Reinventing creative thinking

Luc de Brabandere recounts an experience where he was asked to define “thinking out of the box.” He realized that he had focused too much on the “creative” aspect and not enough on the “thinking” aspect. He explains that thinking always involves a mental model, or “box,” and the key is whether that box is old or new.

Luc illustrates this with an exercise where the audience completes two sentences: “An example of a car is…” and “The car is an example of…” The first sentence elicits limited, typical answers, while the second prompts more creative and varied responses. This demonstrates that creativity is limited when starting from a set of assumptions but is unlimited when challenging those assumptions.

The speaker emphasizes that choosing a new box is more important than simply getting out of an old one, using Thomas Edison’s invention of the light bulb as an example. He further discusses how Phillips transitioned from home appliances to health by adopting a new mental model. He concludes with a story about a champagne company that reframed its business as “contributing to the success of parties,” leading to a creative marketing idea. The speaker encourages the audience to induce new boxes to achieve real creativity and growth.