Students at Stanford University were given a task: earn $600 in 2 hours. Each of the 14 teams received an envelope containing $5 of “starting capital” and 2 hours of time. Upon completion of the task, each team had 3 minutes to present their solution.
There were proposals to open a makeshift car wash or a stand selling soft drinks - in these cases, $5 would be used to purchase materials and products to get started. Quite decent options for those who would like to earn a little money in a few hours.
However, most students eventually found a way to go beyond the standards. They questioned a huge number of traditional solutions and were able to realize a lot of opportunities to create maximum value in given conditions. However, the winning teams were able to earn up to $600, and the average return on a $5 investment was 4000%! How did they do this?
Here's a hint: the teams that made the most money didn't use the starting $5 at all. They realized that this amount, in essence, would not help them in any way, and decided to look at the problem more broadly: “What if we start from complete scratch?”
One group noticed a problem common on many college towns - long lines outside popular restaurants on a Saturday night - and decided to help people who didn't want to wait. Team members made multiple reservations at restaurants. When the appointed hour arrived, they sold the right to enter the restaurant for $20 to those who wanted to get there immediately.
The other team did it even simpler. They set up a special stand in front of the student union building and began measuring the pressure in bicycle tires for free. After serving their first few customers, the team realized that cyclists were incredibly grateful.
Despite the possibility of free pumping and the simplicity of this operation, the new service seemed convenient and valuable to customers. In fact, within an hour of starting the job, the team stopped charging a flat fee and instead asked to pay whatever amount the client would deem appropriate. Profits immediately increased several times.
Each of these projects brought in several hundred dollars for the teams, and the others were pretty impressed. However, one team managed to earn as much as $650 by being able to look at the resources at their disposal from a completely different angle.
These students determined that their most valuable resource was not $5 or 2 hours of time, but 3 minutes of presentation on Monday, and decided to sell this time to a company that wanted to hire students. They created a three-minute commercial for the company and showed it to the students instead of talking about their activities the previous week. It was a great decision that no one else had even thought about.
Theoretical part
Comfort zone
Everyone has an area of living space within which they feel safe - this is our comfort zone. The comfort zone is limited by habitual patterns of thinking and behavior: what we get used to is what is comfortable for us. And when we are faced with situations in which we need to do something new, unusual, fear of the unknown prevents us from acting.
Solving any creative problem involves going beyond your comfort zone.
The framework that limits us
The fears, programs and attitudes of your ancestors (parents, educators, teachers, etc.) live inside you. You inherited them and often are not even aware of them. Once upon a time, these programs and settings may have been necessary, but the world around you is changing every second and it is likely that the settings and programs imposed on you in childhood are no longer needed and only limit you. That's why consciously push the boundaries of your capabilities and leave your comfort zone.
Usually people get used to the lifestyle that has developed over the years and do not want to change anything. This also applies to the methods by which they solve problems. Creative people, on the other hand, take a different approach to problem solving. They constantly ask questions:
Why?
Why not?
Why exactly this way and not otherwise?
Why not try something different?
What will happen if...?
Do not become attached to any one solution or idea once found - this will slow down your creative activity. Vice versa, constantly look for new and new ways to solve the problem that has arisen. Keep your mind flexible and open to new ideas, even if the solution you've already found seems great to everyone around you. Avoid the tendency to settle for a more or less acceptable solution until you have exhausted all your possibilities for finding new, more advanced and interesting solutions.
Fleas in a jar
Scientists took a jar and put a hundred fleas in it. At first, the fleas easily jumped out of the jar and then the scientists closed the jar with a lid. Several days passed, the scientists opened the lid and saw the following picture: the fleas could no longer jump out of the jar, although the lid no longer held them back. They simply believed that they could not jump out of the jar and no longer made the necessary effort. The most interesting thing is that all subsequent generations of these fleas also could no longer jump out of the jar, since they inherited this limitation from their ancestors.
Conclusion: push the boundaries and don’t limit yourself to imaginary barriers !
You can find videos of this experiment on the Internet if you type “fleas in a jar” or “fleas in a jar experiment” into a search engine.
Stepping outside your comfort zone
To move beyond the limiting boundaries of conventional thinking, the first step is to recognize that boundaries of thinking exist, and they limit our comfort zone. Recognizing that boundaries exist, it is necessary consciously take action to step outside your comfort zone!
