Think Outside the Box

Folks in the creative world are always being encouraged to ‘think outside the box’. But how many of them know where the phrase came from. You could argue they’ll never be able to ‘think outside the box’ if they’re not curious enough to wonder about and discover its origin. And you could be right. So for clients and creatives alike, here’s the answer.

There is a famous puzzle. 9 dots arranged in a square, like this:

Your job is to connect all of the dots using only 4 straight lines without lifting your hand off the paper, crossing each dot only once. The only way to do it is to extend at least one of the lines beyond the perimeter of the “box”.

You can find one solution here, and for the more inventive here.

Brownie points to those who completed it (without cheating).