How does your brain tackle a new problem? Believe it or not, it tackles new problems by using old frameworks it created for similar problems you faced before. But if your brain is wired to use old frameworks for new problems, then isn’t that a problem? It is. And that’s why most people never think outside the box.

So, how do you get your brain to think innovatively? Divergently? And outside the box, when others don’t?

It’s easier than you think, but before we get to that, let’s be clear on something. When I talk about frameworks, I’m not speaking metaphorically. I’m speaking about the literal wiring of your brain, something neuropsychologists might refer to as “engrams,” and just one engram might be a network of millions of synapses.

Think of these engrams as your brain’s quick-reference book for solving problems. For example, if your brain sees a small fire, it quickly finds the engrams that it has for fire. One engram might be to run out of the house. Another might be to pour water on the problem. Without these existing engrams, you might just stand there staring at the fire trying to figure out what to do. So, you should be thankful that your brain has these pre-existing engrams for problems. If it didn’t, every problem would seem new for the first time.

But there’s a serious flaw in the brain’s use of engrams. Old engrams don’t always really apply to new problems. So, let’s say your brain sees a fire, but this time it’s an electrical fire. It still sees fire, shuffles through its engrams, and lands on the engram for pouring water on that fire to extinguish it. In its haste, it’s old engram overlooks the fact that it’s an electrical fire. So, pouring water on it only spreads it, if not also gets you electrocuted.

Your brain chose the closest engram it had for solving the current problem, but that old engram for extinguishing fire with water was terribly flawed in terms of solving for electrical fires. Old engrams never fully match new problems.

So, here’s why most people cannot think outside the box: They’re trapped using old engrams and do not know how to shift their brains into new ones. That’s right. Since the brain needs to rely on some kind of existing engram, then people who do not know how to break free of their engrams will never think innovatively, creatively, or outside the box.

But thinking outside the box is easy if you know the trick. When faced with a problem, even if it is a similar to one you faced before, or especially if it is similar to one you faced before, you need to force your brain into looking at the problem in a radically different way. Remember, your brain will keep trying to work back to the old engram. That’s it’s default approach. It wants to use templates it already has. And so you have to shock it into a new perspective that does not allow it to revert to the old perspective. I’m talking about something that has nothing to do with the problem at all. I’m talking about an abstract, divergent, and entirely unrelated new perspective.

For example, when you’re facing a problem, or when you’re leading a team facing a problem, examine the problem through some kind of radical analogy that seemingly has nothing to do with the problem itself, but something with which you are your team are familiar.

You might ask, how’s this situation like Star Wars? Who or what is Darth Vader? What’s the force? Who or what is Luke Skywalker? What’s a lightsaber in this scenario?

Or, you might consider how your problem is like what happened to Apollo 13. How are we spiraling through space? How much power do we need to conserve and how do we do it? Who’s inside the capsule? What’s outside? Who’s mission control? And so on.

See, you might think that these are trivial or even silly examples, but remember, it is the fact that they are so unrelated and abstract that will jolt your brain out of its existing engrams and force it to look at the problem in entirely new ways. And here’s the beauty of it: Because your brain still wants to solve the problem, it will on its own, whether you even want it to or not, find ways to make connections between your abstract idea and the problem itself, and it will do so in innovative, creative ways that will make your thinking or your team’s thinking, stand out.

Remember, when Einstein was developing his Theory of Relatively, he didn’t just sit around doing math. He also spent a lot of time imagining what it would be like to ride on the front of a beam of light.

So, when it comes down to it, if you know what to do, then thinking outside of the box might be easier than … well … easier than you think.

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