101 Activities For Teaching Creativity And Problem Solving

Altered States Handout

Suppose you want to generate cereal product ideas. First, list bizarre, wild, altered states:

• When is the product or service consumed or purchased?
  Response 1: In the bathtub
  Response 2: When the user craves vampire blood
  Response 3: When the user is rolling on the floor


• Why is the product or service consumed or purchased?
  Response 1: To alleviate boredom
  Response 2: To cure cancer
  Response 3: To impress the neighbors


• Where is the product or service consumed or purchased?
  Response 1: In Martian vending machines
  Response 2: In public restrooms
  Response 3: In butcher shops


• What components, ingredients, or elements make up the product or service?
  Response 1: Silly Putty
  Response 2: Light bulbs
  Response 3: Bricks

If you received this list of responses, it might help you think of such ideas as:

• Cereal boxes shaped like bathtubs


• Cereal shaped like blood clots to “gross out” children


• Designer cereal boxes with snob appeal


• Cereal sold in vending machines


• Meat-flavored cereal that doubles as pet food


• Transparent cereal boxes


• Cereal boxes that, when empty, can be used as molds for bricks to build homes for the
  homeless

358 101 Activities for Teaching Creativity and Problem Solving

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

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