Out of the Box -

Innovative Thinking in

SC

Young Professionals chapterJuly 20th 2017

Presented by: Murilo Carani Coube

Agenda1. What it is

2. Positive Things about thinking outside the box

3. Negative Aspects

4. Outside the box in Supply Chain

5. Cola Life Example

6. Personal Examples

7. What’s next

Exercise: The nine-dot puzzle

1) Draw in a piece of paper the image below

2) link all 9 dots using four straight lines or fewer, without lifting the

pen

Exercise done by Psychologist J. P. Guilford in early

1970s for his academic research in Creativity:

Creativity requires you to go outside the box

What is “to think outside the box”?

• Conceptualizing and approaching problems differently

• To think in a different, innovative, or original manner, with regard

to business practices, products, systems, etc.

• Think creatively, unimpeded by orthodox or conventional

constraints

• Standard Operating Procedure, Protocols,

Work Instructions…

Positive things about it

• Routine is bad: Getting away from typical routine

fosters creativity

• It helps to discover niches and new business segments

• Innovation to create breakthrough inventions for problems not yet

seen by many

• Fast-pace moving environment requires

adaptive mindset

• Getting out from your comfort zone

Arthur Fry, with a post-it: Outside the box thinking for A. Amron creation

Negative Aspects of thinking OTB

• It has become a cliché, especially in the business world

• It’s a cliché that means to think of clichéd situations in ways that

aren’t clichéd

• It has long lost any real meaning. Books from Kids Who Think

Outside the Box to Evangelism Outside the Box

• Direct and explicit instructions to think outside

the box, without any guidance, is useless

(nine-dot exercise revisited)

Outside the Box in SC

• Question things and status

• Encourage diversity of thinking and Explore

contradictory approaches

• Think far more than “Cost Reduction” (“Highest Quality, Lowest Cost”

versus “Engine for Growth and Innovation”)

• During meetings, leave an empty chair (Jeff Bezos, Amazon)

• Think beyond supply chain

(Connect the organization)

Coca-Cola seems to get everywhere in developing countries, yet life-saving medicines don’t. Why?

ColaLife was co-founded by just two people in April 2008 as an online ‘movement’. It became an independent UK charity in 2011. Focused on ORS (Oral Rehydration Salts) for Diarrhea

MDCs Lack of medicines

Examples in your life

What’s next?

THANK YOU !