.
Thinking outside the box is important not only for inventors or scientists, but also for entrepreneurs, aspirants, investors, analyzers, a school teacher who develops more effective teaching methods, and even a housewife who comes up with an unusual recipe.
Traditional thinking negatively affects the desire to think outside the box and creatively. Read the following statements:
- Presidential elections must take place every two or six years
- The post office should cease to be state-owned and be transformed into a private monopoly
- Shops must be open from 13.00 to 20.00
- The retirement age should be set at 70
- In 30 years it will be possible to get rid of prisons.
If, while reading these sentences, you immediately had an internal rejection, bewilderment, indignation, disgust, indignation, anger, you probably think too stereotypically.
If, instead of the above emotions, you started ponder these ideas for their viability, your thinking is probably liberated and ready to perceive something new that does not fit into the usual way of things.
The point here was not whether the above ideas were good or bad, but how a person initially perceives them and whether he tries to think over instead of instant renunciation.
These examples are taken from a wonderful book and, by the way, when the author of the book expressed the idea of prisons in his speech, after some time (after he set the audience on the theoretical possibility of abolishing prisons), 78 ideas were generated to implement this proposal.
This is what the human mind is capable of when it thinks in an extraordinary, creative, unconventional way.
So, how do you learn to think creatively and outside the box?
1. Be Receptive to New Ideas
Remove from your vocabulary phrases like “it won’t work”, “it won’t work”, “it’s stupid”, “it’s useless”, “we never did it”, “it’s right, because everyone does it”.
2. Experiment and expand your horizons
To expand the boundaries of your own mind, dilute the routine with something new, something that you have not done before. For example:
- go to a new restaurant, theater, cinema, museum
- read new book or listen to an album from a band you've never listened to
- enroll in a sports section that you have never planned to do before (for example, martial arts)
- sign up for some trainings, seminars, courses
- meet new people, preferably not engaged in the same activity as you
- visit new places
- spend your weekend differently
- develop new route commuting to work
- get yourself a new hobby
- study a foreign culture (for example, some African or South American)
- try couchsurfing
3. Be progressive
Look for new effective ways performing one action or another. You shouldn't do something that way just because you've always done it that way, or because your parents taught it that way. Don't let existing traditions dictate the way or order of doing any task.
4. Ask yourself the following questions often:
- How can I make it better? (quality improvement)
- How can I do more? (quantity improvement)
By asking yourself these questions, you tune your brain in a rational way.
Thus, learning to think outside the box is not a super difficult task. It all depends on the degree of desire and motivation. It is enough to take the above 4 tips from David Schwartz as a habit and the result will not be long in coming.
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This article is for those who seek to think outside the box and are looking for answers to unsolvable problems. You may not want to become a 100% trouble shooter, but pump your brain and raise your standard of living - would you refuse?
Who are Trouble Shooters?
The term first appeared in 1905. Dictionaries define people of this profession as follows:
1. a person who is trying to find a solution to a problem or an end to a disagreement;
2. an expert in solving deadlocked diplomatic and political disputes;
3. specialist in problem solving in any field of activity and in any country.
Trouble shooters are people who, if translated literally, “shoot off” problems, that is, eliminate them. Moreover, we are talking about global issues of large private and / or state-owned companies that have not been able to solve full-time and invited experts.
According to the information that we managed to find, the number of trouble shooters for today is no more than 100 people all over the world. And they are passed from hand to hand like a good hairdresser, the best nanny or management accountant.
They voice simple solution cool businessmen. The answers are so obvious that it even seems strange that it hadn't occurred to me before. Trouble shooters approach difficulties like childish puzzles - i.e. to find the answer, they do not need to know this particular area perfectly, they need to look at the case as if they are aliens and suggest how others can get out of the crisis without losing a lot of money.
Their consultation, in fact, is a simple and unique conclusion, in which everything unnecessary and limiting was cut off. The concept of troubleshooter advice can be described as follows - one simple idea, which is very difficult to destroy even if desired, and which is carried out very quickly and easily.
The cost of the services of such people is appropriate. Their fees start at $100,000 per hour, and the schedule is known years in advance.
Read more: How board games help you become financially independent
The uniqueness of the profession
How are they different from crisis managers or business consultants? Business and crisis consultants mostly use well-known, albeit in-depth, methods and approaches to problem solving. Shooters, on the other hand, are not involved in creating anti-crisis plans and redirecting financial flows, a rigorous analysis of the causes and consequences of the crisis, or restructuring the company's administration. They may not even have a relevant education in finance or management. For the uninitiated, for sure, it also seems almost magical.
