On this page I will be sharing some of the best techniques I've experienced to get people thinking creatively. I'm also including techniques I've used successfully in the past to warm people up so that they are more open to these creative techniques. Put your own spin on these, and have fun! I'll be adding new ones on a regular basis so come back soon. Check out my book, Organizational Mental Floss; How to Squeeze Your Organization's Thinking Juices for many, many more techniques.
Brain Ticklers
Braintickler #1 Fantasizing
The keywords here are, “I wish _______,” and, “What if ______?” Whatever your problem or opportunity is you can fill in the blanks here with anything you want. If you’re trying to design a safer light posts along the highway one of your “What ifs?” might be, “What if we could have posts that just disappear when hit?” A group actually did that once and was able to create a post that disappeared when hit. Okay, it didn’t really disappear - it just kind of disappeared. They designed one that fractured without doing a great deal of damage to the vehicle and flipped itself over the car. Do you see what this question was able to do in this case? It got them to the point of stating something that was impossible and they were able to bring it back to the point that it was kind of possible.
As an example let’s assume you are looking for new ideas for a camera. Here are just a few things that might result from our fantasizing questions.
I wish I could take a picture of what I’m thinking.
I wish I had my camera at all times.
I wish I could get a perfect picture every time.
What if the camera were a part of my body?
What if my camera told me when there was a good picture opportunity?
What if my picture was instantly transferred to my friends and family?
What if my pictures were automatically put into the appropriate albums?
Each of these triggers a new set of possibilities. The key is to pick some and expand on ways to make the fantasies come true.
Braintickler #2 Crazy Criteria
This is particularly good for developing new product enhancements and ideas but could be used for about anything. I want to thank my friend and creative hero, Sid Shore, for this one. It’s based on the thought that the end results of something we design is determined by the criteria in our minds as we proceed with the project. If we have some run of the mill criteria the chances are we’ll end up with a run of the mill end result. For example, if you’re designing a car the chances are that you’ll be driven by the following criteria:
comfort
economy
safety
attractiveness
performance
reliability
cost
There’s certainly nothing wrong with this criteria but it is a little on the dull side. Let’s look at some crazy criteria. I want a car that:
scratches my back when I drive
floats on water
expands and contracts
folds up into a briefcase
does my lawn
cooks my meals
serves as my coffin
reproduces itself
becomes an added room for my house
pilots itself
flies
pays my bills
In a group session expect a lot of wild criteria and keep pushing for even wilder ones. From this list you can take off in all directions using the criteria as springboards for generating new, crazy ideas. For example, in what ways might we create a car that expands and contracts? How might we build on the thought that a car could become a room in our house? At some point you can begin to bring it on home to reality, by taking a look at some of the crazy ideas that have some possibility, and identifying how you might make then come true.
Braintickler #3 - Rule Busting
Every problem or opportunity we work on has some rules attached. Other words for rules are paradigms, assumptions, impossibilities, guidelines, patterns, regulations, and accepted behaviors. This mind stretcher deliberately tries to break all these rules. The first step is to identify what the rules are and this is not as easy as it sounds because we often take them for granted and often don’t even know they exist.
Identify a problem or opportunity. As our example let’s consider how we might motivate people in the workplace.
What are the rules (both stated and un-stated) associated with this problem or opportunity?
People come to work each day.
Everyone has a particular job to do.
Money is their reward.
What are the assumptions we make regarding the problem?
Work is very serious.
People are excited about their work.
People are not naturally highly motivated.
What is impossible to do today in the areas associated with the opportunity that, if they were possible, would change the game?
People can’t just do what turns them on in a work environment.
Everyone can’t be working at different times.
Everyone must be rewarded in the same way.
What are the accepted behaviors for those involved in all areas of the problem?
Perform according to your job descriptions.
Do your job and don’t ask questions.
Be in your workplace at all times.
Now go back through these observations and generate as many statements as you can that break the rules. Make sure they really break the rules - we’re talking a major fracture, not just a bruise. Every time you make a rule breaking statement you should ask, “How might I break this some more?”
People can come to work anytime they want.
People can work from their homes.
Each person identifies his or her own rewards.
People can pick what job turns them on each day.
