Think outside of the box? Get rid of the box!

I'm tired of the term "Think outside of the box." What if we just got rid of the box completely? We have to be so nimble in today's pace of business, by the time we build the box it's outdated. For example, 25% of the college freshman class will be working in jobs that don't currently exist when they graduate. The college curriculum box is broken because it isn't flexible enough.

GM commits to producing Hybrid cars and as the words are coming out of their mouths gas prices drop to where the American driver is once again comfortable in big rides. The manufacturing box is broken.

Our model of business is based on structure and consistency and that is the broken box. What's the alternative? It is very scary indeed. We have to be more fluid and nimble by not just recreating product lines but recreating the business.

We have to be better tuned in with the shifting times to be better at predicting or guiding consumer behavior. We also have to learn, as Tom Peters told us many years ago, how to thrive on chaos.

In my humble opinion we need to abandon the box mindset in business leaders and embrace the fluidity of non-manufacturing companies who can retool at high speed electronically and don't necessarily need the same constraints of the old system. Even in the service industry, do banks really need a branch on every corner? In fact, do banks even need branches? Technology takes us out of the box if we let it and are willing to embrace the New business model.