Sometimes when you are losing in a game you have to stop playing by the rules, switch it up, and change the game itself. You have to think outside the box.The key is to define the box in any given situation and then to seek alternatives, which are often unconventional solutions that would be considered beyond the norm.

Thinking Outside The Box

<ol><li>Identify the issue.</li><li>Determine if a typical solution to the problem exists.</li><li>Map out everything that went into creating the issue.</li><li>Look for ways to address the situation in the more outlying areas that were unconsidered.</li><li>Don’t dismiss possible solutions because tradition stands against them. Go through every possibility until you know for a fact its feasibility.</li></ol>

Getting Outside The Box 

To find solutions you would otherwise ignore, train yourself to not just focus on the issue at hand but also to think more expansively about everything that led to that issue. Consider every possibility and hypothetical alteration of that reality, never being dismissive of anything before you have thoroughly thought it through.

Finding Innovative Solutions

A few years back our litigation team was faced with a seemingly insurmountable task: how to defend our client's trademark rights against a Fortune 500 company with a massive litigation budget. They had the facts on their side. Moreover, they had money.