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"Thinking outside the box" and "thinking beyond the box" (also called "thinking out of the box" or "thinking outside the square") is to think differently, unconventionally, or from a new perspective. This phrase often refers to novel or creative thinking. The notion of something outside a perceived "box" is related to a traditional topographical puzzle called the nine dots puzzle which John Adair claims to have introduced in 1969. The puzzle proposed an intellectual challenge—to connect the dots by drawing four straight, continuous lines that pass through each of the nine dots, and never lifting the pencil from the paper. The conundrum is easily resolved, but only if you draw the lines outside the confines of the square area defined by the nine dots themselves. The phrase "thinking outside the box" is a restatement of the solution strategy. The puzzle only seems difficult because we imagine a boundary around the edge of the dot array. The heart of the matter is the unspecified barrier which is typically perceived. The actual term “Think Outside the Box” was used as early as 1975 in the July 14th issue of Aviation Week and Space Technology. They stated - We must step back and see if the solutions to our problems lie outside the box. DACO prides itself for being able to do this very thing. Many times we have been asked by a customer to come up with a product solution for them and we have had to think beyond the obvious, and try something that hasn’t been tried before to come up with a solution for them. It is a great feeling when we are able to partner with our customers to come up with innovative new solutions.
