Practice Management

Thinking outside of the box?  I must admit I do not think I have ever appreciated the term.  To me it is kind of a throw away term or saying.  Much like hearing another person on a design show mispronounce the word Voilà!  Most discard the 'v' sound.  Others ignore the 'w' sound.  It is just much overused like a teenager constantly interspersing every sentence with the word "like".  Besides, it derives from the French meaning "there".  So, just use the word "there".  Likewise, "thinking outside of the box" is a throw away term, well over used, and like Voilà! it is really just used to get someone's attention.  What does it mean anyway?  Nothing much.

Besides, whether creative or unimaginative, inspired or untalented, cool or square, do not we all really think inside the box?

We as a people are use to boxes of sorts.  We essentially work in boxes, we live in boxes, we drive in boxes, we move with boxes, we even post on blogs that resemble one dimensional boxes.  We stick are computer components in boxes.  Our churches are boxes. We attend law schools, which are boxes. We carry stuff in briefcases that are essentially boxes.  We cook in pots and pans, which are really just boxes.  So, we are essentially boxed in, are we not?  More importantly we are boxed in by choice, because it is better to think inside the box and not out.

We have a better chance rearranging and thinking through problems that we can see, feel and understand the parameters.  Everything outside of our boxes are too big, too complex, too diverse, too distant, around which we just cannot get our heads.  So, really, thinking outside of the box does not offer anybody a guarantee of inspiration.  It is simply easier (or should I say possible) to be creative inside the box of details and constraints.  It is easier to figure out how to improve the box than it is figure out how to rearrange open, infinite, empty space.

Ernie Schenck, the author of the book The Houdini Solution writes, "the biggest secret of productive creative people is that they embrace obstacles, they don?t run from them. In their minds every setback is an opportunity, every limitation is a chance. Where others see a wall, they see a doorway".

It is okay to consider escaping from a box, but trying to think outside the box most often results in chaotic brainstorming.  In the Third Wave Practice of Law we propose escaping from particular types of boxes.  But, where do you go to find refuge?  Other boxes!  We can leave a practice area for another, but that is leaving one box for another.  Or, it is leaving one box and creating a new box in which to reside.  We can move our law practices home, but that is leaving the big box downtown and moving into the box that is your house.

What we are talking about is building a structure that encourage idea development.  But, this occurs inside of a box -- maybe a different box, but a box nonetheless.

In terms of the Third Wave, we are more concerned with changing boxes and then reorganizing boxes to operate more efficiently, cheaply and with a greater degree of satisfaction.

In writing this post, I found this video interview with Keven Coyne.  It is pretty interesting.