Business

Think outside the box

If you’re faced with a unique and complicated issue at work, you may need to think outside the box to find a solution.

When you think outside the box, you try to use your imagination to come up with new and unusual ideas. The purpose of thinking outside the box is to challenge yourself to think differently about a subject, so that you can approach it from a new perspective and ideally, produce original ideas and solutions.

Get sidetracked

If you lose interest or focus in the task that you’re supposed to be doing and start doing another task, then you got sidetracked. This means that you shifted your attention away from your primary goal and started doing an activity that was, likely, less important. When you get sidetracked, you delay the progress of your main goal.

Hit the ground running

If you start a new project with the intention to work hard immediately, then you hit the ground running. We use this expression when we are prepared to start a project right from the beginning, with a high level of energy, enthusiasm, and efficiency. 

When we hit the ground running, we do not waste time doing tasks that delay progress. The goal is to achieve success quickly. This usually requires some form of preparation, background knowledge, or related experience. For example:

Above and beyond

If you do more than is expected of you, then you go above and beyond. Companies are fortunate to have employees who go above and beyond because it typically means that they do more than their job description.

This expression is positive and is used to bring attention to someone’s outstanding work. If someone went above and beyond, it means that they completed what was required of them and then chose to do additional work on top of that. Here are a few examples:

Keep in mind

If you need to remember information that could be important or useful at a later time, you can keep it in mind.

If you keep someone in mind, it means that they remain in your thoughts. This could be for personal or professional reasons. 

You can use this phrase as a reminder, warning, or statement. It can be used in the past, present, and future tenses by conjugating the verb "keep." You can also modify this expression by adding a noun or pronoun in between "keep" and "in mind." Here are a few examples:

Game-changer

Have you ever worked on a project that completely changed the way your business operates? If that project was the outstanding achievement that your company needed to grow, it was a game-changer.

We call a person a game-changer if they can drastically affect the outcome of a situation. If you hire a new employee and they introduce visionary ideas and innovative strategies, they could be a game-changer.

Behind the scenes

Set-creation behind the scenes at a theater

When you go to the theater to see a show, you see the actors and the scenery, but you don't see all the people backstage who run the lights and sound, handle the props, or built the set (scenery). All of those people work behind the scenes, behind the scenery you can see on stage.

We use "behind the scenes" in a lot of different contexts, but it always means the same thing—something is done out of public view. Here are just a few examples of how you can use it:

On the beach

Sunbathing feet looking out at the ocean

Being on the beach may sound relaxing, but it isn't always relaxing when used in a business context by a consultant. 

In consulting, to be on the beach means that you're not actively involved in a project. It can mean that you've got a break after one project finishes, before the next one starts. But it can also mean that you are doing internal training or helping with simple tasks until you are assigned to a longer-term project.