Outside The Box Cliché

I remember in college, the professor was trying to administer some kind of personality test. The goal was to see if a person was the type who would go at something blindly, hoping for the best, of if they would take on only what they knew and understood.

The test was in the form of a hypothetical situation:

You’re at a golf course and you put your ball only ten feet from the hole. The problem is, someone had left an empty fast-food bag on the green, and your ball had rolled inside it. Do you take a blind swing at the bag and see what happens, or do you take the ball out and receive a penalty?

This whole question, in my mind, is flawed from the start. Because to me, neither of these are acceptable solutions. The real question is: How do you get the ball in the hole without losing points?

The solution…set the bag on fire. The paper will burn easily without ruining the ball. You’ll just be left with a few ashes, and you’ll be able to putt your ball without any obstructions.

BUT—that wasn’t one of the choices. After submitting my answer, I was told that I was failing to see the point of the test. In my mind, whoever had come up with the test was failing to see the point in life.

As soon as people stop seeing life as a set of choices, and start seeing it as a field of problems to be solved, they’ll begin to unravel that mystery of ‘how do I become successful’.

There’s so much talk of ‘thinking outside the box’ these days, it almost makes me sick…people love to talk about it, but none of them would ever dare to do it. And a fellow does come along with a unique idea, most companies won’t try it…simply because “it’s never been done”.

But of course, this is why I’ve always liked working with entrepreneurs. They don’t think outside the box…they don’t even know a box exists. To them, if there ever was a box, they’ve burnt it down long ago and never looked back.

The next time you’re trying to solve a problem, don’t start by considering your choices. Instead, think about possible solutions. List them all, and figure out how to overcome any obstacles that might keep you from accomplishing them. This method of dealing with problems will work in business, marketing, and life in general.

And as always, if you’ve got a marketing problem with no solution in sight, then give me an e-call. I’m here to help.