The main differences in the work of trouble shooters are as follows:
1. the ability to look at things from a completely different angle;
2. finding a single rational solution;
3. responsibility for the result, because the fee and reputation are at stake;
4. minimum time and money to implement the solution.
Read more: How to set goals to achieve them
stories with meaning
There are only a few stories about trouble shooters roaming the Internet. The rest (supposedly!) are not disclosed to maintain the secrecy and the level of the fees of these experts.
For those who hear about trouble shooters for the first time, we will briefly tell the essence of these stories.
So, to make production cheaper, Nike opened a sneaker factory somewhere in Africa. Shoes quickly migrated from conveyors to the streets of the country, because. workers and security guards had those who obviously needed these shoes more than moneybags from "civilized countries". Trouble shooter hired to stop product theft: 10 minutes of thought and the answer is ready - spread the production of the left and right sneaker to different countries.
But several facts cast doubt on the reality of the example and the minimization of costs. For example, there are no figures that prove that the total cost of organizing production in another country, shipping both sneakers to the same warehouse and packaging in one box, as well as the shooter's fee is less than the company's profit after implementing the solution.
Read more: How to go beyond: 20 stories of famous brands
But the second story is real, and it is described in textbooks on marketing. For example, in the early 20th century, Sears Roebuck and Montgomery Ward & Co produced mail-order catalogs (other variations of the story simply refer to unnamed companies that published catalogs like the Yellow Pages).
To eliminate a competitor, Sears hired a trouble shooter who offered to release a catalog with the same amount of information, but in a smaller format. Sears won the race, leaving Montgomery with their "bulky book" far behind in sales. It's commonplace psychology - we put stacks of smaller books on top and larger books underneath, which means they're used less often and often no longer bought.
Another story goes like this. The company wanted to improve productivity at the plant without paying overtime bonuses to employees. On the advice of the trouble shooter, near each of the working machines, they wrote on the floor with chalk how many parts were made on it in a day. This figure changed daily at the end of each worker's shift. As a result, without additional costs, except for the fee to the specialist, the company improved production indicators - after all, none of the workers wanted to demonstrate the fact that they work worse than others.
Become a Trouble Shooter: 6 Effective Techniques
There are no other stories about such specialists. To believe or not to believe in their existence is a personal matter. It is quite possible that this is a cool legend, invented in order to spur us to think without patterns.
How? Becoming a Megamind Superman is easy with simple exercises to develop creativity and out-of-the-box thinking. Performing strange tasks, your brain becomes more flexible. Foolish tasks train him, forcing him to see the hidden and non-obvious sides of any issue.
1. New neural connections in the brain
This exercise can be done every day and at any time - use the "unaccustomed" hand to hold a toothbrush, pen, pencil, spoon or computer mouse. Walk unfamiliar roads, come up with atypical things for the day, for example, answer only “yes”, do not ask questions during the day, play the drum for 10 minutes in a row (or at least just beat it :)). Inconvenience will be replaced by comfort, and new aspects of business will open up to you as soon as the brain adjusts.
2. Third party analysis
When an emergency situation arises, first analyze it from your point of view - why it arose, what consequences, how it could have been prevented, etc. Then think about how others see the same situation - your boss, colleague, wife, children, friends and acquaintances? Think in terms of each person. So you learn to see the situation from different angles, understand weak and strong arguments, and, most importantly, find the best solution.
3. Down with sync!
With the thumb of your left hand, touch all the fingers of the same hand in turn - four points of contact. With the thumb of the right hand, touch only three fingers of the right hand (for convenience, pinch the little finger). Now try to do it with both hands at the same time - this is the main trick. Forward! It's insanely hard at first.
Read more: Total Recall: 8 life hacks on how to quickly memorize information
4. Coordination is everything
This exercise pumps coordination and synchronous work of the hemispheres. Connect the index finger of one hand and thumb second hand. The same with the other same pair of fingers. Then we make a “ring” with the thumb of one hand in turn with the middle, ring fingers and little finger of the other, at the same time we touch the fingers of the other hand in the same way. We accelerate the movements when sorting out. They did it as a kid, didn't they?
