It’s a cliche today to “think outside the box”. Everyone seems to want creative, innovative ideas. Few are prepared to invest in making them happen though!
I had lunch with a friend last week who talked about her boss’s interest in thinking outside the box. Liz had a different point of view. Liz was passionate about the need for more thinking “inside the box”.
I have just finished reading John Seddon’s book “Systems Thinking in the Public Sector”. It’s a sobering critique of the British government’s reform agenda. He uses some compelling examples of how ideological approaches to improving public services are in fact increasing cost and lowering quality. He takes a systems approach and draws on the thinking of Edward Deming and Taiichi Ohno. Ohno was the developer of the Toyota Production System.
Anyway, here’s a quote from Ohno.
“Everything you need to know in order to make improvements will be found in your own system. If you go looking elsewhere, you will be looking in the wrong place”
Liz is right, lets think inside the box! I think Liz sees plenty of opportunities for improvement right in front of her.
You’re too caught up in the label, unhelpfully so … aren’t many improvements, within existing systems and processes, identified from creative and lateral thinking? I think so. Thinking outside the box (or whatever alternate label you want to use) is about seeing or developing opportunities for increasing value, irrespective of whether these opportunities are inside or outside the existing box.
Just trying to provoke some debate, and thinking. I’m just saying that often the best ideas are right in front of us. Deming believed that 94% of improvements were within the system and that you needed to understand the system first to identify them. He didn’t have a lot to say about creative and lateral thinking. Which by the way, are labels! Let’s just agree that it’s a good idea to think.