Inside, outside and around the Box

The scope for brand creativity is almost limitless, regardless of boundaries

The familiar phrase ‘think outside the box’ is an invitation to business unusual. It pops out at times of difficulty, when other ideas feel uninspired or doomed. It appears at training and strategy off-sites. Leaders brandish it to demonstrate unconventionality and openness.
 
According to one source the expression originated in the United States in the late 1960s/early1970s. Various management consultants claim the phrase but a single-person attribution is hard to find. One early citation comes from July 1975’s Aviation Week & Space Technology, “We must step back and see if the solutions to our problems lie outside the box.”