All this is quite difficult to imagine, so we recorded a short video for you:
P.S. Special thanks to Vlad for a serious approach to business :)
5. Contradictions fire up the brain
The easiest thing to start with here is to regularly try to come up with new and unusual uses for ordinary objects, come up with neologisms, etc.
Also try to answer the question “What in my life did not come in handy from what I know and can do?”. For example, I can pronounce the correct decoding of the DNA abbreviation and know the composition of the Snowball sweets that the n-th factory produces, but there is zero exhaust from this. Ask yourself 5-10 times.
You can also find inappropriate definitions or adjectives for random nouns: something like “socks that harmonize the internal state” or “viviparous strawberries”. It is difficult to immediately come up with something that is completely, completely inappropriate for the word you have chosen.
6. Effective and relaxing
Write with a pen - this is how those parts of the brain that are responsible for thinking, movement, language are connected. Strikes on the "clave" include only the motor zones. Draw the same thing with both hands at the same time - this relaxes the eyes and both hands, engages the entire brain, increasing its efficiency.
And the last.
Do not demand from yourself the genius and greatness of ideas. Remain calm while thinking. Let your creativity slowly manifests itself as a cautious turtle sticking its head out from under the shell. Creativity experts say that quiet background noise spurs the search for new ideas. the brain needs to strain a little and muffle the sounds, and therefore it works better, generates new ideas. Silence, on the other hand, helps more in solving a complex, already existing problem.
Good luck, future trouble shooters!
If I asked you to draw a glass of water, how would you do it? Surely you would draw it from the side, and not looking at the glass from above or from some other angle. Why is this important, you ask? Because before you start drawing this glass, your brain is already on how you will draw it. Drawing a glass in an unusual way is an idea about how to think outside the box.
This concept works in all areas of our life. Before we do anything, our brain is already processing information. On the one hand, this is good. The brain helps keep us safe and keeps us safe from harm and things that could possibly hurt us. On the other hand, this is bad because our brain limits our potential.
Out of the box thinking
Exist study published in American magazine medical association, in which medical students at Yale University studied the arts of the world. The study showed that these students saw more medical information, which ultimately saved people's lives..
Art is the best way to expand your views on many things and on the worldview in general. By studying works of art, students became more attentive to details. So if you want to improve your out-of-the-box thinking, consider getting into art, or at least start devoting some time to it.
Starting to study works of art, you will see how many different facets and understandings there are in various objects of art. This will be the same non-standard thinking that will serve you in all areas of life.
Many times we have heard about it, but we do not know how to think outside the box. All our lives we have been taught to think inside the glass, not giving us the opportunity to look beyond it. For many people, it will be difficult and incomprehensible to learn to think outside the box. And the first step in solving this problem may be visiting an art gallery or reading classical literature.
Afterword
If you want to learn to think outside the box, take a look at art objects, think about how you could describe them from different angles. Over time, this technique will become easier to use. Just by looking at the world in different ways, we teach our brain to think differently and see things differently, which can undoubtedly bring even more happiness and joy into our lives.
We admire the heroes of films and books who masterfully find a way out of any situation, and often think about how we would have acted ourselves in this or that situation. How to find a non-standard approach to questions? How to set up thinking in a new, more productive way?
When your chips no longer work, when the problem-solving generator stalls, when you can’t find answers to questions in any book, there is only one thing left - to try something new and change. Stephen Levitt and Stephen Dubner in the book "Freaking" offer a chain of search for non-standard and working solutions, the key rule where is to think like a freak.
1 Think Deeper
Often, instead of getting rid of the problem, we spend money, effort and time looking for a solution to it. But despite all efforts, the problem remains. think like a freak means that you need to make every effort to find out the true cause of the problem, and only then solve it.
2 Think Like Children
Is "thinking like a freak" the same as "thinking like a kid"? Not really, of course. But when it comes to coming up with ideas or asking questions, an eight-year-old's mindset can be very helpful.
Children are not afraid to share their craziest ideas. As long as you can distinguish a good idea from a bad one, the ability to generate new ones, even if they are completely fantastic, will only help you. Got a crazy idea? Perfectly! In the end, it may turn out that out of 20 such ideas, you will take only one. But perhaps you would never have chosen it if, like a child, you had not blurted out everything that came to your mind.
The authors show the element of “freaking” by demonstrating the trick to a child and an adult — having the advantage of being small, children can solve a trick designed in such a way that it should only be viewed from above. You need to look at things from different points of view in order to grasp the essence.
