Outside the box thinking is a magnificent ability that can help you to solve very complicated and complex problems, by changing your perspective as this allows you to come up with solutions no one else had thought of. Even scientists and inventors make use of the principle to think outside the box that allows them to view things from another perspective, for instance by observing and analyzing Mother Nature.
But how does it work to “think outside the square”?
1. Question things
Thinking outside of the box requires looking at things from a completely different perspective, which becomes tremendously difficult when we accept everything as given and unalterable. An excellent example for a person who questioned the state of knowledge back then was Galileo Galilei, who questioned the “fact” that the sun was evolving around the sun. If Galileo hadn’t questioned this fact he would have never been able to “step outside the box”, view things from another perspective and to consider the possibility that the earth was evolving around the sun. After all, he was proven right with his thesis, even though the majority of people disagreed with him, back then.
Questioning things is in my opinion an excellent way to train the ability to look at things from a completely different point of view. Nevertheless, it also helps you to stop accepting things as unchangeable and absolutely true.
2. Discover new areas with similar solutions
I already mentioned that scientists often observe given processes in nature in order to find a solution that they can adapt in order to solve the problem they are facing. Doing so is called
Biomimicry which is a fantastic outside the box thinking strategy for scientists that figuratively allows them to step into another world (here: Mother Nature) and search for already existing solutions to similar problems. The basic idea of Biomimicry - searching for a solution within another area - can be applied in many other industries, besides sciences. It is often the case that one industry branch has come up with an idea that helps another branch to solve its problem.
3. "Find another solution"
An excellent exercise that encourages you to actively think outside the box is to set yourself a prickly problem, preferably a problem whose solution you already know. When trying to approach the problem of your exercise make sure to come up with as many solutions as possible that vary from the solution that you already know of. Performing this exercise regularly will tremendously help you to look at things from a completely different perspective.
4. Add variety to your life
Another excellent
strategy to think outside the box is to add variety to your life, for instance simply by spontaneously taking another route to work or brushing one’s teeth with the other hand. Mixing things up in life allows you to develop new strategies on how to handle a given situation and will improve your ability to approach problems from another perspective.