Pick some of the more interesting statements from the previous step and bring them back to reality. Ask:
Is it okay to break this rule? If not, why not?
How might we break it in a way that’s possible?
What are some alternatives to breaking it?
What other possibilities exist related to this breakage?
Braintickler #4 - Successive stages of outrageousness
For those who thrive in a group on out-doing each other this technique is heaven sent (only kidding). The idea here is to have someone suggest an outrageous (or mildly outrageous) and identify all the ways to make it more and more outrageous. As a matter of fact, maybe you don’t even need to start with outrageous. Just follow the normal brainstorming process and take a detour into insanity for each idea that comes up. By the way, this is a great deal of fun too. Let’s see if I can map out the process.
- State the problem or opportunity.
- Each person generates as many ideas as they can.
- Each person in the group states an idea that rather excites them.
- The group begins to raise the level of outrageousness by asking successively: How can this idea be made more outrageous? Take it to the limit. The last idea in this series should be the epitome of total ridiculousness.
- Start with another person’s idea and raise its level of outrageousness and continue as before.
- End the exercise when all participants are either asleep or nearly brain dead.
Braintickler #5 – Getting fired
Most of us try to keep our thinking on the straight and narrow most of the time because we like the idea of keeping our job. After all, suggesting some really weird possibilities could just put you on the short list in the eyes of your boss. So let’s just change the goals of your group a little. Their goal is to suggest enough things that are so stupid, and so outrageous that it will get them fired. Let’s really see if we can bring this outfit down! You could build a veritable contest to see who can get fired first by suggesting the greatest number of totally ridiculous ideas. Warning – make sure this is truly a safe situation for people. Remember that the object is to get people to really stretch their thinking to places it’s never been so that you can come back to possibilities that you can make happen. This process can be a lot of fun. When’s the last time you had a chance to get fired at work and could let it all out like this?
Braintickler #6 - Word Blenders
One of the most successful techniques I’ve used in past ideation sessions involves various techniques using random words. Just pick words out of a dictionary, magazines, or other handy sources. They don’t need to have any particular connection to your problem. As a matter of fact, the less connected ones are often better idea stimulators. Write these words on chart paper or, even better, on small pieces of paper. If they are on small pieces of paper mix them up and put them in a container. Everyone in the group then randomly picks 3 or so words and uses these words as idea stimulators. What does the word make you think of? If you combine the words in various ways what does that make you think of? What possibilities do these new thoughts trigger? Pass the words around within the group for further stimulation or take some new ones from the blender. Substitute words in the problem statement with some of your new words. Think of the opposites or of synonyms of the words and identify new thoughts that are triggered. Twist, bend, stretch, compress, and alter these words any way you see fit. If you torture them enough they will confess to their hidden secrets.
Braintickler#7 - Rhyming
I first saw this technique used at a conference on creative techniques. For the life of me I can’t remember who the originator was or I would give credit. If you were the originator, let me know and I’ll give you my first born great grand child. It involves taking two or three words from the problem statement and then creating lists of rhyming words from each of them. When you can’t think of a rhyming word then create a bridge of some sort to another series (a similar item, reversal, opposite, backwards etc.). It’s a quick, fun way to generate a bunch of words that have an interesting connection to your base problem. It’s harder to explain than it is to do so here’s an example.
Problem: In what ways might we really turn people on in their jobs?
Turn – burn – fern – learn – teach (reversal) – beach – peach – breach - reach
Jobs – mobs – slobs – blobs – globs – clogs – frogs – smog – smoke (similar) – poke – woke
You may wonder what this can all have to do with turning someone on in their job. Well, that’s what creativity is all about. These words take us off into another direction, another mindset. Now the task is to see if we can force fit them back to our problem. What new thoughts are stimulated by peaches, frogs, blobs, and poking?
Braintickler #8 - First Thoughts
This technique generates several banks of words based on what you first think of when you hear key words in the problem or opportunity statement. It has the ability to generate many words quickly that, for some strange reason, have creative connections to the base statement. Take a key word from the statement and ask everyone what other word first comes to mind. Then take one of the most intriguing of these words, and ask the same question. Repeat it again with a new, intriguing word from the new list. I find it most useful to chart these words in columns on a chart pad. The next step is to have each person select 3-4 words from these new lists and create new ideas based on thoughts triggered by them.
