A few years back, I had a great opportunity, during one of our planning sessions, to take notice of a particular "world" view held by a facilitator. The session was an emergency management development group. It was sponsored by a dear friend and was facilitated by two other individuals. These persons were not from our agency or group. They were not familiar with its culture and underpinnings. They led us on different approaches to arrive at some of the decisions that we had to make. That was the great part! I like learning new methods and challenging some ideas that may have outlived their usefulness.
However, the not-so-great part
was that, as the days went on, I got a sense that one of the facilitators may
have been harboring a little negative, possibly condescending, attitude. It was noticeable, in his comments and gestures. I tried to shake it, because anyone can have
a bad day (theirs or yours). First
impressions, although are usually "spot on", can sometimes be
misleads. You have to give presenters a
chance. People who make presentations to others know that you have to warm up
the room, get a read and then proceed.
You may have to change methods, tactics and directions to get your room
to "buy-in". But I digress!
Okay, this guy bothered me. The feeling I had just wouldn't go away. As the days went on into multiphase sessions,
that sense increased. I thought, "Hey, this guy doesn't know
us.".
Then, it happened: One of my colleagues made a suggestion. It was a great idea, by the way. It was based
on sound past practices. It seemed feasible.
It was succinct. But the response
from the facilitator was, "Well, you're just not an "Out-of-the-Box
thinker". I then saw my colleague retreat and shut down.
You're just not an out of the box
thinker? I thought to myself; the way that statement was delivered was
condescending. It seemed as if he was saying to the person, "You're not
that creative", ; "You're not that bright!, "You're not
intelligent enough.", "You're not that flexible." You're rigid.
You don't know what we know. YOU'RE NOT
THINKING! I took umbrage to that and I didn't like it
either. ;)
When you tell someone that
they're not an out-of-the-box thinker, it shouldn't be a negative.
I find that "Box" and "Out-of-the-box"
thinkers are both needed in planning situations and emergency management. In our day-to-day situations, Box Thinkers
are very clear on their roles and responsibilities. They are clear on the "space"
they occupy. They can prove to be
invaluable, under many circumstances. They
have full knowledge of their position in the organization and are detail oriented.
If you're going to be a "Box
Thinker", though, be sure to handle everything within the box.
I know it may seem like an
abstract analogy but follow me for a little while. Be clear on where your box fits into the
entire operation. Know the relationship
and responsibilities that your box has to the other boxes adjacent to, below
and above your box.
EXAMPLE: If you're a company officer
and your "box" is being on the Ladder Company; "Handle
everything within your box! If your task,
that day, is to perform search & rescue then handle everything in your box!
If you're assigned to be the supervisor,
on the third floor or division three of the building, then you are responsible
for everything within that box. Fire
suppression, search and rescue, ventilation, salvage, pre-&post- control
overhaul, etc. Know the authority, resources and tools that are
necessary for the box, completely. If
your box is ventilation; then you should know everything there is to know about
Ventilation: positive pressure, negative pressure, hydraulic, mechanical,
natural, vertical, horizontal. You need
to know when to apply what and at what appropriate time. Handle everything within that box.
When you're an out-of-the-box
thinker it means that you have the ability or the wherewithal to step outside
of the norm; or you just decided to think of things in a different way. That doesn't make you a better thinker than
the people who do think within the box.
EXAMPLE: If your box is OPERATIONS, at an incident,
and you are the Operations Section Chief...handle everything within your
box. Assign the necessary tasks, establish
the correct groups, place them in and on the proper divisions. Call up the appropriate resources. Provide for accountability and safety
measures. Monitor progress. Be clear on your communications, directions
and requests. Staff all required
positions. Use checklists. And...and...and...
MASTER YOUR BOX!
Additionally, to be an "Out-of-the-box"
thinker means that you can take the conventional methods, the tried and true
methods and apply them in a different way.
You may have the ability not use the conventional methods at all and
still realize a successful outcome. You
know the standards. You just look at the
situation in a different way. You may want to come up with a different or alternative
means to perform the same task. You may very
well look at things completely different.
In Emergency Management, when you
think outside of the box you are still utilizing box thinking to formulate your
idea. You have to. Think of it as a Stringed Quartet vs. a Jazz
Quartet. It's still music. One is very structured and the other more
improvisational and yet they still utilize some of the same instruments, chords
and notes to produce the final sound that they desire. It can even be the same song or piece of
music. Very often the stringed quartet
can make improvisations or perform different interpretations to the classical
pieces.
"Out-of-the-Box thinking"
is no greater than "Box thinking", when it's done completely. It just
means that we have different approaches to achieving a successful outcome..
I think they're both great and I that
any individual can possess both characteristics of a "Box or Out-of-the-Box
thinker.
Which one are you and why do you
think so?
No comments:
Post a Comment