How can you think outside the box if you are stuck in one?

I worked 20 years as a Production Graphic Designer for a firm. This was 20 years in a cubicle. It was not bad at first as I was passionate I was the Art Director which allowed me to roam about the office at times overseeing the other designers making phone calls to clients and national sales team and going out into the warehouse to help unload shipping cartons so I could check the quality of the product.

Sharing Ideas and New Technologies.

Even though my station was in a box being in that position allowed me to work with the other designers we could share ideas or share what we learned. Illustrator and Photoshop were always growing and we did not have youtube to look for a tutorial on how to batch file usually ideas were shared like hey everyone come here and see what Blair is doing.

I was passionate and excited for 14 years with the company but then came the dark times.

The last 6 years with the company I became a cubicle potatoes. When the recession approached when a designer would leave the company they would not be replaced and the team became smaller and smaller. Customers could not order the larger quantities of the line I was in charge of that used to employ 4 full-time designer and 4 freelance designers. Not to mention the bookkeeper with his dry voice in the cubicle next to me as he made phone calls to clients advising them if they don’t make a payment that we would send them to collections. There was an end to sharing ideas and sharing tips and tricks each day became like the day before. It became dry and robotic.

That was just the start of a series of unfortunate events leading to me leaving the company. Once that happened I was like groundhog poking its head out of the hole and seeing what he had been missing. I realized that I had so much to learn so I started learning it. New ways of thinking and seeing things and so much of it could have been applied to last years at the company

A good way to get out of the box is to get back to school.

I went back to school which was so exciting as an adult I highly recommend that everyone should at least take an occasional class and not just for you can learn from the teacher but for what you can learn from the other students this is a good way to step out of the box if you are stuck in one. Employers who need their employees to be creative should consider getting their employees out of the box for time periods of sharing ideas concepts and new technology that someone may have read about that the others had not.

Being stuck in a cubicle it’s easy to get tunnel vision.

Rekindle your passion.

While in college getting my certificate in web design I had to take a computer graphics class which is funny as I could have taught it. I skipped the lower level class and went to the advanced class. But I learned the most important thing in that class from the instructor who lived and breathed design. I watched his enthusiasm he did web design, graphic design, sculpting, fine art, animation, motion design, ceramics, and was passionate about it. And I said I once was that guy I want to be that guy.

Step out of the box look for new angles a new way of seeing things see whats out there. I am actually looking forward to an opportunity to get back in a box as I am ready and with a new perspective to knowing that Is where I need to make great things happen but also look around outside for something to bring to it.