101 Activities For Teaching Creativity And Problem Solving

9. Tell the group members they should affirm individually this final definition and
   feel that a consensus has been reached.

Problem Solution

1. Tell group members to write potential solutions to the problem on index cards
   (one idea per card).


2. Have someone in each group collect and redistribute the cards among the group
   members so that no one receives his or her original card.


3. Instruct the groups to have one person read one card aloud.


4. Tell the group members to look over the solutions on their cards and select the
   ones related to the solution just read. Have the members share these related solu-
   tions and use them to build solution-set card piles.


5. Have the groups name each set and place a name card on it.


6. Instruct them to continue this process (Steps 3 through 5) until an all-inclusive
   solution set is achieved.


7. Emphasize that the essence of this final solution should incorporate all the previ-
   ous solutions and capture the essence of all the solutions.


8. Ask, “What is the essence of the properties and characteristics that are indispens-
   able to these ideas? Use your answers to this question to trigger new ideas.”


9. Encourage the groups to select and combine the best suggestions into a final solu-
   tion set, writing the ideas on Post-it®Notes (one idea per note) and placing them
   on flip-chart paper for evaluation.

Debrief/Discussion

This can be a powerful exercise because it exploits the close interplay between problem

elements and eventual solutions. That is, the more a problem is understood by gathering

and analyzing facts, the more likely a solution is to emerge. A well-defined problem is a

solved problem. For instance, if a group discusses what they know about a problem, they

are exploring its different facets that lead to different perspectives, which, in turn, can

result in solutions popping up. Thus, Rice Storm provides a structured way to explore a

problem prior to focusing on idea generation. This relationship between problems and

solutions could provide an interesting discussion topic for the groups.

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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