Pensando fuera de la caja

Pensando fuera de la caja

Yes,we all know the typical game with the pen and the nine dots (http://ift.tt/1YEL4UC

) and yet, at first we all need to think back. "how was it again?"  And because we all know we have to think out of the box, what we do is making the box bigger... , something similar to what  Malcolm Gladwell said in the What the Dog Saw articles in The New Yorker: "If everyone had to think outside the box, maybe it was the box that needed fixing"

The reason I am talking about this is a story I read a while ago (I can´t trace it back so all my credits to his author) about a father of a little girl (let´s say 10 years  old) that fails a math exam. The key is that the girl is a genius on that field so the father don´t believe she has failed so he goes to talk with the teachers. Sumarizing: the girl fails the exam because the answer to a question was not the expected one! The answer is right though!, but it is no the expected from a 10 years old girl.. and so she is "out of the box" and  "penalised" . Curious about the question?

* What is the highest number you can make using three times a 2?

The obvious answer (10 years old) is 222. But it is not the correct answer... , you have to think out of the box! Understand the rules and make them work better!

That´s why I always ask "why are you doing this? " every time I go to a customer and revise the processes. The worst answer is "we aways did it in this way" ... it shows that people in that company are so into the box they can not even figure there is anything else out there!  Any employee should know why is he/she working , why is doing that report in that way, why it is important to do it and do it right, what is the reason for the task is being assigned,... because then he/she can think answers that go beyond the request, can make a report that is easier to read or use a tool that avoid errors or... ..he/she wlll think out of the box of the job description and go into the "company rol" described by the holacracy methodology.. "Roles instead of job descriptions"

Then the company will move quicker and react more flexible to changes from outside of the box!

By the way.. have you think the answer to the exam?    think again... and write in a paper 2 to the power of 22

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March 31, 2016 at 06:31PM
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