101 Activities For Teaching Creativity And Problem Solving

Turn Around Handout

Assume you are the president of a bank and want to attract new customers. You might list the following assumptions:

Potential customers have money.

Placing money in the bank satisfies security needs.

Many potential customers are confused by banking procedures.

Banks lend money to make money.

People have to wait in line to get money.

When you withdraw your money, it is not really the same money you deposited origi-
nally.

Banks keep money in vaults.

Next, reverse these assumptions as shown in the following examples:

Potential customers have no money.

Putting money in the bank makes people insecure.

Potential customers all are knowledgeable bankers.

Banks lend money to lose money.

People never have to wait to get money.

Banks keep money in the open.

Finally, use these reversals to suggest ideas:

Emphasize the lowest interest loans in town.

Stress security measures taken to protect the customers’ money.

Develop commercials showing the professional expertise of the bank’s officers and
staff.

Give customers who recruit other customers a higher interest rate.

Offer home ATMs.

Place a see-through bank vault door in the center of the bank.

Grab Bag: Miscellaneous Activities 227

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