15 great creativity activities

15 great creativity activities

(Not the nine-dot problem again!)Dr. Ricardo Sosa <[email protected]>

1. Routine is o.k.The very first question you need to ask yourself or your team is “what must be left the same?”(This will let you focus on what really needs to be changed)

Dr. Ricardo Sosa <[email protected]>

2. PermissionAvoid intuition, transcend deduction/induction, understand then break the rules, do not expect inspiration, step over boundaries, be foolish, embrace ambiguity, pick a fight, make mistakes, work hard… give yourself and others permission!


3. MetaphorsGrab today’s newspaper and find 3 metaphors. Most go unnoticed, so pay attention. Then build yourself 3 metaphors about your problem. You will know that this works when your analogies help you reframe your problem.


4. RandomnessUse randomness to go beyond intuition and commonsense. You may grab words at random from a newspaper and do something interesting like use them to rephrase your problem or the company’s vision. Build a random list of words and use them as triggers.


5. ParadoxesA paradox is an apparently contradictory statement that leads to a situation which seems to defy logic or intuition. They are a great way to twist your thinking about the problem at hand. Discuss famous paradoxes, then find a paradoxical aspect of your problem or company


6. ThesaurusWords are powerful, polysemic, have rich connections and unexpected connotations when combined or modified. Use a thesaurus to redefine your problem.


7. Try out ideasPaper and pencil are great to imagine ideas, but they are terrible liars. Leave your desk and try out your ideas: ask and observe people, build models, run quick implementations. If you do this right, your idea will necessarily change.


8. Say stupid thingsOnce in a while, warn people that the next thing you will say is “really stupid”, then go ahead and say what you really think. This little trick has a few effects: it removes pressure, gives you license to say anything, disrupts commonsense, and possibly can be analysed later for its actual merit or can be combined with other ideas.


9. MixCombine half-baked* ideas, join different trains of thought*. Bring together concepts from distant fields. If your brainstorming session seems like a competition, end it. If it feels like a jigsaw puzzle where the picture emerges from the contribution of everyone, you are on the right track.


* Here are some metaphors for free

10. Talk to strangersFind strangers to discuss your problem: literally, people you don’t know, or people from different fields, young children, minorities, etc. Look for people who are willing to build analogies to their expertise and ask them to rephrase your problem in their own terms –listen carefully.


11. Cultivate diversityApply this in your team: include different profiles (sp. academic disciplines or professions). Apply it in your life: become interested in a wide range of things, learn languages, travel, read. Pick up a magazine you’ve never opened and read it carefully to learn one new thing about your problem. Dr. Ricardo Sosa <[email protected]>

12. Pursue counter-intuitionAvoid choosing “consensus” ideas, go for the controversial or those dismissed quickly. Pick them up and analyse their worth: it’s there, it’s just probably not easy to grasp.


13. Sacrifice a sacred cowSelect the most “sacred” idea around the problem or the company. Then question it, trash it, reverse it, dismiss it. This works when it reveals an insight about the problem. Usually sacred beliefs made sense in the past but conditions change.


14. Never become an expert Experience is valuable, except when you trust it. Always question previous experiences and never, ever, think of yourself as an expert. Experts believe they shouldn’t learn anything, and believe me… we are all ignorant!


15. Avoid creativity booksOr websites, or experts. Become creative about your own creativity. Adapt techniques to your context, better yet invent new ones that work for you.


15 great creativity activities

Education