Let’s say that the word, organize, was a keyword in the problem statement. Here’s how the generation of word might unfold (bold words are the selected ones for generating new first thoughts). What does organize make you think of?
Crime
Accountants
Desks
Files
Neat
Teamwork
Alphabetic Teachers
Dictionaries
Phone books
Children Schoolrooms
IPads
Encyclopedias
Diapers Learning
Small
Expensive
Energized
Screaming
Hungry
Smelly
Disposable
Avoid
Impenetrable
White
Pins
Pales
Now you have some new words that have an interesting link to the problem but are far enough away to create some new ideas.
Braintickler #9 - Stimulus Analysis Approach
The Battelle Institute developed this technique and I've found it particularly useful for creating new thinking for hardware type problems. It uses a series of stimulus words developed by the group and uses the characteristics of these as stepping stones to form ideas. Let’s look at an example problem.
How might we warn press operators when their hands are in danger of being caught as the press closes?
Have the group develop a list on 10 concrete items that are unrelated to the problem. For example:
Desk
Table Lamp
Lawn Mower
Football team
Television
Motorcycle
Restaurant
Refrigerator
Movie Theater
Hotel
Select one of the terms and have the group break it down into its descriptive characteristics (structures, principles, and specific details). Breaking the lamp down into characteristic might include:
Uses electricity
Emits light
Generates heat
Clicks when turned on
The group then analyzes each of these characteristics one by one to identify possible solutions to the original problem.
Apply a mild shock to operator as a warning.
Use a photoelectric cell to trip switch.
Use temperature-sensing cell to detect heat from hands.
Have press emit a loud clicking sound at a certain point.
After enough creative ideas are generated, select a new stimulus and repeat the process. Do this for all ten items identified.
Braintickler #10 – Changing the Verbs
A very simple method for stimulating ideas is to look at the key verbs in the problem statement and develop as many similar words as you can for these,. For example, assume the group was working on the problem:
In what ways might we better distribute our product?
The group might take a closer look at the word distribute. Some words that convey the same meaning might include, give away, deal, hand out, disperse, dispense, deliver, bestow, administer, circulate, etc. These new verbs could then be used as stepping stones for new ideas. Free association or analogies formed on these new words could add some new directions to their ideas.
Braintickler #11
Catalogues and magazines The use of catalogues or magazines has the power to trigger some really different thinking. Keep a good inventory of these to use in ideation sessions because they never fail to stimulate new ideas. The biggest problem is to keep people out of the shopping mode. Get as creative as you want in terms of the process used. Here are a couple of ways I’ve use catalogues and magazines.
Hand out catalogues randomly to everyone in the group. Ask people to randomly open their catalogues to a page and tell you something they see. Make sure they understand that these don’t have to have an immediate connection to the problem or opportunity being worked on. Otherwise they will be screening the trigger words before they verbalize them. Write these objects on a piece of chart paper and do it until you have a chart full of objects. Then ask people to write down new ideas for whatever problem you are working on based on these particular objects and the things they make you think of. Repeat this several times with new words as necessary.
Here’s a more interactive option that really gets people moving around and is lots of fun. Have people select an intriguing item from their catalogue and write in on a medium size post-it note. This post-it note is then placed on their forehead and everyone walks around to see what others have. Each person writes down one of more new ideas that the items trigger for them as they walk around checking everyone else out. There is something about walking around and staring at people who have sticky notes on their forehead that creates a bit of a different environment and it’s a lot of fun to boot. When everyone is finished track all the new ideas and any that build from them.
Braintickler #12 - Stimulation
I find that some of my most creative thinking takes place on road trips. Somehow the stimulus provided from the ever-changing scenery is very powerful. Unfortunately it’s a little hard to take a group on a road trip to get them thinking differently. So what you do is to bring the road trip to them. I used a collection of slides with a variety of pictures that have the power to take people on some wonderful trips. It’s important to use slides with a wide range of themes and even include some that are perhaps just outright weird. The idea is to look at these pictures for 3-4 minutes each and write down the thoughts that come to your mind. What do these pictures make you think of? Don’t worry about defining a clear connection to the problem yet – just write down anything that comes to mind. After looking at several pictures and the noting the thoughts they illicit, have each person spend several minutes identifying new possibilities that connect to the problem or opportunity being worked on. You’ll be surprised at the amount, and the creativity of the results.
