Starting by thinking inside the box

"Thing outside of the box" is a commonly used phrase to encourage creativity and spur action.  The intention of the phrase is innocent enough; but, it is the worst way to start.  Any honest endeavor to create a strategy must begin with identifying the constraints.  These are the boundary lines you cannot break.  Every organization has these.  For example, any decent corporate strategy will place a premium on its people.  To maintain the highest levels of performance, the employees must feel valued by the company.  This is a constraint.  Other constraints include budgets, deadlines, and capabilities of the team.  These constraints identify the box you will operate in.  Pretending they do not exist produces outlandish ideas that are never going to be implemented.  Start with your constraints, define the box you work in, and the actions you develop will be practical and effective.