Winning Mind Training

  • Home
  • About
    • About Winning Mind
    • Testimonials
  • Blog
  • Courses Listing / Calendar
    • Training Schedule
    • Course Descriptions
      • Dare to Be Great: Strategies for Creating a Culture of Leading
      • Dare To Be Great Leadership 2.0: Continuing the Journey of Building a Culture of Leading, Learning and Excellence
      • Dare To Be Great Leadership: Strategies to Help Frontline Leaders Build and Sustain a Culture of Leading, Learning and Excellence
      • Lessons From Life’s Most Powerful Question
      • Excellence In Training
      • Break Down the Silos and Grow Your Tribe of Trainers and Leaders
      • Performance Enhancement Imagery
      • Ground Fighting and A.C.E. Edged Weapons Defense Instructor Course
      • PPCT Threat Pattern Recognition Use of Force Instructor Course
  • Resources
  • Contact Us

May 15, 2009 By Brian Willis

The Box

I am sure we have all heard, and likely used, the expression “We need to think outside the box.” This week I am here to speak up on behalf of the much maligned box.

Here are my thoughts for this week:

We do not need to think outside the box we simply need to clean out and rearrange the boxes we have, and sometimes we just need to get a bigger damn box.

When did the box become evil? When did the box become the reason we are not moving forward or creating change in our organizations and ourselves?

We have an inbox for our e-mail and possibly in and out boxes on our desk. We have file cabinets in our offices and file folders on our computers – all boxes. You have dressers and closets in your bedrooms – boxes. When you move you pack everything into boxes and label them. When you are done playing cards you put them back in the box. These ‘boxes’ provide a certain degree of structure and a framework. They allow us to manage all the information, ideas and things in our lives and store them in a way that it is easily accessible when we need it. In the workplace we have policies, procedures, missions, course training standards, lesson plans, budgets, organizational objectives, etc. All of which are ‘boxes’.

What we need to do is continually review and assess the material in our box to make sure that what is there is current, valid and most desirable.

Let me use training police recruits as an example. For every block of instruction (box) there is a Course Training Standard (CTS) that identifies the Learning Objectives, Main Teaching Points and References. The Lesson Plan is built from the CTS and provides more information for the instructor who is tasked with delivering the material. These are ‘boxes’ because they provide a framework to ensure the core of the material is consistently delivered.  If we are not meeting the learning objectives then we need to step back and explore the reasons why. Often the answers lies not in thinking outside of the box but rather examining what is in the box and the method in which we order and deliver the material. We may need to pull out the folder labeled ‘Instructional Methods’ and look closely at the material in there. We can pull out the material labeled “Cause we have always done it this way.”  and “That is the way it was taught when I was a recruit and look how good I turned out.”.  Keep the things that are still relevant to todays world and todays officers, shred the rest and insert some new material on more desirable ways to help adults learn. Once we have this new information we can place the file back in the box and likely change the outcome of our training.

Boxes come in different sizes and shapes. They are made of a variety of materials. Some are virtual boxes. They all serve a purpose. I would put it to you that it is not the ‘box’ that is the issue. It is our own thought processes, our occasional lack of imagination and creativity and our reluctance to change that are the issues.

Some food for thought – a ‘box lunch’ perhaps.

Take care.

Brian Willis

Filed Under: Blog

Subscribe To Our Blog

Sign up to the Winning Mind Training blog to receive new articles, tips and posts directly to your email inbox.

Excellence In Training Blog

  • What if you switched to a PTCM model? May 10, 2022
  • The purpose of using videos in training.  April 26, 2022
  • Does your training focus on education or learning?  April 19, 2022
  • Are you preparing your people for the complexities of today’s world? April 12, 2022
  • Can you afford to exclude good candidates simply because they do not have a piece of paper? March 29, 2022

Contact Winning Mind Training

Address:
246 Stewart Green S.W., Suite #2486
Calgary AB. Canada. T3H 3C8

Phone: 403-279-5954

Email: winningmind@mac.com

Connect With Us

  • Email
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Winning Mind Training is a proud member of the Calgary Chamber of Commerce. To get more information and to find out how you can become a member of the Chamber of Commerce go to www.calgarychamber.com

Events

  • Performance Enhancement Imagery Workshop - Eugene, OR
    • Tuesday, May 17, 2022 - Thursday, May 19, 2022
  • Dare To Be Great Leadership: Strategies to Help Frontline Leaders Build and Sustain a Culture of Leading, Learning and Excellence - Chesterfield, VA
    • Monday, May 23, 2022 - Tuesday, May 24, 2022
  • Excellence in Training Course - Chesterfield, VA
    • Wednesday, May 25, 2022 - Friday, May 27, 2022

Copyright © 2022 · Winning Mind Training