There is a simple algorithm for this:
1. We set ourselves high goals and challenging tasks.
2. Formulate the desired result
3. We outline a plan and act according to the plan
4. We are exploring new territories
Let's say it limits us fear of new people. Our goal is to learn how to meet people and overcome the fear of being abandoned or unwanted. What result do we need? As a result, we should become confident, able to meet whoever we want, when we want and how we want. We outline a plan for how we can achieve this and begin to act according to the plan, gradually mastering more and more new territories: if yesterday you could only meet a random person at a party, today we strive to meet the person you like right on the street or in transport, and tomorrow we choose a person whom we were previously afraid to approach closer than 5 meters because of his dazzling beauty or untold wealth, and we make acquaintance with him.
Besides dating, help you get out of your comfort zone:
Changing your daily routine
A new book of an unusual genre for you
Unplanned trip
New voluntary work responsibilities
Changing physical activity (adding new exercises, increasing time to practice familiar exercises, etc.)
New culinary dishes you've never cooked before
New hobbies
If we talk exclusively about thinking, then any new and unusual methods (internal conversation with the sages, “six thinking hats,” the Disney method, etc.), as well as yoga and neurogymnastics, help you get out of your comfort zone.
Self-test questions
What is a comfort zone?
Where do bounding boxes come from?
What questions help you overcome limiting boundaries?
How to go beyond your comfort zone?
Practical part
Exercise 1. Non-standard actions
One of the best exercises to help you push the boundaries of your comfort zone is performing unusual actions. Act outside the box and in a way that is unusual for you. The more strange and incomprehensible your actions are to the people around you, the better the effect of performing the exercise will be.
Exercise 2: Take on new responsibilities at work
Take on a new long-term project at work or in business. Or take on additional responsibilities for old projects. If you are a manager, start showing a little more responsibility towards your subordinates than usual. If you are a subordinate, start doing more than usual (for example, start coming to work earlier than others and leaving later than others).
Exercise 3. Yoga
Do yoga and neurogymnastics. These are the best methods to not only get out of your comfort zone, but also to keep your body and mind in good shape.
You can sign up for individual training, get more exercises and a detailed explanation of each point of the theoretical part, as well as get a personal consultation by contacting the author. For those who practice yoga according to the program of the author's closed yoga school "Insight", all services are free, for others - by agreement.
My Skype: seahappiness
VKontakte page.
what. New Take on more importance; expand the scope of its functions. According to experts, the information requested by Scriabina, in its content, went far beyond the scope of the problems that the magazine deals with(L. Sergeev, A. Fedin. Strange “ecologies”). The significance of the decision of the plenum of the Supreme Court of the USSR goes far beyond the purely legal sphere. Through the means of law, it stimulates the civic activity of the individual... giving guarantees to the brave, decisive and noble(A. Vaksberg. Lunch on the sand).Phraseological dictionary of the Russian literary language. - M.: Astrel, AST. A. I. Fedorov. 2008.
See what “Go beyond” is in other dictionaries:
ρ. deviate, go beyond the bounds of decency,- [parectropi] ουσ. Θ. deviation from the path, error, mistake... Λεξικό Ελληνικά-ρωσική νέα (Greek-Russian new dictionary)
go out- verb., nsv., used. very often Morphology: I go out, you go out, he/she/it comes out, we go out, you go out, they go out, go out, go out, went out, went out, came out, went out, going out, going out, going out; St. exit 1. If you are leaving... ... Dmitriev's Explanatory Dictionary
Go out/go out (jump) out of the frame- Volg., Don. The same as going out of bounds. Glukhov 1988, 18; SDG 1, 86 ...
Go beyond / go beyond- what. Razg. Acquire greater importance, expand the scope of its functioning. F 1, 102 ... Large dictionary of Russian sayings
GO BEYOND. GO BEYOND. New Take on more importance; expand the scope of its functions. According to experts, the information requested by Scriabina, in its content, went far beyond the scope of the problems that... ... Phraseological Dictionary of the Russian Literary Language
beyond- for ra/mki, preposition with gender. Don't go beyond the bounds of decency... Together. Separately. Hyphenated.
SCIENCE- a special type of cognitive activity aimed at developing objective, systematically organized and substantiated knowledge about the world. Interacts with other types of cognitive activity: everyday, artistic, religious, mythological... Philosophical Encyclopedia
US Federal Court- (USA Federal judiciary) The US Federal Court is a US federal judicial body created by the government to resolve disputes at the federal level US Federal Court: the US federal judicial system, by whom judges are appointed... ... Investor Encyclopedia
Jehovah's Witness
Jehovahism- Jehovah's Witnesses Bible Students Kingdom Hall Publishing Literature of Jehovah's Witnesses Holy Scripture New World Translation The Watchtower Announces the Kingdom of Jehovah Awake! Watchtower Society Russell, Charles Taze... ... Wikipedia
Books
- Finish this book! (black and white cover) Buy for 511 UAH (Ukraine only)
- Finish this book! (English title), Smith Carey. One dark, stormy night, Keri Smith found some strange, scattered pages left in the park. She collected them to try to unravel the mystery of this unexpected discovery. Your...
