Combinations 141
Related Activities
- Bi-Wordal [22]
- Combo Chatter [24]
Procedure
- Distribute the handout, review it with the participants, and answer any questions
they may have. - Have groups write down their challenges on the top of a flip chart and underline
a verb and a noun (typically the objective, but it doesn’t have to be). If possible
have them use a different colored marker for the underline. - Tell them to switch the verb and noun and use the combination to suggest ideas.
For instance, a challenge to improve spotty customer service might be restated as:
“servicing spotty customers.” This then might suggest an idea of concentrating
service on infrequent customers. - Tell them to write down any ideas on Post-it®Notes (one idea per note) and place
them on flip charts for evaluation.
Debrief/Discussion
A major limitation of this exercise is its reliance on only the verb and the noun in a prob-
lem challenge statement. It might be more advantageous to experiment with different
verbs and nouns. Nevertheless, because the word combinations typically are unique jux-
tapositions, the potential exists for unique ideas as well. This exercise also involves rela-
tively little time, so that is another factor in its favor.
Also consider having participants debrief using the following questions:- What was most helpful about this exercise?
- What was most challenging?
- What can we apply?
- How would you rate the value of this exercise to helping us with this issue?
- Will this exercise be helpful in the future for other sessions?
- What did you learn?
- What will we be able to use from this exercise?
- What ideas were generated, and which ones were most interesting?
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