Think AND act outside the box, then create a new box!

When I look back at my youth, it is with a bit of nostalgia and sadness that I recall youth that passed away so quickly, for those were the days when anything was possible and the future limitless.  But I also feel a tinge of embarrassment when I think of my “rebellious” teen years when my friends and I adopted an haughty anti-social attitude along with all the clothing, music and “rebel without a cause” meme that is very popular among the young and that as you get older see it repeating itself over and over again.

Of course, in our over the top desire to be so different and original, we in fact were conforming quite rigidly to an anti-social peer pressure induced  ideology that we were no different from the straight laced “squares” of parental, educational and social society that we so vehemently opposed to.

But is it any different now that we are responsible adults?  Not really, as one phrase I often hear that make me roll my eyes is the infamous “think outside the box” slogan often repeated ad nauseam in the corporate realm.  First of all, you are often told to “think outside the box” but then are either shut down or not allowed to pursue the proposed idea.  Worse is that anyone with half a brain can think up anything different and somewhat original  if a modicum of effort is put forward, but that doesn’t mean the idea will realize itself or gain market share.

Of course these days, almost no idea is fully original, but I think the test for when you are thinking outside the box is when you also act outside the box, then create a new box.  Any project manager would know that it is in the plan, execution and completion of the project or original idea that gets fully realized.  Therefore, don’t just think outside the box but act outside it, then create a new box.  To take this to a projectpreneur level, when others start to adopt your box then you have truly done something original!