***** NOT A TEACHER *****
(1) Maybe a phrase that is currently very popular in the United States of America:
to think outside the box.
(2) For example, if a company is having trouble getting customers, the chief
. .
executive might ask his employees "to think outside the box" when trying to
get new customers.
(a) The usual ways ( discounts/ newspaper advertisements/ pretty
girls in TV commercials) may not be working.
(i) "To think outside the box" is to think of something really new. Something
that no one else has thought of before.
(3) Here is a humorous example that I once read. I cannot give credit, for I forget where
I read it. It seems that X always came down the stairs on his head. Of course, it
hurt X to come down the stairs on his head. Then one day someone thought outside
the box and said, "Hey! I have an idea. Why don't you come down the stairs on
your feet?" Now X has no problems when he walks down the stairs: he uses his
feet instead of his head.
(4) Nations and individuals always have problems. If we could only think outside the
box, maybe we could solve some of our problems. I guess Steve Jobs was famous for
thinking outside the box.