Aren't you sick of the phrase think outside the box? Everyone says it, convinced that they're the first ones to think of it and it's premium creative advice. Read LinkedIn for two minutes and 500 people tell you to do it.
Hey, what should I do for my next blog?
Uh, try thinking outside the box.
Thank you, Shakespeare. I will.
It's a cliché. It's the paragon of clichés. The apotheosis. Yet so jejune.
"Paragon", "apotheosis" and "jejune" are mysterious creative words I found in a box, and took them out for this blog.
Think about it. We're employing a cliché to urge someone to be creative and original. We're actually still trapped in the box. The box is a package from Amazon – covered in duct tape and impossible to open.
Some people, in an attempt to break out of this box, will introduce a clever, yet very tired, twist to the cliché. Imagine you have a storage company where people can store their shit. But it's a unique storage company, like no other. Their tag line – think outside the storage unit.
Hey, I see what you did there. Very creative. Sign me up. I have some special shit to store at your special company.
Maybe no one can really think outside the box. Maybe it's like a Russian Doll. Think outside one doll and you're instantly trapped in another doll. It's dolls all the way up.
So what should replace think outside the box?
Well, I would have to think outside of it to answer that, wouldn't I?