What prevents us from going beyond our usual thinking?
There are three main obstacles that prevent us from breaking out of the boundaries of our standard thinking:
Barrier No. 1. Previously, for many, breadth of thinking was associated with some crazy ideas, the implementation of which did not bring anything useful or good into our lives. Below we will look at several recommendations that are aimed at those areas where, by concentrating on them, we can make a qualitative leap in our thinking.
Barrier No. 2. Due to the fact that we receive payment for our work precisely for certain actions, and not for our thoughts, many people are not inclined to spend extra time on abstract thoughts. And it is precisely this obstacle that is one of the most “slowing down” us in going beyond stereotyped thinking.
Barrier No. 3. If you decide To apply a non-standard solution to a problem in your work environment, you always take a certain risk. And since in many companies the rewards for such decisions and the risk to which you expose yourself are unfavorably correlated, many people prefer to stick to familiar ways of solving problems.
Thinking outside the box
Recommendations for Maximizing the Results of Thinking Outside the Box
1. Going beyond the boundaries of standard thinking should be quick, but at the same time anticipate further events.
Try to start thinking unconventionally not only when solving current problems, but also when thinking about what you want your future to look like. Work on the system as a whole, don't limit yourself only its contents.
2. Your thinking must be able to embrace the breadth of your goals.
When choosing a subject for your thoughts, you do not need to limit yourself to any boundaries. For example, when solving a cost problem, pay attention to sales too. If you have no idea where you are going, you could end up anywhere. But if you clearly know where you must go, then you will not open new horizons.
3. Try to think outside the box in all areas of your life.
If you want to make a qualitative breakthrough in your thinking, act within the widest possible boundaries. Focus not only on solving the problem, but also on ways preventing it in the future.
4. Encourage holders of hidden knowledge to overcome the framework of standard thinking.
A qualitative breakthrough is possible only when deep knowledge is combined with creative, out-of-the-box thinking. Knowledge in itself is valuable, as is out-of-the-box thinking. But when one is supported by the other, the chances of success increase significantly.
5. Identify and become aware of the boundaries that prevent you from going beyond your usual limits.
In every area in which you have to look for ways to solve problems, identify the boundaries that limit you. Be specific about them, perhaps even in writing. And then think about whether it's worth it stick to them or you are capable of more.
Thinking outside the box
6. Stop thinking mechanically.
When a company constantly adheres to the same rules, without making any adjustments or changes, repeats the same truths and postulates, employees develop mechanical thinking. To empower employees to think outside the box and concentrate on goals, eliminate some of the boundaries that limit them.
7. When achieving each new goal, don't get hung up on its past success.
Many who have achieved success probably have their own set of rules and laws, thanks to which they achieved this success. And trying to achieve new heights, out of habit they continue to adhere to the same rules. Break down those boundaries that are stopping you from discovering new horizons.
8. Reduce the risk of out-of-the-box thinking.
Every unconventional idea must have minimal risk. Use the “carrot and stick” method, where the carrot should go to those who think outside the box, and the stick to those who do not want to go beyond the usual boundaries.
9. Build a strong foundation.
Every new idea that comes into your head is a combination of several ideas, at least two. If final the idea is divided into parts, then they will represent something like “semi-finished products” of ready-made ideas. Use them as the foundation for creating your own breakthrough.
10. Adhere to the principle “the morning is wiser than the evening.”
Don't think that brilliant ideas have to come to you instantly. By allowing yourself to think carefully about a problem, your ideas for solving it will be much more effective. We often say and hear phrases such as “I need to think about this,” “I need to digest this,” “let’s come back to this a little later.” Approach solving problems consciously; rushing in this matter will not lead to success.
In life, we constantly encounter situations when we need to change something or even just do something unusual and new, but fear of the unknown often prevents us from acting. Our inner voice begins to convince us that everything is not so bad, and who knows whether it will be good if we start changing our lives. There are internal boundaries within which we feel safe only because everything there is familiar and familiar to us. It is these internal frameworks that force us to hold on to relationships that have outlived their usefulness, to work that does not bring us satisfaction, and even to the usual way of thinking. These internal frames form our comfort zone.
