How American high-jumper Dick Fosbury thought out of the box to create the Fosbury flop technique

We know the saying “The only thing constant in life is change”, that is, change is inevitable, but we still resist it. The same stands true for the reluctance to do something differently. The reason for this reluctance is “fear of failure”.

Thinking out of the box is a metaphor for thinking differently, unconventionally or forming a new perspective. This phrase often refers to novel or creative thinking.

Some people call lateral thinking out-of-the-box thinking.

Let me share some examples of how this has helped individuals and organisations succeed.

You might have seen athletes who participate in high jump. For quite a long time, athletes used to believe that during the jump, the body should be upright and if one leg crosses the obstacle, the entire body will go over it.

In our childhood, some of us might have done this kind of high jump.

Then somebody thought to do things differently and decided to cross the bar first with the head, and then the mid-section, and then the legs. Though it would have been awkward initially, that became the best way to do the high jump.

In 1968, the Olympic Games held in Mexico was where something extraordinary happened in the high jump. A relatively unknown athlete,...

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