Fly on the E-Commerce Cyberwall

Thinking Inside the Box
I came across a great article that I want to share with you. It's about the importance of thinking inside the box. You can read the whole thing here if you want.

I got a chuckle out of the examples she used of creativity run amok—the guy who threw a hissy fit over the fact that the granting agency he was applying to actually expected him to follow their guidelines for applying for a grant; the woman who wanted a grant to live off of while she figured out what kind of project she wanted to apply for a grant for.

Thinking outside the box is important, but not when it's done to the exclusion of living inside the box. We live in a world of limitations: limitations of time, of money, of resources, of ability. And I've come to the conclusion that those limits are not a bad thing, as many would think. Limits actually inspire creativity.

Think about it. You face an obstacle and what do you have to do? Figure out a way to get around it. You face a roadblock and what do you have to do? Explore a new route you've never taken before.

Limits are essential to our growth as businesspeople and as human beings. When we try to live life without any limits imposed on us—when we try to live life completely on our own terms with the expectation that it's the duty of the world to let us do everything our own way—we flounder.

Ironically, our world that limits our time and resources presents us with a limitless array of possibilities to fit into those limits. It forces us to choose which possibilities to pursue. And in doing so, it forces us to find and focus on what we are best suited to do. It forces us to construct our own little box.

But it's a box of our choosing. It's a box that we construct. And we can build that box into whatever we choose. And building that box will take all the creativity we can muster.
Jeff