What is "Thinking Outside The Box"?  Innovation 1

Kayla: Hello, What is "Thinking Ouside The Box? TOTB.  To discuss this we have our own Lee Koy-Hong, and Abid.  O.K. what is TOTB?

Abid: So What is Thinking Outside The Box?

Lee: It means "use your head!", "Be smart!", "Innovate!"  But do these help you?  Not quite.

Abid: But this phrase is quite common right?

Lee: Yes, TOTB has been so commonly used it has become a cliché. Books have been written with it, many consultants teach course of it.  In fact one article in Fast Company Magazine said that TOTB will has appeared in the New York Times as often as once ever 9 days.  Though some of the ideas taught are just motivation slogans, some ideas are worth putting into practice.

Abid: What do they teach? Some Examples?

Lee: 3 Examples.  This one is the most common question used in books and courses.  Draw 4 consecutive straight lines and run through all 9 dots here:

The answer is

This shows that we have created an invisible box with the 9 dots and getting outside the box makes the question easy.  In fact by creating two more invisible points the puzzle becomes easier to solve.

Abid: Example 2.

Lee: This is a cake. With 3 cuts divide it into 8 equal pieces.

 

 

The answer is to turn the cake to think 3-dimensionally, cut 1 is horizontal, then only cut downwards from the top, cut 2 and 3, as follows:

This example teaches us to think of new dimensions.  And example 3..

Abid: Example 3.

Lee: A rich man has 2 daughters who drive fast cars.  One day he called them to an empty race track with their sports cars and said: "You shall have a race except the reward of a house goes to the one whose car finishes last."  The daughters drove off as fast as they could around the track.  Why did they drive so fast?

Abid: Your would think they should be driving as slow as they could.

Lee: The missing fact that explains it is that they had also to exchange cars before they started.  What this teaches is that sometimes, in innovation, the basis for the question, or the problem itself, has a major part missing.  Also, we should question our own assumptions that may have missing links.

Abid: Can we actually teach innovation, or TOTB?

Lee: Yes, I posit.  Politely, may I propose that it is possible to teach innovation.  In other words, there can be a method to creating new things.

Abid:  Where do we start?

Lee: Today, for the remaining minutes, we can start with some background ideas to prepare yourself for innovation.  S O   F E W.  A person has many things he can do to be more innovative, besides solving puzzles.  Five general ideas on how to improve your chances at creativity.  This acronym is meant to make it easier to remember.

Abid: Idea number 1? S [Science]

Lee: Science can guide us.  New discoveries and inventions sometimes open up fantastic windows into our world.  For example, atomic theory opened up many new possibilities we are still exploring.  G.N.R, Genetics, Nanotechnology and Robotics are currently changing our world and will drive many new trends in the near future.  Get to know the changes driving us.  Converse example, it is a little late to try and invent a radio.

Abid Idea number 2: O [Overuse your brain, operate your brain muscles, overdrive your brain?]

Lee: Overuse your brain because if you don't use it, you'll lose it.  Scientists used to think that by age of 25 we have the highest number of nerve cells in the brain and then the number goes downwards.  New discoveries show that for a well-trained and used brain, the nerves may be fewer but they become giant pipes like large broadband cables.  Many scientists do their best works in their 60s and 70s.  New knowledge also teaches us about how children's brains grow and develop best.

Abid Idea number 3: F [Fundamental brain skills are still needed.  Learning?]

You need fundamental brain skills, layers of knowlege.  For example, if you do not have any math, you cannot easily invent new things in nuclear physics.  So continued learning is important.  For managers, it means assembling teams with a variety of skills, and disciplines, and know how to reach out to those with the proper fundamentals.

Abid: Idea number 4. E [Environment.  O I know, your friends.]

Lee: Yes, birds of the same feathers flock together.  So having only couch potato friends means perhaps a new specialty, TV programming, and beer knowledge, but invent what?  Children grown up with musician parents often become musicians, for example the Johannes Sebastian Bach family.  Don't just limited to Colleges and Universites; try and spread into your everyday life variations and variety.  Be curious, stay curious within your own environment.

Abid: Idea number 5. W [WWW the internet.  The information highway]

Lee:  Make use of the information superhighway.  The internet has given us a gift that we can use to answer questions and direct our learning.  Many ideas are floating out there.  Google and other search engines provide us with so much information that it becomes a glut for some people.  Information gives us a start, but so few actually take the bit of wisdom and then take the next steps to learn more and to develop more.  By the way, how many people actually went and find out how Google works? 

Abid: If I prepare myself, will I get lucky in creativity?

Lee: Luck can be helped with a little method.  I call it the Degrees of Freedom Method.

Kayla:  Thank you guys, I guess next time you get together you will go into this method?  Stay tune.  Next we shall.....

 

Life is too[2] short.

References:

1. Kihn, Martin, "Outside The Box": The Inside Story, Fast Company Magazine, June 1, 2005.

2. De Bono, Dr. Edward, website of http://www.edwarddebono.com/Default.php.  Dr. de Bono has written about 80 books teaching people how to think.

3. Cartoon seen in Google images, from Cartoonstock.com

4. Cartoon seen in Google images, Randy Glasbergen artist, www.glasbergen.com