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A liberal, open mind, unconventional wisdom, the zeal to be different, and a nonconformist approach to uncover things. . . that is like thinking outside the box. One should think beyond the barriers of political, economic, social and ego barriers to 'think outside the box.' For example, companies could reduce lifecycle costs and development time by 20-25% when they bid for application development and services, if they were to actively participate and adopt open source frameworks, libraries and architecture. I don't see many companies associating the value addition provided by open source when bidding for projects. Recently I read in BusinessWeek that GM is trying to hire multiple companies to deliver IT outsourcing services. All big companies -- such as IBM, EDS, HP -- are competing for an approximately $15 billion business. GM no longer has to rely on one single company. The company that has the best strategy to solve GM's IT services problem could get the major pie. Now GM creating a competition platform and a level playing field to deliver the best quality solutions at viable costs is thinking outside the box. Another example. Christopher Brennan, regional manager for British Petroleum, facing limitations and stagnation in gas station sales, thought of installing kiosks to boost sales. These kiosks played an important role in transforming the channel sales. This is thinking outside the box. It is actually easier to think outside the box I decided to do some research, quite literally. I brought a 42' HD-TV box from my garage into my living room. I tried to put myself and close the lid at the top. After pushing the self-timer button on my camera, I almost fell on my face while trying to get into the box before the picture was snapped. My conclusion, therefore, is that it is much easier, and certainly much safer, to think outside the box. The need for thinking outside the box The person at the top feels that the quality of solutions, services or ideas in vogue is not great. This stems from frustration. It also comes from people working in teams who feel that the contribution of others is not helping find new and original solutions to the challenges of the modern world. Characteristics of thinking outside the box Thinking outside the box requires different characteristics:
One should be capable of thinking differently with an open mind, think about stuff with substance, and do things differently. One must focus on the value of finding new ideas and acting on them. One must strive to create value in newer ways. One must be capable of listening to, supporting, nurturing and respecting others when they come up with new ideas.
Out-of-the box thinking requires openness to new ways of seeing the world and a willingness to explore. 'Out of the box' thinkers know that new ideas need nurturing and support. They also know that having an idea is good, but acting on it is more important. Results are what count. Conclusion In an effort to introduce the concept of thinking outside the box, I have tried my best to explain the relevance and how it is being used in companies to deliver best-in-breed solutions. Any company that was, is and will be successful, if it spends some time in nurturing and supporting thinking out side the box. The best part is that the concept can be introduced in any industry segment, any domain and in any department of an organisation, without any limitations. At the end of the day, it is not only Porter's laws or new terms that are introduced that will drive the economies of the global world, but also the ability to create, cultivate and carry the concept of 'thinking outside the world.' I think, it is fair enough to say that, Porter applied the 'thinking outside the box' concept to existing strategies and competitive forces to devise his visionary statements. How many of us could do that? Not many, I would say.