by Steven Gillman
When innovators talk about thinking outside the box, they mean coming up
with creative ways to solve problems - new ways to look at things. How
do they do it? How can you do it too? We first have to ask what the
"box" is. Then we can look at how to get outside of it. The "box" is
the normal way of doing things and looking at things. It is the
assumptions that almost everyone involved is making. The best way to
start thinking out of the box then, is to identify and challenge all the
assumptions that make up thinking inside the box. One of the major
liquor brands was faltering years ago, and they couldn't seem to boost
their sales. Promotions, lowering the price, getting better shelf
placement - these were the "in the box" solutions. Then someone
challenged the assumptions, by asking "What if we stopped the promotions
and just raised the price?" The price was raised as an experiment, and
sales soon doubled. As it turns out, some types of liquor are bought
quite often as gifts. Buyers don't want to buy the most expensive one,
but they also don't want to seem cheap, so they won't buy products that
don't cost enough. Now imagine what happens to your profit margins when
you raise the price and double the sales. That's the power of thinking
outside of the box.
Ways To Get Outside The Box
Challenging assumptions is a powerful creative problem solving
technique. The difficult part is to identify the assumptions. If you are
designing a new motorcycle, write down assumptions like "speed
matters," "it has to run on gas" and "it needs two wheels," not because
you expect to prove these wrong, but because challenging these can lead
to creative possibilities. Maybe the time has come for an electric
three-wheeled motorcycle.
Another way to get to creative solutions is to "assume the absurd." This
is either fun or annoying, depending on how open-minded you can be. All
you do is start making absurd assumptions, then finding ways to make
sense of them. The easiest way to do it is by asking "what if."
What if a carpet cleaning business was better off with half as many
customers? It seems absurd, but work with it. Hmm...less stressful,
perhaps. More profitable if each customer was worth three times as much.
Is that possible? Commercial jobs that involve large easy-to-clean
spaces (theaters, offices, convention halls) make more money in a day
than houses, with fewer headaches. Focusing on getting those accounts
could be the most profitable way to go - not so absurd.
Another way to more innovative ideas is to literally do your thinking
out of the box. Get out of the house or the office. Look around at how
others are doing things. On busses in Ecuador, salesmen put a product
into everyone's hands and let them hold it while they do a sales pitch.
Then you have to give back "your" product or pay for it. It is very
effective. How could you use the principle in your business?
Steve Gillman has been studying brainpower and related topics for years.
For more creative problem solving techniques, and to subscribe to the
Brain Power Newsletter, visit: http://www.IncreaseBrainPower.com
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