So you don’t happen to have a bunch of hand selected slides for this exercise? Just cut out some picture from some magazines and pass them out to people. Or paste some pictures into catalogues that are several pages long leaving room to jot down ideas and have people pass them around in a group and adding new thoughts as they look at each picture. Or you might want to just have people scan magazines for pictures that evoke new thinking. There’s lots of ways to do this but the result is the same. The pictures bring out many new and different ideas
Braintickler #13 - Creativity by wandering around
I remember a workshop I was doing some years ago at Kodak where we were teaching operators how to think creatively. We had been working for a long while on various techniques and it was time for a break. It was right about the time when Tom Peters had popularized the words, managing by wandering around. I decided to give them a longer than usual break and ask them to wander around and collect new triggers and new ideas for the problem we were working on. I instructed them to go places that weren’t normal for them, look in directions they normally didn’t look, notice things they normally didn’t notice, and not to be afraid to stop and ask people along the way for their ideas. I thought it would be relaxing for them but my expectations of them coming back with some creative new thoughts wasn’t that high.
Boy was I wrong! When we all got back together the flow of ideas was like an avalanche! I remember a couple of the students that pretty much spent all their time in the vending machine area using these machines as a trigger for new ideas. And they had some great new ideas. The new ideas that come back from this process are always fresh and different and everyone seems to be re- energized in the creative thinking processes from it. I’ve done this many times and the experience has always blown me away. I find it helps to give the group a generous amount of time particularly if they are a little worn out to begin with. Also, suggesting some goals as to how many new ideas to bring back helps too.
Braintickler #14 – Planned Physical excursions
If the time is available it can be quite effective to build in a planned excursion. This might be a walk in the woods to look for metaphors and triggers from various aspects of nature. Or it might be trips to a variety of retail locations where people could observe a large number of idea triggers. It may even be a show or a movie. The idea as in all excursions is to get people out of their normal thinking boundaries, away from the problem, and into a position where they can discover some new connections. The fact that it is a physical excursion means that they have a chance for physical exercise and that helps the mental process a great deal too.
There's more on the way - stay tuned!!
The keywords here are, “I wish _______,” and, “What if ______?” Whatever your problem or opportunity is you can fill in the blanks here with anything you want. If you’re trying to design a safer light posts along the highway one of your “What ifs?” might be, “What if we could have posts that just disappear when hit?” A group actually did that once and was able to create a post that disappeared when hit. Okay, it didn’t really disappear - it just kind of disappeared. They designed one that fractured without doing a great deal of damage to the vehicle and flipped itself over the car. Do you see what this question was able to do in this case? It got them to the point of stating something that was impossible and they were able to bring it back to the point that it was kind of possible.
As an example let’s assume you are looking for new ideas for a camera. Here are just a few things that might result from our fantasizing questions.
I wish I could take a picture of what I’m thinking.
I wish I had my camera at all times.
I wish I could get a perfect picture every time.
What if the camera were a part of my body?
What if my camera told me when there was a good picture opportunity?
What if my picture was instantly transferred to my friends and family?
What if my pictures were automatically put into the appropriate albums?
Each of these triggers a new set of possibilities. The key is to pick some and expand on ways to make the fantasies come true.
Braintickler #2 Crazy Criteria
This is particularly good for developing new product enhancements and ideas but could be used for about anything. I want to thank my friend and creative hero, Sid Shore, for this one. It’s based on the thought that the end results of something we design is determined by the criteria in our minds as we proceed with the project. If we have some run of the mill criteria the chances are we’ll end up with a run of the mill end result. For example, if you’re designing a car the chances are that you’ll be driven by the following criteria:
comfort
economy
safety
attractiveness
performance
reliability
cost
There’s certainly nothing wrong with this criteria but it is a little on the dull side. Let’s look at some crazy criteria. I want a car that:
scratches my back when I drive
floats on water
expands and contracts
folds up into a briefcase
does my lawn
cooks my meals
serves as my coffin
reproduces itself
becomes an added room for my house
pilots itself
flies
pays my bills
In a group session expect a lot of wild criteria and keep pushing for even wilder ones. From this list you can take off in all directions using the criteria as springboards for generating new, crazy ideas. For example, in what ways might we create a car that expands and contracts? How might we build on the thought that a car could become a room in our house? At some point you can begin to bring it on home to reality, by taking a look at some of the crazy ideas that have some possibility, and identifying how you might make then come true.
