Thinking Outside the Box Requires Leaving the Box

Sometimes it's OK not to be an out of the box thinker

Author

Andrew Sheves
February 10, 2025

Many consultants will claim to be out-of-the-box thinkers. They'll have catchy slogans like 'When they zig, we zag', etc. But ask yourself this: has someone who went to a top-tier college, has an MBA, and works at a Big Five firm ever been outside the box?

Some might have.

Kids from difficult backgrounds, people who came into the profession late, maybe someone on their second career, immigrants with a completely different perspective on things: they've gotten to know their way around several boxes.

But let's be honest: most of those folks don't make it into the room in the first place.

So when you decide to differentiate yourself as an out-of-the-box thinker, you have to ask yourself if you actually know what's out there.

Then, you have to ask yourself if that's even what the client wants.

Because what they say they want and what they actually want are often very different in my experience. So, no matter how much people say they want something innovative or that they are looking for unorthodox thinkers, they don't or aren't. That's how you end up with a brand overhaul like this.

Walmart’s “refreshed brand identity”

So, by all means, get outside the box and bring your orthogonal solution to the problem. But only if you know what's out there. And only if that's what the client genuinely wants.