101 Activities For Teaching Creativity And Problem Solving

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

Sons, Inc. Reproduced by permission of Pfeiffer, an Imprint of Wiley. http://www.pfeiffer.com

Handout

• Osborn Question Check List


• Bend It, Shape It Handout

Time

30 minutes

Related Activities

• PICLed Brains [16]

Procedure

1. Distribute one Osborn Question Check List and one Bend It, Shape It Handout to
   each participant, review them with the participants, and answer any questions
   they may have.


2. Have the groups practice using the check list using a challenge of their choice or
   one common to all groups.


3. Encourage the participants to generate at least one idea for each of the words on
   the check list.


4. Ask each group to share two or three of their ideas.


5. Tell them to write down any ideas on Post-it®Notes (one idea per note) and place
   them on flip charts for evaluation.

Debrief/Discussion

Participants don’t have to limit their ideas to those prompted by Osborn’s list. Any

changes will do. They can change color, shape, smell, cost, design, texture, timing, and so

forth. The possible changes are limited only by their imagination.

Ask the participants to discuss whether the check list hindered idea generation in any

way or if it facilitated it. Have them discuss their responses, especially why the check list

hindered or facilitated their brainstorming. Also, consider having participants debrief

using the following questions:

• What was most helpful about this exercise?


• What was most challenging?


• What can we apply in our work?


• 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?

Basic Idea Generation: “No-Brainers” 41

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