by Newt Gingrich

In the 1970s, “thinking outside the box” became a popular new management approach.

It started with what was called the nine-dot problem. There were three rows of three dots, and the question was how you could cover all nine dots in four lines without raising your pen or pencil.

It turned out that you could only cover all nine dots if you drew one of the lines diagonally through the dots and created an angle to come back in and finish.

Most people automatically created a box around the three rows of three dots and eliminated the only solution that worked. In short, our natural pattern of thought led us to invent a box even though it did not exist.

This exercise was rapidly translated by consultants, management trainers, and writers into “thinking outside the box.”

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