Think outside the box is not always correct
The saying goes that you should think outside the box, meaning think beyond what is normal. While I’m a big fan of going “beyond”, it’s not always the way. The saying has been skewed to: we can not do what has always been done. The issue here is that some things that have always been done, do work. To counter the statement with another: a quote famously attributed to Albert Einstein: “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results“. But If you aim for the same results, that is a good thing.
The professional frame
To bring that back to the box and the frames: it’s important for a professional to know what is expected to be the end result. That gives you a first frame. Everything that you deliver outside this box is something that you have put effort in, but will not be appreciated. So in order to maximize your personal ROI, please don’t do this, except when it brings merit to the project or your own knowledge. Basically: do what gets results and cut out the rest.
The communications frame
The most basic form of communications is “person A sends a message to person B”. I’ll get into detail about this in a future post. The important thing to remember here is that you as the sender of the message have a frame you use. Personally, I live in Europe, have English as a second language and am a communications professional. You, on the other hand, might be a high schooler from rural Iowa that was looking for instructions to do a picture frame for shop class. This means that the frames will not match at all. Therefor, the message will not be succesful.
On the other hand, if you are an influential digital communications strategist, you might find this interesting and might even want to start a conversation with me. (hint) You never know what might happen.