Have fun, solve small problems, don't be afraid of the obvious - yes, this is childish, but for adults it would be very helpful. When it comes to problem solving, it can be helpful to wake up the child in you.
3 Think Small
Thinking like a freak means thinking small, not big. Why?
From books on time management, we know that it is better to solve global problems by breaking them into subtasks. A big problem is usually a huge bundle of interconnected small ones, so it is more useful to solve a part of it than to look for a universal solution.
Minds stronger than ours have already fought over every big problem. And the fact that it has remained unresolved suggests that it is damn complicated. For us, trying to solve a big problem will be a battle with a windmill.
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4 Motivate
If there is a main life principle of a freak, then despite all the evidence, it can be formulated as follows: people respond to incentives. Understanding the motives of each of those who are related to the problem is the most important and necessary condition for its successful solution.
Back in his Psychology of Influence, Robert Cialdini described experiments to determine the real motives of our actions. The result of the tests was the definition four types of motivation: moral, social, monetary, herd. Moreover, the percentage of the latter was the highest.
What does this tell us? At the very least, people's behavior depends on the circumstances. When you understand the importance of psychology in how we respond to stimuli, you will be able to create complex but really working motivation systems.
We tend to think that people will always behave the way they do now. But the very idea of this principle is that by changing incentives, we change behavior, and not always predictably. But the motivational system of freaks remains unchanged:
- to figure outwhat people care about doesn't always match what they say
- offer incentives in the areas that matter to them
- Be careful how people react
- rememberthat many will try to cheat the system and find all the ways to do this
5 Persuade
One of the main principles of freethinking is convince people who don't want to be convinced. How to learn to make people think the way you want? The authors of the book suggest avoiding arguments, and advise to act more pragmatically and wisely.
1.Recognize the importance of your opponent's arguments . When he sees that they are ignored, he loses the desire to do business with you.
2. Don't go for insults . Humans are very fragile beings, many of us can't stand criticism at all. Negativity "burdens our brain very much."
3. Give examples of history. History uses statistical data to show the significance of a phenomenon. A good story is very clear about the connection of events, indicating their causes and the consequences of certain decisions.
6 Don't be afraid to step back
Retreat is one of the most important components of freakythinking. Retreat is difficult because it equates to defeat, and no one likes to be a loser. But think of it as liberation. How about freedom from conventional wisdom, from artificial restrictions, from the fear of admitting that we are incompetent in something. If a person does the right thing, there are many advantages to his retreat.
Retreat is not the enemy of success if you treat it right. Do not consider failures as an absolute loss - they provide invaluable experience.
If you want to know about the rest principles of non-standard thinking, and try with deal with your unsolvable problems through freakishness, I advise you to read
How to learn to think outside the box? This question is asked by a lot of people, ranging from representatives of creative professions looking for original ideas for their works, and ending with schoolchildren who are concerned about how to successfully pass an exam without knowing all the topics. Someone might say that such a skill is one of the innate abilities. This means that its artificial development usually does not lead to the desired result.
Others do not share this view. A large number of literature on the topic: "How to learn to think outside the box" speaks of the correctness of the latter. Especially many of these books are written by English-speaking authors. These writings often contain a certain amount of advice (such as "21 Ways to Think Outside the Box"), thanks to which you can master the cherished skill.
This article will provide some of these recommendations.
Studying the experience of famous people
First of all, one should learn from examples from history. During the existence of mankind, there were many people whose original ideas influenced the fate of entire nations. With the help of their out-of-the-box thinking, they were able to make great discoveries and influence the course of history. One can recall at least the brilliant plan of the commander Bagration, which turned out to be saving for our fatherland during the war of 1812. Then, to confront the multi-million army of Napoleon Bonaparte, which invaded the borders of Russia, two troops were sent. One of them was commanded by Bagration, and the other by Barclay de Tolly.
The French emperor proudly said that his military force would stand between the two fronts and would not allow the enemy to combine their efforts. Russian troops were in no hurry to rush into battle with the enemy. Bagration retreated to Moscow itself, not giving a general battle, but participating only in minor skirmishes, which could not bring tangible losses to his army, but gradually reduced the size of the French army.
The great commander, being a non-standard thinking person, realized that in Russia it is possible to conduct military operations differently than on the territory of any other European state. The vast territory of our country simply could not be overcome by the French without loss.
