There is No Box

There is No Box

A great many people think they are thinking, when they are merely rearranging their prejudices!’? - William James

It was called, “The Nine Dot Exercise”, and over my many years of making presentations, it still stands as perhaps one of the most powerful icebreakers I used.? The exercise, attributed to US psychologist Norman Maier, challenges an individual to connect nine squarely arranged dots using four or fewer straight lines without lifting the pen.? It can only be solved by taking the lines beyond the mentally created confines of the box created by the dots (https://youtu.be/miURchYBc00?si=QTJF5uWDWFdMOUdJ), hence illustrating what is meant by the term “Thinking outside the box!

This exercise was commonly used to help audiences understand the power of paradigms.? Simply defined a paradigm is a set of practices, traditions or rules, be they written or unwritten, that serve as guidelines for accomplishing a goal.? A paradigm could be as simple as the recipe for making that time-honored batch of Christmas cookies, or as complicated as the processes to be followed to successfully close a distribution facility.? Perhaps a paradigm is best understood through the question and answer phrase, “Why do we do it that way?? Because we’ve always done it that way!”? However, over years and years it has been demonstrated that our greatest accomplishments have come when we challenged paradigms; when we thought outside the box.? So what’s next?? Instead of thinking outside the box, thinking like there is no box!

It’s important to remember that the boxes in our lives were often created for a reason; to?provide?direction in the current environment.? But what happens when that reason is obsolete, no longer applies or is not even relevant.? In essence we are asking what is the “why” of the box.? If it no longer serves a purpose, we cannot waste time thinking outside it, we must let it go and think like there is no box.?

So how do you think when there is no box, when the constraints are removed and your mind is able to consider what at one point in time was unthinkable?? By simply ask yourself better questions!? By letting your mind wander, by learning something about yourself and through that process, the world you live in.?

Marc and Angel Chernoff are New York Times bestselling authors and professional coaches.? In a recent post they identified a series of questions that can help us quiet the noise in our head and consider some thoughts that heretofore we probably never even considered.? This exercise challenges you to ask yourself better questions — questions that focus your thoughts and filter out the excess noise that’s been cluttering your mind.? This becomes the first step to asking better questions in other environments.

The following are a sampling of those questions.? I encourage you to start your day by taking five minutes to consider one question and write your response.? As you become more comfortable with the process, shift the questions to another environment, be it work, a volunteering opportunity, or a challenge in your life.?

  1. In one sentence, who are you?
  2. What will you never give up on?
  3. What would you immediately do differently if you knew no one would judge you?
  4. What does beautiful look like in the dark?
  5. What is the most valuable life lesson you’ve learned from a mistake?
  6. What will be your legacy?
  7. What is something positive you keep in mind when negativity surrounds you?
  8. What is something that used to scare you, but no longer does?
  9. What gives you hope?
  10. What do you want to remember forever?
  11. What recently reminded you of your own mortality?
  12. If you were going to die tomorrow, how would you spend today?
  13. What is something that doesn't have an ending?
  14. What is something to which you always look forward?
  15. What do you appreciate most about your life right now?

There is a calming and healing power to be found in a? positive imagination; one that always considers the possibilities absent the box.? Let these questions shift your perspective, guide your actions?and open some doors to hallways and rooms in your life that you have yet to explore.

Think Without a Box
Embrace the Challenge.
craig poole

Servant Leader Practitioner of Radical Hospitality

8 个月

This gave me goosebumps. So many people are stuck in what used to be and they’re missing what could be. Ego, pride and greed are three boxes we need to tear apart if we’re going to create paradigms and more importantly, hold people back if we are leading them in these three boxes. I often ask myself what is the invisible obvious?

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