Thinking outside the box (also thinking out of the box or thinking beyond the box) is a metaphor that means to think differently, unconventionally, or from a new perspective. This phrase often refers to novel or creative thinking. The term is thought to derive from management consultants in the 1970s and 1980s challenging their clients to solve the "nine dots" puzzle, whose solution requires some lateral thinking.
The catchphrase, or cliché, has become widely used in business environments, especially by management consultants and executive coaches, and has been referenced in a number of advertising slogans. To think outside the box is to look farther and to try not thinking of the obvious things, but to try thinking beyond them.
Read more about Thinking Outside The Box: Analogy, Nine Dots Puzzle, Metaphor, See Also
Famous quotes containing the words thinking and/or box:
“Max Detweiler: I get a fiendish delight thinking of you as the mother of seven. How do you plan to do it?
The Baroness: Darling, haven’t you heard of a delightful little thing called boarding school?”
—Ernest Lehman (b. 1920)
“Such as boxed
Their feelings properly, complete to tags
A box for dark men and a box for Other
Would often find the contents had been scrambled.”
—Gwendolyn Brooks (b. 1917)