In addition, the harsh climate also played an important role in confronting the enemy. The pinnacle of the tactical thought of the Russian military leaders was the retreat from Moscow. The Russians opened free access to the ancient capital to the enemy, but before doing so, they burned it to the ground.
They did the same with most of the territory occupied by the enemy. This method is called "scorched earth". French soldiers had to stay in the devastated city for several weeks. Hunger has begun. In addition, the winter of that year was severe. It was no easier for the French when they began to retreat from Moscow. In the burnt territories, they could not find any shelter from bad weather, or more or less suitable food.
As a result, a demoralized, hungry and frozen handful of French survivors crossed the border in the opposite direction. It was doom great army Napoleon Bonaparte.
How to learn to think outside the box? This art can be mastered by considering similar examples from history.
Analysis of historical events
The analysis of one or another extraordinary idea can also have a positive effect on mental activity. For example, in the case under consideration, Bagration neglected the European traditions of warfare and decided to save the lives of soldiers by providing a fight against enemies natural conditions. He was able to overcome the general belief that to give Moscow to the enemy means to destroy Russia.
Different variants
Another powerful piece of advice that can help you learn to think outside the box is: “Always consider multiple options for solving a problem.”
There is a European proverb: "Even in the stomach of a whale, a person has at least two exits." You can think outside the box and develop this skill using the following exercise.
You need to name any noun and come up with a hundred options for possible actions with this subject. For example, taking the word "coin", a person, as a rule, first of all names such verbs as "pay off" and "lend".
But when the standard options are exhausted, he has to invent more sophisticated solutions. Here we can recall another proverb, this time Russian, which sounds like this: "Need is cunning for inventions." And indeed, in the absence of any thing, a person very often finds a replacement for it, using improvised materials. Sometimes quite unexpected things come into play.
Therefore, when solving a problem, it is sometimes useful to deliberately exclude all banal options.
Overcome the psychological barrier
It is known that people who think outside the box most often do not like the phrases “this is not accepted”, “everyone does this” and the like.
Acting and thinking outside the box is their way of life. So should anyone who wants to develop the ability to come up with original ideas.
Another barrier that stands in the way of this skill lies in complexes such as self-doubt and low self-esteem. “I won’t succeed” or “no one has done this before” - these expressions are the worst enemies of progress.
The Other Side of the Medal
Excessive self-confidence also harms everything new and original. That boss is bad who does not know how to recognize the fact that the idea expressed by his subordinates is much better than his own.
The same can be said about "fixation" on a certain course of action. Sometimes it can be helpful to take a path that you have never walked before. This does not mean that you should indiscriminately accept everything new, but it is also imprudent to reject unusual ideas out of the blue.
Thus, in one foreign company, job applicants were asked to comment on the following statements: “All prisons must be closed”, “The retirement age must be raised to eighty years”. Applicants who immediately rejected the possibility of implementing these plans were denied employment.
No emotions!
By the way, such a person's immunity to non-standard ideas is often explained by his excessive emotionality. He hears a statement that at first sight seems to him incorrect, reacts violently and negatively to it, and because of his impressionability rejects a good idea. Therefore, in articles on the topic: “Learning to think outside the box”, the following recommendation is often given: “Never say never. Always consider any, even the most ridiculous idea.
Solving a Specific Problem
So far, this article has talked about developing the general skill of thinking outside the box. But most often people are faced with the need for a new original idea in a particular life situation. What to do when all existing options are not good enough and you need a different way to solve the problem?
Turn upside down
In this case, it is useful to look at the issue from a different angle. You will see the problem in a new light if you digress from important details and pay attention to minor points. This method can also be called "search for a gap" - a person "attacks" the problem from different sides, looking for the most convenient approach.
Physiology
It is known that left hemisphere The brain of most people is responsible for creative thinking. You can stimulate its activity in the following ways:
1. When working at a computer, you should shift the "mouse" from your right hand to your left. Then the corresponding hemisphere will receive the necessary warm-up.
2. You can also formulate a task and write a poem about it. At first glance, this approach seems absurd. But it is also based on the laws of physiology. Putting the task into a poetic form, a person clearly formulates it (using rational thinking, that is, the right hemisphere) and performs a creative act (the left hemisphere is involved). In this way, the brain can be activated as much as possible.
Conclusion
Excessive conservatism, as a rule, prevents you from starting to think outside the box. Therefore, while remaining yourself, sometimes it is still worth trying something new, uncharacteristic for you. For starters, you can listen to music of a genre that you have never liked.