Traction Marketing Group

We've heard a thousand times that thinking outside the box (i.e., looking at a problem from outside an established set of rules) is an important skill for problem solving and creative thinking, but Traction is dropping this age-old rule and will from now on think inside the box.

Seem like a crazy concept for any ad agency looking to get ahead?  Think about it like this:

Improv artists have long utilized the benefits of inside the box thinking. Improvisation requires a clear catalyst, something to motivate the action. And for that reason improv artists are trained to be very specific with their dialogue. They don't say, "What's the matter?" They say, "Are you still angry about that time I threw your necklace in the toilet?" The added constraints help them to jump into the scene and continue to be creative and riff off the idea.

You can break it down to this:  What's the most basic thing Traction did to ensure we can get our work done in an efficient way?  Create a creatively conducive concrete box!  Our warehouse focuses us together to define a difference between our personal lives and our professional lives.  When we walk through those doors, we already know there is a list of clients to be considered.  From there, each computer or file cabinet is a way of looking at the same concept. 

While outside the box thinking also has its benefits, it's also become a tired cliché—suggesting that at all times you need to take your thinking outside the box. Read/WriteWeb's post is a refreshing return to the idea that sometimes constraints imposed by the "box" are used specifically because they work.

We'll be going through a few internal meetings working on our new "inside the box" thinking and outlining when its okay to go outside those boxes to stretch or flex our creative muscles.  We believe this new, underused way of thinking will empower our ideas for our clients.