101 Activities For Teaching Creativity And Problem Solving

81. As Easy As 6–3–5

Background

As Easy As 6–3–5, originally known as Method 6–3–5 (VanGundy, 1988), is a very basic

brainwriting procedure that structures how people interact and generate ideas. There are

at least three versions of this activity, so you get three activities in one! You may want to

read through all of the versions to choose the one that would work best with your situa-

tion.

John Warfield and his colleagues (1975) developed the first version of this activity;

German creativity consultant Horst Geschka and his associates (1981) developed the sec-

ond (Some claim it is the first brainwriting method); the third version was originated by

creativity consultants in Germany and Holland and then developed further by University

of Manchester (U.K.) business professor Tudor Rickards (1974). It is similar to the other

versions except that it is slightly more structured and no time limit is imposed.

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 six 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

Time

20 minutes

330 101 Activities for Teaching Creativity and Problem Solving

101 Activities for Teaching Creativity and Problem Solving.Copyright © 2005 by John Wiley &

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