101 Activities For Teaching Creativity And Problem Solving

5. Tell them to draw a box or other more appropriate shape around this concern. For
   instance, if your concern is employee tardiness, you might draw a clock around
   the problem statement.


6. Direct them to draw a line about four inches long, extending from one side of the
   central shape, and write a related word on the line.


7. Say, “Depending on what you think of next, (a) draw another line extending from
   the central shape, or (b) draw a line related to a subtopic (or subattribute) for the
   first line.”


8. Tell them to continue drawing lines and adding topics until they have run out of
   ideas.


9. Tell them to write down these ideas on Post-it®Notes (one idea per note) and
   place them on flip charts for evaluation.

Debrief/Discussion

Brain Mapping is an internationally popular idea generation technique for both individu-

als and groups. It is visually very appealing and quite functional with respect to how the

human brain thinks in branches, not in rigid outline format.

Have 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?

Variation

• Assign two groups to brainstorm ideas on the same challenge. Have one group use
  Brain Mapping and the other a conventional outline form. Compare results and reac-
  tions when finished and discuss reasons for any differences. Ask group members to
  discuss what difference word choices might have on the outcome. How different
  would the results have been if other words had been used? It is possible that different
  words or branches would not have made any significant difference if there were a
  large number of words and branches. Ask the participants if they think that conclu-
  sion is valid.

Free Association Activities: “Blue Skies” 171

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

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