Thinking Beyond The Box

Wah..another management jargon! Not enough with 'out of the box' it seems.

Well, ‘thinking beyond the box’ is actually much much easier than thinking out of the box. It doesn't require us to think hard or creatively but just the courage to think beyond the results of our actions or inactions. In other words, we ask ourselves 'so what if that's going to happen?'

A little personal experience I have is when I applied for my daughter's birth cert. I was told that I needed to register within 7 days from birth date or else I'll be fined. I was extremely busy then and so on the 6th day, I forced myself to take a day off to secure my daughter's citizenship, not without a lot of grumbling.

Off I went the next day, stressed out by many questions the night before, evolving around 'what will happen if I didn't manage to get the birth cert?' ‘Will my daughter lose her citizenship?’

Luckily, the registration went extremely smoothly and I got my daughter's birth cert within 5 minutes! The government can be really efficient! Anyway, in that ecstatic mode, I asked the officer how much the fine was if I were late. The lady told me for the first 30 days they will fine RM5. What!?? Only RM5?? All of a sudden, I realized that all the stress and 'what if' were not worth that RM5!

What did I learn? That’s right. I did not think 'beyond' the fine. I treated the fine as the ultimate result and hence work on my decisions and planning before this point. Simply put, I didn't think ‘beyond the box.’

A lot of people have fear of snakes. But many don't ask ,'so what will happen if there's a snake?' Some fear retrenchment at work but failed to ask 'so what if I'm retrenched?' I don't have income, idiot!. So? I need to use my saving to meet commitment, fool! So? It will only last 6 months, you moron! So? I need to find a job before then, Einstein! Aha! So the real issue is that the reserves are only 6 months and the guy needs to find a job by then. Now, what can he do? Well, he can beef up his savings, expand his network and upgrade his skills.

While it may sound oversimplified, ‘thinking beyond the box’ takes away unnecessary anxiety from the idea of retrenchment. At least, the mind is able to focus on plans and actions that have real impact in a real world.

So, next time you face an issue and are horrified by its possible ending, don’t stop there. Ask yourself that one last question ‘so what?’

A pre-empt for the next blog. Now that you are introduced to ‘so what’, the next question is naturally ‘now what?’. For that, watch out for the next blog.