Are you in that box?

I’m in a pillow case!

Think outside the pillow case. I like it!

People who use the phrase “outside the box” are definitively stuck inside it. The truth is, there is no box!

@SavoirFaire Yay! That’s what I always say. It’s surprising how many people don’t get it.

I don’t limit my thinking ;)

What was I thinking? That anyone would admit to having a box?

I never understood the box metaphor, but from what I gather, it has pointy corners and sharp edges and you don’t want to be trapped inside it. Presumably you suffocate.

Nah… I outgrew the box a long time ago. At first, it made me panicked because I wanted to fit in and be like everyone else, but now I embrace being different. Not only that, but I’m capable of really creative and unusual ideas and solutions, which I think rocks.

I do think the box exists. It’s basically normal, uninspired thinking. No idea why a box, though, and not, like.. a cage.. or a bubble..

Story time! So, last semester, on the first day, my professor told us to think outside the box. And he explained this concept in no new terms, and to help illustrate his point he drew a box on the board. He then promptly encased that box in another box just in case we needed help understanding where outside the box might be.

Now, I feel that a) there is a good chance he didn’t grasp the irony of telling us to think outside one box but inside a different box and b) if you need the concept explained to you by the time you are in a college class, that metaphor is just never gonna click for you.

I dropped his class within 5 minutes of the first lecture ending.

I’ve also found, in addition to what @SavoirFaire said, that people who use the term mean very specific things by it. They don’t mean “think outside the box”, they mean “think outside your box, and inside my box, or what my box would be if I was the amazing person I think I am”. Or sometimes it’s “be a mind-reader/fortune-teller, and figure out the next unforeseeable big thing so that I can be the first to cash in on it”. Very, very rarely does anyone actually mean “be uninhibited and creative in your thinking”.

@papayalily Exactly. When middle management says, in a meeting, “think outside the box” they really mean “we like you in the box and if you dream of stepping out of it, we’ll have you shot.”

More pretentious psychobabble! No box, pigeon hole or goldfish bowl for me. I’m free as a bird, tweet tweet!

Nope! @wundayatta The box is there because some people (actually quite a lot) need the box. It gives them comfort and justification for not thinking outside of it.

@Cruiser Must be something wrong with me because I never saw the box—metaphorically speaking.

@wundayatta Perhaps not. Some people are blissfully unaware of the box that contains them and might prefer to keep it that way – not implying you are that way of course! I remember the first time getting chastised for coloring outside the lines with the wrong colors to boot and realizing how wrong they were. Since that early day in my life, there is not a box big enough to contain me.

@papayalily Great story! And good call about how most people just want you to trade one box for another.

I’m in a box more than I realize. All I have to do is spend 5 minutes with a five year old, and I see it clear as day. Bleh. And I don’t like that thought at all.

@SavoirFaire Thanks! I think if it happens again, I’ll just have fun with it and be all “So… You want us to think between a small box and a big box?” and just really make their first day rough.

@papayalily “First” day? First day of what?

@Dutchess_III A new semester, with new students and a new classroom.