I’ve always hated that phrase–”think outside the box.” I inevitably get stuck on the whole ‘box’ concept. My mind goes off on tangents like that, often to the extreme where I can’t remember what the original question was. I start pondering–what kind of box? How far outside do I need to be in order to think? How exactly will I know when I am outside of it?
I’ve always been a bit of a creative thinker. And it’s not always seen as a good thing. Let me give you an example. We were doing a team meeting at work one day. It was a new team so we were doing one of those obligatory games that is supposed to bond us all together. The coach divided us into two teams and gave each team a pair of pantyhose. The task was to fill the pantyhose with things you had on hand. As an example, the coach said, we could use cell phones, wallets, notebooks etc. The first team to fill their pantyhose won.
Our team started gathering things, discussing what would be best to use, in order to fill the stockings. I had what I still think, years later, was a brilliant idea. I suggested we ‘fill’ the pantyhose with one of the team members! We chose a smallish young lady–the pantyhose weren’t very large and the girl needed to put them on over her current pants. We circled the girl so no one could see and announced that we were done. The other team was shocked–they were still trying to fill the first leg of their stockings.
We stepped aside to reveal how we had filled our stockings. Everyone laughed. Except the coach who stated “that’s cheating!”
I was appalled. How could it be cheating, I asked. The instructions were to use whatever we had on hand. We had done that. The coach said she hadn’t meant that we could use people. To which I replied, she hadn’t said we Couldn’t. It ended there. The coach brusquely went on with the meeting, and I was left feeling angry and bewildered. Here I’d thought I was being clever. And instead of being admired for my quick wit, it just made my boss mad.
So thanks anyway, but I’ll stay right where I am–in my own little box. With my small group of friends who love how I think….and don’t care where I am doing it!
