From this vegetable sprouts a valuable concept
The inspiration for this column is Brussels sprouts.
Brussels sprouts are having a moment. They are said to date back as far as the 5th century, and probably pushed around dinner plates for at least 100 years.
The shift from steamed or boiled to roasted and fried has given these cute, tiny cabbages new popularity.
Don’t worry. This is only the opening foray to my real subject: Thinking outside the box.
One simple definition — save time with TOTB — is “to think differently, unconventionally, or from a new perspective.”
The sprouts example is easy. Cooks thought, “what can I do with these? They are seasonally abundant, relatively inexpensive and nutritious, although often mushy with an iffy taste.”
Roasting and frying are direct routes to a great flavor. Just change the method. Easy, right?
Well, maybe. I’ll make this generalization. Change is hard and, I’ll propose, harder for us seniors who do and see things in ways probably hardwired in our brains for decades.
Change is continuous and inevitable.
It’s in the way we shop, watch TV, communicate and address everyday activities. We can complain or adjust to change.
Enter TOTB, a concept most often cited in areas of research, innovation and creativity.
It’s a valuable trait in artistic and scientific fields where new approaches are vital for advancement.
You ask, do I have to leave my comfort zone and do things differently? It depends. Is what you are doing working for you?
Next example: The New York Times has a game called “Connections” in which 16 words are to be divided into four separate groups.
Each group is a specific category that links the words.
The “trick” to the game is each word has several options.
Take the word “right.”
It could mean correct, a direction, to straighten or a tricky combination with a prefix or suffix (like “away”) applicable to the other three words. Figure out how “right” fits with three other words that also have various connotations.
Thinking beyond your first assumption is a TOTB tactic.
This is a game, but we frequently use words which have multiple meanings, and don’t even mention slang. Shouldn’t we then test our synonyms before we speak?
Talk about thinking outside! I touched base with wikiHow, which tackled the subject.
One listing — fun to look up if you like — had 15 ways to expand thinking divided in three parts.
I chose two examples from “connecting with other people.”
“Learn to listen” helped me solve a problem. All of a sudden my dinosaur TV stopped bringing in signals. (Another technology glitch to “gaslight” me.)
A friend said her refrigerator’s memory board had been damaged after a power outage.
Hmm, I had a short outage. Sure enough, I reprogrammed the stations, and there they were.
The bad news? I have to tell the TV to do this every time it’s been off.
It’s still preferable to getting a new TV.
Finally, I remembered a description of Apple Park, which illustrates “pay attention to other peoples’ ideas.”
Conceived by the late Steve Jobs, and designed by Pritzker Architecture Prize Winner Norman Foster, the building was on a vast campus Jobs thought of as a nature refuge.
It included every conceivable work space and amenity.
As such, it encourages, if not requires, employees from different fields to interact.
In addition to formal collaboration, these more casual encounters often spark innovative ideas for the enhancement of products.
Uh, oh. I knew this would happen. There’s so much interesting and worthwhile to explore on TOTB, I might be back with part two.
Until then, roast some Brussels sprouts, play a game, and try at least one TOTB of your own.…