“Think outside the box.” You hear it all the time, but what does it mean and how do you go about doing it? The first part of the question is the easy bit. We all know fundamentally that it’s encouraging us to apply new methods to an old problem. However; I want to put a finer point on this for my purposes. Thinking outside the box is about disruptive thinking. To change the status quo and move forward in new ways. Sometimes bold and sometimes subtle, we are changing the course to our destination.

So how do we do that? Where do those disruptive ideas come from? You steal them. No, I don’t mean take someone else’s idea and make it your own. I’m talking about what inspires you. The different paths to inspiration are as diverse as there are people. I’m going to discuss two; 1) following an emerging trend, and 2) adapting another discipline.

The first is the one I see the most. It involves looking at your industry, those related and investigating the emerging trends. Looking at how others solve problems can inspire you to do the same. For example, machine learning (ML) can identify sentiment from facial expressions. Then letting that inspire you to use ML to identify stress factors that broke a part from a photo. I refer to this one as standing on the shoulders of giants (to see further than you can on your own.)

The second is one I don’t see as often and wish I did. I’ve always felt the best inspiration comes from disciplines outside of your own. Using machine learning for facial recognition extended from artificial intelligence. But artificial intelligence was inspired by studying the brain. While the AI case is a direct parallel, your inspirations don’t need to be. You can be inspired from anywhere. Examine the process Monet used to paint his water-lilies. Study the migratory patterns of birds and butterflies. Anything. I encourage this method for many reasons. It can lead to truly new ideas and thinking. It gives you a non-technical metaphor to make communication easier. It can inspire others in new ways that make the idea better. It can reignite your passion for your job. And, by studying other disciplines not your own, you improve yourself.

These are only two paths to inspiration, but they paint a wide canvas and tend to be the two I lean on the most. I often find myself mixing the two. Using external disciplines to find new ways to utilize emerging trends.

Regardless of how or where you find your inspiration, find it. Trust it. Evolve it.