Comfort zone is an area of living space that gives a feeling of comfort and security. As a rule, the comfort zone is determined by familiar patterns of behavior; what you are used to is what you are comfortable with. An established world where everything is familiar, stable and predictable.
Simply put, this is a state in which you feel “at ease.” It would seem that what’s wrong with comfort and safety? Nothing, except that they make it very difficult to develop and learn new things.
Any learning and learning involves going beyond the boundaries of your comfort zone.
Beyond the comfort zone is the risk zone. A reasonable move beyond the comfort zone into the risk zone is a necessary condition for personal development.
As a rule, the younger a person is, the easier and more willing he is to expand his comfort zone. When a healthy person lingers in a comfort zone for a long time and makes no effort to leave this zone and expand its boundaries, then his development stops, turning into personality degradation.
This formulation very clearly makes us feel the inevitability of overcoming boundaries if we are interested in our own development.
First, we need to figure out how exactly we can understand that we are stuck in our comfort zone. We can understand this by our reaction to any new situation that we encounter or even just think about. The first reaction will most likely be fear. We would like to emphasize that the reaction to something new can be completely different (excitement, curiosity, interest, anxiety), but fear is a destructive feeling and an indicator that you don’t want to leave your comfort zone. Further, based on this fear, someone stuck in the comfort zone can choose several behavior options: “run and hide,” ignore, protest, resist and try to prevent change, while the path leading to expanding the comfort zone involves acceptance and adaptation.
Awareness
The most important condition for leaving the comfort zone can be considered the realization that we are stuck in it. Without admitting to ourselves that we are stuck in our comfort zone, we cannot move from a dead point. It is very important to accept the idea that we are stuck here and that we need to break out of the current situation by defining an area of our comfort zone. This is our work, our business, established relationships that do not suit us, the city, the apartment where we live - all this can be our comfort zone, which no longer suits us, but we are afraid of change and do nothing to change your life.
Bear in a cramped cage
In one small zoo, a bear was kept in a cramped cage for a long time, so that he could only take 4 steps in one direction, turn around and take 4 steps back. So he walked all day long around the cage back and forth. Visitors felt sorry for the bear and said: “How happy he would probably be if he managed to be free.” Time passed, the zoo began to be renovated, and all the animals were given large spacious enclosures. They had a lot of greenery, and there was even a swimming pool in the bear's enclosure. Zoo workers were anticipating how happy the huge beast would be when he was transferred from a cramped cage to a spacious enclosure. And now the long-awaited day has come. The bear was moved into a tiny cage for transportation and taken to a new location. Even while in the transport cage, the bear managed to take his mandatory 4 steps back and forth. Finally he was released into a new spacious enclosure. The bear looked around, carefully took a step, two, three, four... And then turned around and took 4 steps back again. He was never able to understand that now the bars of the cage that limited his freedom existed only in his imagination. But these bars in the beast’s memory turned out to be stronger than the real ones. This is how the bear still walks in the huge enclosure: 4 steps there and 4 steps back.
This is why the stage of realizing that boundaries exist is so important.
Realizing that we are stuck in our comfort zone, we need to act.
We have conditionally divided the program of action to get out of the comfort zone into five steps and designated them with the abbreviation ZORRO.
ZORRO
1. Task. The first step to overcome internal boundaries is to set a Problem. That is, we will decide what we want to achieve, what result we want to achieve.
Let's say we realized that we are uncomfortable or scared to meet new people. Accordingly, our task will be to get to know each other as much and as often as possible, in order to make this process familiar, and therefore comfortable.
2. OZR. The next stage is the formulation of the Scope of the planned result. Volume of planned result (VRP) - specifics, how much and what I plan to get by a certain date as a result of working on Distance exercises or other obligations in working on myself. As a rule, these are numbers, facts or expert assessment. The formulation of the OZR contributes to a clearer and more effective performance of work (including work on oneself), provides criteria for completing the exercise and the answer to the question: “How will I know that the exercise has been completed?” (OZR) and prescribing specific steps to achieve it.
How do we know when we have expanded our comfort zone? It is clear that the criterion will be calmness when making acquaintances, but this state cannot be “weighed”. Therefore, we will define ORR in our case as a specific number of acquaintances per month of work to get out of the comfort zone. And we will outline what specific number of people we intend to include in the plan for each day. It is worth noting that it is necessary to gradually increase their number within reasonable limits. Will the planned number of acquaintances lead to a comfortable state? Even if not completely, then in any case, progress will be obvious.
The main trick in this case is that by switching the focus of attention from the state to specific work to get out of the comfort zone, we will develop the desired state. A state of comfort will not come on its own; it requires specific work. That's what we'll do.