Braintickler #3 - Rule Busting
Every problem or opportunity we work on has some rules attached. Other words for rules are paradigms, assumptions, impossibilities, guidelines, patterns, regulations, and accepted behaviors. This mind stretcher deliberately tries to break all these rules. The first step is to identify what the rules are and this is not as easy as it sounds because we often take them for granted and often don’t even know they exist.
Identify a problem or opportunity. As our example let’s consider how we might motivate people in the workplace.
What are the rules (both stated and un-stated) associated with this problem or opportunity?
People come to work each day.
Everyone has a particular job to do.
Money is their reward.
What are the assumptions we make regarding the problem?
Work is very serious.
People are excited about their work.
People are not naturally highly motivated.
What is impossible to do today in the areas associated with the opportunity that, if they were possible, would change the game?
People can’t just do what turns them on in a work environment.
Everyone can’t be working at different times.
Everyone must be rewarded in the same way.
What are the accepted behaviors for those involved in all areas of the problem?
Perform according to your job descriptions.
Do your job and don’t ask questions.
Be in your workplace at all times.
Now go back through these observations and generate as many statements as you can that break the rules. Make sure they really break the rules - we’re talking a major fracture, not just a bruise. Every time you make a rule breaking statement you should ask, “How might I break this some more?”
People can come to work anytime they want.
People can work from their homes.
Each person identifies his or her own rewards.
People can pick what job turns them on each day.
Pick some of the more interesting statements from the previous step and bring them back to reality. Ask:
Is it okay to break this rule? If not, why not?
How might we break it in a way that’s possible?
What are some alternatives to breaking it?
What other possibilities exist related to this breakage?
Braintickler #4 - Successive stages of outrageousness
For those who thrive in a group on out-doing each other this technique is heaven sent (only kidding). The idea here is to have someone suggest an outrageous (or mildly outrageous) and identify all the ways to make it more and more outrageous. As a matter of fact, maybe you don’t even need to start with outrageous. Just follow the normal brainstorming process and take a detour into insanity for each idea that comes up. By the way, this is a great deal of fun too. Let’s see if I can map out the process.
- State the problem or opportunity.
- Each person generates as many ideas as they can.
- Each person in the group states an idea that rather excites them.
- The group begins to raise the level of outrageousness by asking successively: How can this idea be made more outrageous? Take it to the limit. The last idea in this series should be the epitome of total ridiculousness.
- Start with another person’s idea and raise its level of outrageousness and continue as before.
- End the exercise when all participants are either asleep or nearly brain dead.
Braintickler #5 – Getting fired
Most of us try to keep our thinking on the straight and narrow most of the time because we like the idea of keeping our job. After all, suggesting some really weird possibilities could just put you on the short list in the eyes of your boss. So let’s just change the goals of your group a little. Their goal is to suggest enough things that are so stupid, and so outrageous that it will get them fired. Let’s really see if we can bring this outfit down! You could build a veritable contest to see who can get fired first by suggesting the greatest number of totally ridiculous ideas. Warning – make sure this is truly a safe situation for people. Remember that the object is to get people to really stretch their thinking to places it’s never been so that you can come back to possibilities that you can make happen. This process can be a lot of fun. When’s the last time you had a chance to get fired at work and could let it all out like this?
Braintickler #6 - Word Blenders
One of the most successful techniques I’ve used in past ideation sessions involves various techniques using random words. Just pick words out of a dictionary, magazines, or other handy sources. They don’t need to have any particular connection to your problem. As a matter of fact, the less connected ones are often better idea stimulators. Write these words on chart paper or, even better, on small pieces of paper. If they are on small pieces of paper mix them up and put them in a container. Everyone in the group then randomly picks 3 or so words and uses these words as idea stimulators. What does the word make you think of? If you combine the words in various ways what does that make you think of? What possibilities do these new thoughts trigger? Pass the words around within the group for further stimulation or take some new ones from the blender. Substitute words in the problem statement with some of your new words. Think of the opposites or of synonyms of the words and identify new thoughts that are triggered. Twist, bend, stretch, compress, and alter these words any way you see fit. If you torture them enough they will confess to their hidden secrets.
