Think out of the box...
This
one line has the potency to make people feel as if their mental faculties are
constrained, chained or possibly prehistoric in its ability to comprehend,
conceive and infer. I want to out-rightly and unabashedly admit that I have been through
these feelings on occasions. At times, the feelings propelled by
self judgment and on other occasions, set off by opinions
and remarks of those around me.
Let
me attempt to dissect the title itself:
‘Think’ - *‘it implies
the entrance of an idea into one's mind with or without deliberate
consideration or reflection’. Multiple words can be associated with process
‘Think’ – Consider, Ponder, Remember, Anticipate, Reason, Meditate, Imagine…the
list has many more.
‘Out’- *‘it refers to
a direction, or externality, or a movement.
‘Box’- *it is a
reference to a container, space or enclosure, with a well defined surface or boundary - whether this has a lid or not is immaterial.
Based
on above, to run a thread through these three words would refer to, ‘free flow
of ideas unhindered by any concepts of space (containment) in continuous
interaction with the environment around us’.
Logically
then, what makes us get choked on this ability to ‘think out of the box’? I
feel there are two broad set of factors whose interplay causes this to happen:
Intrinsic to the person Extrinsic to the person
Level
of formal education Socio-cultural
environment
The
upbringing Work(ing / place) environment
Family
ties and interaction Peer
group
Attitude
& Personality Formal
training
Ability
to learn, unlearn and learn
The intrinsic factors lead to the
development of an innate ability to comprehend, embrace and develop on new
ideas and thoughts, while constantly challenging the existing limits of
abilities and capabilities.
The extrinsic factors are
instrumental in providing the right environment to nurture the abilities and
capabilities of the person and to build upon the intrinsic factors. The ability
to think out of the box is susceptible to be chained by the workplace
environment in case there is absence of freedom of thought, a willingness to
hear contrary views, challenge the existing practices and not reward such
thoughts in case they bring success.
One thing we must always remember
is that no two individuals are alike and therefore the ability to think and
then think out of the box is likely to be different.
*Source : http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary
By : Sumit Singh
Dated : 09 Dec 2012
Thinking out of box is something that really interested me when I first heard of it but as rightly suggested every person is different and so are the horizons. I believe what we can do is first accept the existence of this box and then see if we want to really think out side it. Sometimes we also dont disturb our thinking boxes is because we are very comfortable thinking in it
ReplyDeleteAgreed completely Nupur Dwivedi Pandey. Until and unless the box limit is set, out of the box will always remain a blue sky.
ReplyDelete