This morning I was thinking…
I was thinking about the pros & cons of being a creative thinker and this is what I came to realize (although, I believe I have always thought it, just haven’t been able to put it into words):
“The downside to thinking outside the box is reinventing it.”
I know that a box and a wheel are not the same thing – they have different functions entirely. But, the the two expressions, “thinking outside of the box” and “reinventing the wheel” in an ironic way, are uniquely related.
Here is what I thought…
PRO: When you think about it, everything that has been man-made throughout history, had to be invented initially with a concept that evolved from a creative thought. Now, I haven’t thought “out of the box” enough to create a light bulb or a car for the first time ever in history; but in my own right, creative thinking that creates an outstanding wordplay for a client or a highly re-tweeted image is still a product that only I can create. If I wouldn’t have allowed myself the freedom of thought in the first place, I would not have come up with a redeemable insight, the step in a brainstorming process that allows someone else to create something bigger that either of us could have done individually or a different perspective for communicating. New ideas and concepts are true gifts!
CON: I suppose time and effort are lost when the thought system of creativity leads to an unusable (or already used) product, concept or tool. I suppose if I think of something that has been thought of before and is an established idea, system or product, I’m on the right track, right? Maybe reinventing the wheel isn’t such a bad thing, maybe the only thing that makes reinventing the wheel a downside to the creative process is stopping the process of creativity altogether.
Whether you are an entrepreneur, a creative or someone who simply enjoys reading random blogs, I challenge you to never stop thinking creative thoughts… you never know where they may take you!
The Social Market LLC 