Braintickler#7 - Rhyming
I first saw this technique used at a conference on creative techniques. For the life of me I can’t remember who the originator was or I would give credit. If you were the originator, let me know and I’ll give you my first born great grand child. It involves taking two or three words from the problem statement and then creating lists of rhyming words from each of them. When you can’t think of a rhyming word then create a bridge of some sort to another series (a similar item, reversal, opposite, backwards etc.). It’s a quick, fun way to generate a bunch of words that have an interesting connection to your base problem. It’s harder to explain than it is to do so here’s an example.
Problem: In what ways might we really turn people on in their jobs?
Turn – burn – fern – learn – teach (reversal) – beach – peach – breach - reach
Jobs – mobs – slobs – blobs – globs – clogs – frogs – smog – smoke (similar) – poke – woke
You may wonder what this can all have to do with turning someone on in their job. Well, that’s what creativity is all about. These words take us off into another direction, another mindset. Now the task is to see if we can force fit them back to our problem. What new thoughts are stimulated by peaches, frogs, blobs, and poking?
Braintickler #8 - First Thoughts
This technique generates several banks of words based on what you first think of when you hear key words in the problem or opportunity statement. It has the ability to generate many words quickly that, for some strange reason, have creative connections to the base statement. Take a key word from the statement and ask everyone what other word first comes to mind. Then take one of the most intriguing of these words, and ask the same question. Repeat it again with a new, intriguing word from the new list. I find it most useful to chart these words in columns on a chart pad. The next step is to have each person select 3-4 words from these new lists and create new ideas based on thoughts triggered by them.
Let’s say that the word, organize, was a keyword in the problem statement. Here’s how the generation of word might unfold (bold words are the selected ones for generating new first thoughts). What does organize make you think of?
Crime
Accountants
Desks
Files
Neat
Teamwork
Alphabetic Teachers
Dictionaries
Phone books
Children Schoolrooms
IPads
Encyclopedias
Diapers Learning
Small
Expensive
Energized
Screaming
Hungry
Smelly
Disposable
Avoid
Impenetrable
White
Pins
Pales
Now you have some new words that have an interesting link to the problem but are far enough away to create some new ideas.
Braintickler #9 - Stimulus Analysis Approach
The Battelle Institute developed this technique and I've found it particularly useful for creating new thinking for hardware type problems. It uses a series of stimulus words developed by the group and uses the characteristics of these as stepping stones to form ideas. Let’s look at an example problem.
How might we warn press operators when their hands are in danger of being caught as the press closes?
Have the group develop a list on 10 concrete items that are unrelated to the problem. For example:
Desk
Table Lamp
Lawn Mower
Football team
Television
Motorcycle
Restaurant
Refrigerator
Movie Theater
Hotel
Select one of the terms and have the group break it down into its descriptive characteristics (structures, principles, and specific details). Breaking the lamp down into characteristic might include:
Uses electricity
Emits light
Generates heat
Clicks when turned on
The group then analyzes each of these characteristics one by one to identify possible solutions to the original problem.
Apply a mild shock to operator as a warning.
Use a photoelectric cell to trip switch.
Use temperature-sensing cell to detect heat from hands.
Have press emit a loud clicking sound at a certain point.
After enough creative ideas are generated, select a new stimulus and repeat the process. Do this for all ten items identified.
Braintickler #10 – Changing the Verbs
A very simple method for stimulating ideas is to look at the key verbs in the problem statement and develop as many similar words as you can for these,. For example, assume the group was working on the problem:
In what ways might we better distribute our product?
The group might take a closer look at the word distribute. Some words that convey the same meaning might include, give away, deal, hand out, disperse, dispense, deliver, bestow, administer, circulate, etc. These new verbs could then be used as stepping stones for new ideas. Free association or analogies formed on these new words could add some new directions to their ideas.
