101 Activities For Teaching Creativity And Problem Solving

48. We Have Met the Problem and It Is We

Background

A primary counseling skill is empathy—the ability to see and feel something from anoth-

er’s perspective. Some people say we can’t really understand how others feel about some-

thing unless we can walk in their shoes and see the world with their eyes. “Change

perspectives and you change understanding” is a principle that underlies many idea gen-

eration activities and applies especially well to this one.

Try to become our problems and we’ll create new perspectives that may help spark

new ideas. Of course, we can’t literally become our problems. We can, however, bring life

to our problems and alter how we see them. For this reason, We Have Met the Enemy and

It Is We (with a nod to cartoonist Walt Kelly and his Pogo character) will probably work

best with problems involving inanimate objects. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try it

with people problems; it just may not be as effective.

Objectives

• To help participants generate as many creative ideas as possible


• To help participants learn how to use the activities to generate ideas

Participants

Small groups of four to seven people each

Materials, Supplies, and Equipment

• For each group: markers, two flip charts, and masking tape for posting flip-chart
  sheets


• For each participant: one sheet each of three different colors of sticking dots
  (^1 ⁄ 2 ” diameter) and one pad of 4 x 6 Post-it®Notes

Handout

• We Have Met the Problem and It Is We Handout

Free Association Activities: “Blue Skies” 211

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