3. Job. The work includes the systematic passage of the planned steps. We have planned certain actions for every day, and now our task is to carry them out. It would be optimal to write daily reports on the work done, analyzing the results and progress.
4. Job. Repeating the point is not just a justification for the double RR in the acronym.
We wanted to emphasize two aspects.
- Firstly, the fact that Work is the main thing that is required to expand the comfort zone and, accordingly, we devote the bulk of our time to it.
- Secondly, this work must be carried out consistently and the increase in volumes must be gradual. And this is very important.
The problem with getting out of your comfort zone is that people often try to jump straight to the level they want to achieve. This may work for some people, but for most, it will only cause them to stay in their comfort zone, even just because of the anxiety that comes from trying to “bite off more than they can chew.” It is gradual development and expansion that can lead to adaptation of the new zone. And you need to understand that going through the stages will take some time. It is impossible to immediately get used to the new expanded zone. We remember that it takes 21 days to establish a new habit. In fact, learning a new habit is also an expansion of your comfort zone.
If we don't make sure that we are comfortable with ever-increasing volume, then we run a high risk of destroying the results of all our work. Therefore, each stage and each step at this stage should become comfortable.
5. Development. And finally, the fifth step is complete development in the new territory. Achieving ORM. This is actually our new comfort zone.
Exercises
“My fear of something usually means I have to do it” - Madonna.
In addition to expanding our comfort zone in a particular area in which we have recognized the need for it, we believe it is very important to develop the habit of stepping out of our comfort zone in any situation. To do this, you need to learn to remove fear when meeting something new. We offer “simulators” for developing such a habit.
- Change the usual little things. You can try to go to work on a different route, change your usual daily routine, or go not to the store on the way, but to the one on the other street, to buy unusual food products.
- Meet someone. This is a very good way to get out of your comfort zone. It doesn’t matter where or how, the main thing is that the person is new to you.
- Find courses or trainings, clubs that interested you, but for some reason (and we already know what) you refused the idea of going there.
- Learn what you once wanted to be able to do. Playing the balalaika, making rolls, cross-stitching - all these are excellent exercises for expanding your comfort zone.
- Read a book, watch a movie, or listen to music in a genre that is unfamiliar to you. Love rock, listen to jazz. If you like melodramas, watch a thriller. Love prose, read poetry.
- Go on an unplanned trip. Don't plan anything, decide everything as you go. You will be able to get a lot of impressions and definitely expand your comfort zone.
- Go to a new unusual place. To an unfamiliar restaurant and better than a previously unfamiliar cuisine.
- Dress unusually. If you are a girl who is not used to wearing dresses, buy and wear. Unusual colors, styles and new brands - all this is also in our treasury of training equipment. If you're a guy who only wears T-shirts and jeans, dress classic (nice shoes, expensive trousers, a stylish light jacket with a bright tie or scarf). Well, at least wear a shirt instead of a T-shirt - for starters, that's good.
- Rearrange the furniture. Take a fresh look at your room and try to rearrange it at least a little.
- Get on a bus with an unfamiliar route number.
- Make your list of training situations.
In conclusion, there is a wonderful metaphor from Gennady Pavlenko, which fully illustrates our behavior when we cling to our comfort zone or, as in this case, to our usual worldview.
“Imagine that you are in a tank. You drive forward through life, observing everything that happens through a narrow viewing slit. The very fact that you are a tanker already indicates that life for you is war. At the same time, through the gap you can see that people are walking around. They just walk. They don't fight. They fall in love, quarrel, work, be lazy, relax, read... What do these people look like from a tank? Like fools, right? What if the sniper is from the roof? Or infantry to attack? What will they do with their shirts painted with flowers?! Therefore, it’s better to be in a tank. Yes, it's hot. Yes, it's shaking. Yes, it’s a bit cramped, but no sniper can reach you! And the fact that they are not there is only a matter of time. And time, by the way, passes, and the tanker ends his life’s journey without having had time to begin it. Is it true? some, at the end of their lives, when there is nothing left to lose, still pluck up the courage to look out of the hatch, but since there is still no time, they dive back into their tank. It's more common there...
But there’s so much stuff there, behind the reliable armor! Yes, it's unusual. Yes, it's scary. Yes, everything inside is screaming - it’s impossible! But it is necessary. Why is it necessary? Why is it necessary? Then... well, it’s somehow a pity to spend such a cool life in a tank. Why is it necessary? Because there, behind the armor, it’s INTERESTING!”