101 Activities For Teaching Creativity And Problem Solving

Ticklers: Related and Unrelated Stimuli 87

101 Activities for Teaching Creativity and Problem Solving.Copyright © 2005 by John Wiley &

Sons, Inc. Reproduced by permission of Pfeiffer, an Imprint of Wiley. http://www.pfeiffer.com

Idea Shopping Handout

Tips

• Don’t spend all your time in one department. Choose stimulation from a variety of
  areas.


• Stores are such rich sources of stimulation that they can be overwhelming. Don’t try
  to take in too much. Instead, focus your attention as much as possible on things that
  interest you.

To illustrate Idea Shopping, suppose you are trying to reduce employee theft at your

organization. You’ve tried asking the employees not to steal, but you haven’t been suc-

cessful. It’s time to develop more creative ideas.

You head for your local Roof-Mart. After cruising the parking lot looking for a space,

you finally find a spot near the garden department entrance. You begin to browse, and

you spot a garden hose. Aha!

• Idea:Hide video cameras inside the overhead sprinklers. Connect the sprinklers to a
  water tank containing ammonia. If a security guard spots someone stealing some-
  thing, the sprinklers automatically go off, spraying the thief’s eyes with ammonia.
  (The thief will hate it when that happens!)

You continue browsing and notice that there are two rows of checkout stands, stag-

gered in position to permit passage.

• Idea:Install two sets of motion detectors, one near the entrance of a storage room and
  the other inside the room. The first set serves as a silent alarm to notify you that some-
  one is trying to enter; the second lets you know if the person enters the room.

You then walk down an aisle and see flashlights.

• Idea:Install airport x-ray machines at all organization exits.

After looking at the flashlights, you turn a corner and see an employee restocking

shelves while standing on a ladder.

• Idea:Require that employees order all supplies by computer with a user ID. Employ-
  ees may pick up supplies only after the computer ID has been checked and matched
  to the particular supplies.

05 VG 77-118b 10/5/04 5:05 PM Page 87