Axiom # 74. Creativity is not about thinking outside the box.

This is one of an ongoing series on the Axioms of Project Management. Please see the Story Index Page for all articles or the bottom of this page for more information. I have adapted this story from the “On Execution” section in Adam On: Projects — Volume 2.

For an industry based on the premise that every project is unique, we don’t always apply that principle to our project management practice. All too often, project managers lock themselves into a particular (and rather small) set of concepts and techniques when they approach a project.

Project managers need to be able to think their way around a project, and they do this by anchoring their conceptual toolkit on a very broad base.

People use the exhortation to “think outside the box” to inject creativity and innovation into a situation by freeing you from the narrow limits of the methodology paradox. But this approach always keeps the box in the frame, even if it’s just as a reference point. Inevitably, that reference point influences your thinking and constrains its flexibility.

To be truly creative, you must move so far from the “box” that it is indistinguishable from any other part of your context — this “box” drops into the background noise.

In Axiom #58 in the book, I introduce Gödel’s Incompleteness Theorem to the discussion to show the fallacy of thinking about project management only in terms of a defined methodology. Perhaps this is an enormous leap. Gödel intended this theorem as a mathematic proof of the impossibility of mathematical theorems. Maybe applying a heavy-duty mathematical concept to project management is overkill or overreach.

It is a metaphor to highlight the need for project managers to rely on their own broad-based knowledge, skills, and personal attributes. Amongst the most important are adaptability and the confidence that you’ll always be able to find a solution to whatever problem arises.

This is thinking your way around a project.

Many years ago, my very first blog post was about “the most important skill for a project manager”. This is now enshrined in Axiom # 11. “The critical skill for a Project Manager” is “the ability to obtain an outcome”.

The writing in that first blog was pretty bad, but I stand by the core concept even today.

However, being able to think your way around the project is the next most important skill. This means understanding the extended and multidimensional structure of any project and adapting that model to the project’s inevitable changed circumstances.

Because it is a given that all projects change and evolve regardless of the lifecycle model, you may try to apply to them. (This is Axiom # 21. “Everything in every project evolves!”)

So, getting back to the titular Axiom for this yarn, “thinking outside the box” of your methodology may appear creative, but the methodology still defines it. The “box” is like a force field that shapes your actions, even if only indirectly.

If you’re familiar with the Agile concept of “Shu-Ha-Ri”, I’m describing a “Ri” project manager capability. You understand the existence of formal methodologies, practices and fixed conceptual models of project practice, but you are free of them. You meet the project as it is and can see it from all perspectives.

Jeff Hawkins states that “Thinking is a form of movement” in his groundbreaking book on human intelligence, and I see this “Ri” project management state as the ability to perform a “fly through” of the project to see it from all different angles and perspectives. And you have what I think of as the “Predator” filters to adjust your perception to detect different aspects of your project: a system layer, a process layer, a behavioural layer, etc. I’ve written about this in The Project Manager’s “Predator Helmet”: Nine diagnostic filters | by Adam On Projects | Medium.

I saw a video of James Lovelock being interviewed at age 100 at Exeter University. The first question from the audience was, “You are famous for thinking outside the box; how do you do it?”

Lovelock sat thoughtfully for a moment before replying: “What box?” with a mischievous little smile.

He understood.

If you liked this yarn, I’d love it if you could give me feedback with claps or a comment. It would mean the world to me. See the Story Index Page for all the articles.

This series on “Adam’s Axioms” includes extracts from various books that Adam is writing on Project Management. These include:

• Adam On: Projects (Volume 1): 50 Axioms on the Art & Science of Managing Projects of All Kinds: Adaptive, Predictive and Organic (Amazon.com)
• Adam On: Projects — Volume 1 (lanpub.com)
• Adam On: Projects — Quotations Edition (leanpub.com)

You can check out other books on my Leanpub profile page: Adam Russell (leanpub.com)

Or you can check out my Amazon Author Page

If you want to get notified as my work progresses, sign up for this mailing list, or check out the other ways to engage with Adam here: Adam on: Projects — Master Index. (See bottom of the page)