Creativity Exercise: Idea Generation

Purpose

This is a fun interactive exercise which encourages delegates to become more creative when generating ideas or solutions. In particular, it helps the delegates to understand the nature of random thinking in creative tasks and learn how to exploit it. This activity also works well as a team building exercise as it enables participants to work together in achieving results.

Objective

Delegates to come up with new and innovative ideas using different sources.

What You Need

• A selection of gossip magazines, broadsheet newspapers, promotional catalogues and leaflets
• Scissors and glue for each team
• A sheet of flipchart paper

Setup

• Divide the group into teams of 3 to 4 people.
• Explain to delegates that they are expected to use the resources available to them (in this case magazines and leaflets) to produce an advertisement for a product of their choice.
• Distribute the resources, scissors, glue and flipchart papers to the teams.
• Allocate 10 minutes for teams to use the text and pictures in the magazines and newspapers to come up with an advertisement. This advertisement must have image(s) and at least be 2 sentences long. They can use the scissors and glue to stick their new materials on the flipchart paper.
• At the end of 10 minutes, collect the flipchart papers and stick them to the wall or a board.
• Follow with a discussion.

Timing

Explaining the Test: 5 minutes.

Activity: 10 minutes

Group Feedback: 10 minutes.

Discussion

Ask the delegates if some words or images helped to generate better ideas? What was most helpful about this exercise? Does randomness of content available help to come up with new ideas?

Comments

By SANJAY KAPOOR @ Sunday, August 1, 2010 7:34 PM

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