Creativity = reinventing the box

I'm not a big fan of the expression "think outside the box".

I gradually realized this at a recent workshop, where we were requested to do just that, in order to be creative and come up with new ideas for a project in the coming year. Although we were split into groups and requested to be 'wild and crazy' with our ideas, we were also asked to answer a list of questions in order to make our ideas "actionable", which (in my mind) put us in another box. The result of this was that within the group I was in, much of the discussion ended up being focused not on ideas, but on what 'the box' was, because each person in the group saw different limitations for giving ideas depending on their role; also, one person took it upon himself to make us stick to answering the list of questions (which objectively speaking was perfectly sensible leadership), but of course that moved focus from freewheeling to delivering. This same person at one point said that the group depended on me to "be the creative one", which kind of dismayed me (even though I believe he meant it as a compliment). That statement revealed a perception I don't believe in - that "creative" is a personality trait, rather than a mode of thought. In other words - the exercise was not really the best breeding ground for our group as a whole for any form of brainstorming.

One major reason "think outside the box" doesn't sit well with me is that I have a feeling that the box appears very differently to different people. More than that, its importance and function, as well as its right to have power over us, are very different in people's minds - what is its purpose? Is it meant to offer stability, security and a safe boundary demarcating who belongs and who doesn't? Is it a useful mental barrier to stop us from doing things in an entirely haphazard way? Is it meant to contain us, and be an instrument of control in service of the powers that be? Is it a provocation meant to inspire rebellion? Or is it a neutral support structure that we may crawl into, bat around, climb on top of, wear as an armour, punch holes in, crumple, or use for the sole purpose of making funny percussive sound effects? (for more on that subject, see internet cat videos)

In my experience, the request underlying "think outside the box" in a job-related situation is often "please produce something beyond our normally expected performance". However, leaders requesting this without establishing a commonly agreed-upon perception of what 'the box' means (or at least explaining their own view) may be setting themselves up for some degree of disappointment. It might not always be clear to the group what they are expecting, and somewhere embedded in the role of being a (formal) leader, is a feeling among followers that the response is going to be judged somehow (whether or not this is the leader's intention). Intelligent people who have worked hard for a long time to establish their position are often risk-averse, in the sense that they need to make sense of a problem and their level of expertise in relation to it before spinning off any wild ideas - they want to determine what they can contribute, as well as what is at stake. Especially for researchers, being this meticulous about the background check is part of our craftsmanship.

I am fairly certain that the only people who find it easy to disregard boxes of any form already  intentionally make creativity part of their life's practice. And as so many wise people have already proven via research or philosophizing, creativity is a lot about playing and not fearing judgment. And how ready are most of us to play while we work? (In my mind, that's what the luckiest among us do).

We all relate to the box differently, because it has different functions for all of us - some of us happily stay safely inside it, confident that its dryness, symmetry and exact measurement will help to produce something asked-for and useful. Others up-end it, demolish it (see internet cat videos) or stand on top of it to change their own (and everyone else's) point of view. The reason why I have a problem with "think outside the box" is that our relation to the box loses its meaning if we abandon it entirely, and then how do we ever know whether we thought outside of it? We will still need something to relate our accomplishment to (if we don't have that, we will at absolute best be given the epithet "being before our time").

I am rather fond of being asked to be creative within some form of limitation. For example, the Sock It To Me design challenges limit me to using five or six colours - no more. Once I've made a design work within that limitation, I'm usually more satisfied than if I had drawn something on a whim, because I know that I haven't just drawn something, I had to use my brain to make it producible. Or in tap dance, I'm tickled if I have to improvise to an uneven time signature (particularly 3/4 or 7/8). At the same time, perhaps this heart+brain partnership is just something that motivates me in particular, and might not spur another illustrator or dancer as much. But limitation gives me two prerequisites that motivate me deeply: permission and trust to take on a non-trivial challenge, and also some kind of framework to relate my accomplishment to (regardless of whether the intent is to helpfully conform, or to question or destroy the framework). Kind of like how a creeping vine doesn't make sense on the ground, but will thrive and grow when it climbs and twists around what's given, whether it's a rock, a fence or another plant (usually to the detriment of that other plant, which is akin to how some of us crush the box). I was probably an ivy in a previous life. ;)

Of course, different people are stoked by different challenges, and for some, being given free reins is the ultimate motivator for wreaking creative havoc. However, some of us are only spurred to be our most inventive selves when we are given the right combination of prerequisites that give us 1) the assurance that any and all ideas will be accepted as relevant, 2) a guarantee that judgment belongs with the idea and not the person, 3) the feeling of being among equals (especially including any participating leaders), and 4) the feeling of a before and after as a result of our creativity; the feeling that being asked to go out on that limb has made a difference. That last point has something to do with follow-up, so that the creativity exercise does not end up just a one-off in a Narnian workshop environment never to be revisited. 

 That was also what we said at the end of the "think outside the box" workshop - that in order for this brainstorming session to be meaningful, we wanted to follow up on these ideas some time later, and perhaps also make a point of practicing creativity as part of our job more often. So as not to fall out of practice.

There is a paradox here - there is no box unless we say there is one, but we rarely talk about what box we mean when being asked to think outside of it. Still, questioning the box may be a source of looking like a fool, and risking to reveal that the basics (for some) are not evident to us. This brings back the point that creativity needs a supportive, nurturing and accepting environment to truly develop. The downside of never questioning the box explicitly is that we may all end up thinking inside and outside of entirely different boxes, much to each others' frustration.

The material that makes up a box, though, is a tangible entity, or a material, with facets, surfaces, barrier qualities, material rigidity and/or bendiness, a source of exposure or protection, of absorption or brittle dryness; innumerable possibilities when we play with it, beat it up, and expose it to some juxtaposition (i.e. placing it where it shouldn't be just to see what happens to it or to our relationship to it).

 So in light of all this, I'd like to present a very relevant short film that some friends and I made in a 3D modeling class when I was doing my masters degree at Industrial Design Engineering almost 10 years ago. We had been given free reins to make a short film about any 3D-modeled object (in most cases a product we'd designed) using the animation, surface texture and lighting modules in the software.

Shortly before my group decided on what to model and animate, the three of us went to the theatre and saw a dramatized stage version of The Full Monty. The rest is history... My only request was that we stick to a beat. And to be honest, I'm pretty confident that in terms of questioning what the box is - we kind of nailed it. :)



If it doesn't float your boat - see internet cat videos. ;)