By Josh Gottlieb
We've titled this season, Thinking Outside the Nine Dots. Most of you are familiar with the phrase “outside the box.” The origins of that reference unconventional thinking, something creative, doing something that is outside the norm. The “nine dots” is actually an old IQ test where one puts on a piece of paper, nine dots, laid three rows across. The instructions for this IQ test are to connect all nine dots, with four straight lines, without lifting your pen.
What people tend to do is to stay within the nine dots in order to find the solution to connecting those four straight lines.
How people approach is often reflective of how they approach problem solving in their life.
When I first learned about this in a self-awareness training 42 years ago, I had the solution completed before they finished the instructions. I couldn't see the solution easily inside the nine dots, so I naturally went outside of the box. What I realized is, most people artificially circumscribe problems with perceived boundaries. We stay inside of what we know — what we've seen, what we're comfortable with. And I realized that for me, the reason I just flew to the solution was because I'm very comfortable working outside the norm — finding a solution that isn't compliant with conventional thinking. Much of my career and all of what we do is about opening oneself up to that possibility.
Joshua A. Gottlieb is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Gottlieb Organization.