What if there is no box?

Photo by Marcus S. via Flickr (Creative Commons)

I think outside the box.

I’m told that a lot. And I guess it’s true. I mean, if people tell me it’s true at some point it is true.

Adam McLane is a man who thinks outside of the box.

When I hear that I think outside of the box I’m always thinking…

  • What if we’re working on the wrong box?
  • What if I’m in the wrong box?
  • What if our box is too small, too big, or too made of cardboard?
  • Why does the box have to be shaped like a box? I mean, is there a person who decided that boxes have to be cube-like? Can’t we build a box around who we are and not start with a box-shaped box?
  • How did we get in this box in the first place and why are we all just here wanting to get out of it in this meeting? Why don’t we just open the box and leave?
  • When did all of this crap get in the box? I think someone is using the box as a recycle bin.
  • Will lunch be served in the box? Because I’m getting hungry.

What if there is no box?

What if the box is just a metaphor for feeling trapped by our problems?

Literally, there is no box. It’s a metaphor. The box isn’t real. You don’t need to think outside of it because the box doesn’t really exist.

The box is your problem.

Having your company, brand, ministry, organization “in the box” is the end of creativity, joy, and freedom. When faced with your next dilemna you don’t just need to think outside of the box. You need to get outside of the box. Why?

Because the box is suffocating you.

  • It’s stealing the creativity you had as a 6 year old with a box of chalk, an empty sidewalk, and an endless summer.
  • It’s stealing the joy you had when you first started at this company.
  • It’s stealing the freedom you experienced as a kid who was just getting started, the one who wanted to conquer the world, and change things.

Haven’t you seen Toy Story 3? The whole point of the movie is don’t get put in the box.


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2 responses to “What if there is no box?”

  1. Matt C. Avatar

    I think you mean… “there is no spoon.”

    Agreed, keep it up!

  2. BenAngus Avatar
    BenAngus

    One of the best compliments I’ve ever recieved was, during a staff ‘edifying/encouragement’ session at a former church I served, one of my coworkers, speaking to me, said, “Some folks do all they can to stay within a box, some do all they can to be outside of the box, then there’s Ben who says, ‘Wait…there’s a box?!’” As I’ve gotten older I can look back at times where that statement hasn’t been as true (on any side) as I’d like, but I will always remember that kind word and am grateful that I have been made by God and taught by my family to be one that seeks to not just view things in-or-out of boxes…but as if there is no box at all as it pertains to possibilities, doing ministry, creativity, how I view people, etc… A few years back I even toyed with writing a book on this subject (got about 25 pages in) and then got the proverbial writer’s block…may need to revisit!

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