William X.

'Think outside the box' originated in the USA in the late 1960s/early 1970s. It has become something of a cliche, especially in the business world, where 'thinking outside the box' has become so hackeyed as to be rather meaningless. Various authors from the world of management consultancy claim to have introduced the phrase. The earliest citation that I have found comes from the weekly magazine of the US aviation industry - Aviation Week & Space Technology, July 1975: \