Challenge: Think Inside the Box

When I was a kid, I loved to play in boxes. There was nothing I couldn’t do—run a store, fly a plane, have a tree house (in a New York City apartment!). I think kids still love boxes when given the chance, despite all the electronic alternatives. 

Yet as adults, we’re regularly urged to “think outside the box,” since that’s where creativity lies. I’d like to offer an alternative view. Every week my team and I have a brief meeting to figure out in what box we’re playing. Not a cardboard box--although that might be a way to shake up a meeting—but one on paper.

The boxes represent where we’re spending our energy.  Are we focused on accomplishing things that line up with our strategies and goals? Or are we spending too much time either in crisis mode or whacking at the weeds?  If we spend the most time in the correct box, we’re more productive, more satisfied and, I would say, more creative. See our boxes below.

Those of you familiar with Steven Covey will recognize his tool for personal management, or “Put First Things First.” (He adapted it from a Johari Window, a psychological self-assessment tool.)  Quadrants I and III are where things happen to you; you’re in reactive mode. Quadrants II and IV are where you make things happen, or not. I’d say IV is the avoidance zone:  we do anything but what would help us avoid stuff in I. More importantly, we do anything but what we want, what will make us more productive, more satisfied, maybe even happier! That lies in II. Without getting into the psychological motivation for why we hang out in IV, let’s just say that sometimes we think ‘head-in-the-sand’ behavior feels good. Until it doesn’t. 

So here’s your challenge:  for one week, think inside the box. Use the tool for both work and personal life, so you get a good overview of your life.Every day, fill in the box with what you must do, or what just crops up (I); what you want to accomplish long- and short-term (II); what can’t be helped (III), and what you won’t do, at least not for long (IV).  The contents of Quadrant II will ideally begin to grow.  The others will shrink.  And maybe we’ll have fun with boxes again!