Thinking Outside the Box by Jackson

Thinking Outside the Box by Jackson - October 2018 Scholarship Essay

The phrase "thinking outside the box" could mean a lot of things but for the most part there is one understood meaning. In order to understand how this meaning came about, we must first now where the phrase originated. The phrase originated in the late 1960s/early 1970s, when Sam Loyd created the "Nine Dots Puzzle." This puzzle challenged people to connect all the dots with the least amount of straight lines possible. The solution to this puzzle only had four lines, which is impossible to do unless two of the lines stretch past the box and are connected by a diagonal line. This is how the understood meaning of "thinking outside of the box" originated.
In other words, the phrase "thinking outside the box" means to be creative. Whenever you are faced with a problem be creative in finding the solution and don't restrict yourself to using a solution that is within the "borders of the box." Often when trying to find the solution to a problem, people use the most obvious solution which more often than not results in a difficult to accomplish solution. Where thinking outside of the box may result in an easier solution. An example of this is the construction industry. In the early stages of the construction industry, it was a struggle to get building materials to the top of a building whether it was a multi-story building or a building with one floor, so construction workers would have to carry the materials to the top of the building while they climbed which proved difficult. Until someone had the idea to use a pulley system to get the materials to the top, which made things easier for the construction workers and was the result of someone "thinking outside the box." Another invention in the construction industry that made life easier for the construction workers was the invention of the safety elevator by Elisha G Otis. These are just a couple of examples of the result of "thinking outside the box" or being creative.