Braintickler #11
Catalogues and magazines The use of catalogues or magazines has the power to trigger some really different thinking. Keep a good inventory of these to use in ideation sessions because they never fail to stimulate new ideas. The biggest problem is to keep people out of the shopping mode. Get as creative as you want in terms of the process used. Here are a couple of ways I’ve use catalogues and magazines.
Hand out catalogues randomly to everyone in the group. Ask people to randomly open their catalogues to a page and tell you something they see. Make sure they understand that these don’t have to have an immediate connection to the problem or opportunity being worked on. Otherwise they will be screening the trigger words before they verbalize them. Write these objects on a piece of chart paper and do it until you have a chart full of objects. Then ask people to write down new ideas for whatever problem you are working on based on these particular objects and the things they make you think of. Repeat this several times with new words as necessary.
Here’s a more interactive option that really gets people moving around and is lots of fun. Have people select an intriguing item from their catalogue and write in on a medium size post-it note. This post-it note is then placed on their forehead and everyone walks around to see what others have. Each person writes down one of more new ideas that the items trigger for them as they walk around checking everyone else out. There is something about walking around and staring at people who have sticky notes on their forehead that creates a bit of a different environment and it’s a lot of fun to boot. When everyone is finished track all the new ideas and any that build from them.
Braintickler #12 - Stimulation
I find that some of my most creative thinking takes place on road trips. Somehow the stimulus provided from the ever-changing scenery is very powerful. Unfortunately it’s a little hard to take a group on a road trip to get them thinking differently. So what you do is to bring the road trip to them. I used a collection of slides with a variety of pictures that have the power to take people on some wonderful trips. It’s important to use slides with a wide range of themes and even include some that are perhaps just outright weird. The idea is to look at these pictures for 3-4 minutes each and write down the thoughts that come to your mind. What do these pictures make you think of? Don’t worry about defining a clear connection to the problem yet – just write down anything that comes to mind. After looking at several pictures and the noting the thoughts they illicit, have each person spend several minutes identifying new possibilities that connect to the problem or opportunity being worked on. You’ll be surprised at the amount, and the creativity of the results.
So you don’t happen to have a bunch of hand selected slides for this exercise? Just cut out some picture from some magazines and pass them out to people. Or paste some pictures into catalogues that are several pages long leaving room to jot down ideas and have people pass them around in a group and adding new thoughts as they look at each picture. Or you might want to just have people scan magazines for pictures that evoke new thinking. There’s lots of ways to do this but the result is the same. The pictures bring out many new and different ideas
Braintickler #13 - Creativity by wandering around
I remember a workshop I was doing some years ago at Kodak where we were teaching operators how to think creatively. We had been working for a long while on various techniques and it was time for a break. It was right about the time when Tom Peters had popularized the words, managing by wandering around. I decided to give them a longer than usual break and ask them to wander around and collect new triggers and new ideas for the problem we were working on. I instructed them to go places that weren’t normal for them, look in directions they normally didn’t look, notice things they normally didn’t notice, and not to be afraid to stop and ask people along the way for their ideas. I thought it would be relaxing for them but my expectations of them coming back with some creative new thoughts wasn’t that high.
Boy was I wrong! When we all got back together the flow of ideas was like an avalanche! I remember a couple of the students that pretty much spent all their time in the vending machine area using these machines as a trigger for new ideas. And they had some great new ideas. The new ideas that come back from this process are always fresh and different and everyone seems to be re- energized in the creative thinking processes from it. I’ve done this many times and the experience has always blown me away. I find it helps to give the group a generous amount of time particularly if they are a little worn out to begin with. Also, suggesting some goals as to how many new ideas to bring back helps too.
Braintickler #14 – Planned Physical excursions
If the time is available it can be quite effective to build in a planned excursion. This might be a walk in the woods to look for metaphors and triggers from various aspects of nature. Or it might be trips to a variety of retail locations where people could observe a large number of idea triggers. It may even be a show or a movie. The idea as in all excursions is to get people out of their normal thinking boundaries, away from the problem, and into a position where they can discover some new connections. The fact that it is a physical excursion means that they have a chance for physical exercise and that helps the mental process a great deal too.
There's more on the way - stay tuned!!