When discussing ways of learning and thinking outside the box I like to use the analogy of bypassing a padlock.
When looking at a padlock most people – without the key or combination – will probably think of using a bolt-cutter or picking. With the former, most TV shows and movies depict thieves with bolt cutters easily cutting through a padlock, and with the latter most PI or spy movies will show some deft lock picking taking mere seconds. Both will work if you know what you are doing, but how else could you bypass a padlock?
There’s a saying that goes something along the lines of: “There’s a difference between wisdom and knowledge retention”. You can read many books and master many areas of study such as biology, chemistry, geology, physics, psychology, etc, but it’s how you use that knowledge that counts. How you combine areas of expertise looking for overlaps and interactions that others may not have considered.
Take the simple padlock for instance. What if we applied chemistry? We have acids that could eat through part of the mechanism, oils for lubrication, maybe use liquid nitrogen to super-cool the metal rendering it susceptible to damage under impact. How about physics? We have opposing forces, kinetic energy, levering, or heavy impact.
The point is the more you learn the larger the data your mind has to tap when “thinking outside the box”. Just watch any episode of McGyver (the original or remake). The more you learn and the more you train your brain to think this way, the more the everyday looks different to you.
There’s always more than one way to approach a problem, but the solutions that your brain can come up with will rely on the data it has available to mine.