Think Outside The Box
Meaning
Think creatively, unimpeded by orthodox or conventional
constraints.
Origin 'Think outside the box' originated in the USA in the
late 1960s/early 1970s. Various authors from the world of
management consultancy claim to have introduced it. The earliest
citation that I have found comes from the weekly magazine of the US
aviation industry - Aviation Week & Space Technology, July
1975:
"We must step back and see if the solutions to our problems lie
outside the box."
The 'box', with its implication of rigidity and squareness,
symbolises constrained and unimaginative thinking. This is in
contrast to the open and unrestricted 'out of the box' or
'blue-sky' thinking. This latter phrase dates from a little
earlier, for example, this piece from the Iowa newspaper the
Oelwein Daily Register, April 1945:
"Real thinking. Speculation. Pushing out in the blue. Finding
out [the facts] was what put me onto the theory of blue-sky
thinking." The encouragement to look for solutions from outside
our usual thinking patterns was championed in the UK by Edward
De Bono, the psychologist and inventor, who coined the term Lateral
Thinking in 1967 and went on to develop it as a method of
structured creativity.
The cache contains several puzzle books and some flash cards for
the "younger" kids. There is also 2 Geocoins to be moved. Good luck
and have FUN!
co-FTF: Team Black-Cat and Van's Clan
STF: baileyhk
TTF: One Paddle Short