Thinking Outside the Bag
Part 2
II. PAIRS INTERVIEWS (30 Min.)
Now ask the participants to pair up with someone they don’t know well and ask them to interview each other about their answers to the above questions. Allow 15 minutes for each of the two interviews.
III. GROUP DISCUSSION (15 Min.)
Bring the full group of participants together to discuss their answers to the interview questions:
1. What are some examples of shining moments of creativity in this group?
2. What obstacles did you face in your most creative moment & how did you overcome them?
3. What did you personally do to make the creative solution possible?
4. How can you deal with obstacles in the future?
5. What creative challenges are you currently facing in your work?
IV. GROUP BRAINSTORMING ACTIVITY (20 Min.)
There’s an old saying that “two heads are better than one.” And more heads are even better! When dealing with a problem or challenge on our own, we can often get stuck in old patterns of thinking. By involving others in a group problem-solving session, we open ourselves up to new ideas and perspectives on the challenge, and increase the likelihood of coming up with an innovative solution.
The technique of brainstorming allows groups to get everyone’s ideas on the table for consideration, without evaluating them, as a jumping-off point for group discussion. The trainer or facilitator asks for spontaneous ideas and suggestions on the topic at hand, and either charts them or asks for a volunteer to record them on a chart. (Don’t forget to allow the recorder to contribute his/her ideas, as well.) After everyone’s contributions have been made, the group can then begin the process of prioritizing and narrowing down the list of ideas. You should begin the brainstorming process by asking the group members to agree on a few simple guidelines:
Brainstorming Guidelines:
• Don’t Judge
There are no “bad” ideas! Don’t evaluate each other’s ideas, and don’t censor your own ideas. Repetition of ideas is okay.
• Be Creative
Anything goes! Every contribution is worthwhile—even weird, way-out ideas, even confusing ideas, and especially silly ideas.
• Go for Quantity
Try to generate as many ideas as possible. Later, the group can narrow them down.
• “Piggyback” on Others’ Ideas
Listen carefully to each other’s ideas and allow them to “spark” new ideas for you.
Engage the participants in a group brainstorming session, to identify a single work challenge for which they would like to find a creative solution, and on which the group will focus in the next activity. If participants are all from the same organization, they will need to focus on one challenge currently facing their organization. If they are from different organizations, they will need to reach consensus on an issue of relevance to all of them.
1. First, have the participants generate as many issues as possible for 5 minutes, without editing or disputing any of the ideas, and record the ideas on chart paper.
2. Next, ask the participants to decide individually which of the challenges identified they feel is the most pressing, or which do they currently want to focus on?
3. Give each participant 3 adhesive dots, all the same color. Each participant uses his/her 3 dots to “vote” for the challenge(s) he/she feels are most important, by placing his/her dots on the chart paper, next to the issue(s) chosen. They can vote for 3 separate challenges, or put all 3 dots on 1 challenge, or split them between 2 challenges.
4. If no one challenge clearly receives the most dots, then repeat the dot voting process, using one dot (of a contrasting color) and one vote per person this time. The goal is to identify a single challenge of greatest importance to the group.