Creativity and Thinking Game - Detailing

This game is designed using maim as a technique and would be useful for a group of 20 participants.

Objective: To encourage participants to use imagination and creativity to think of details related to a given situation

Preparation: Make paper slips, each carrying 2 topics written on it like....

Paper Slip 1 - Riding a bicycle & Riding a bicycle uphill

Paper Slip 2 - Taking photographs & Taking war photographs

Steps:

1. Divide the group into smaller groups of 4.
2. Then one by one ask two members from each group to come and pick a slip, they have to maim both the topics given on the slip, one topic by each volunteer.
3. The other members of their group are supposed to watch them and identify the topics.
4. The same thing can be repeated for any number of rounds.

Expected outcome of the game: The participants are forced to imagine and include more details while they are maiming. The difference between a normal maim act and this is that it gives more room for the mind to evaluate options to create multiple perceptions while including more details into the act.

Creativity and Thinking Game - Respond to Random Stimuli

This game uses random pictures as stimulus and would be useful for a group of 20 participants.

Objective: To encourage faster thinking and creativity through dynamic stimulus received from 2 different sources.

Preparation: Choose pictures which have a theme, it should not be pictures of individuals. Allocate at least 5 random pictures per group.

Trainer’s narration to the audience: A picture will appear on the screen and one of your team members has to come and start a story with the picture as stimuli. He will speak to the audience with his back to the screen. After a minute I will change the picture on the screen without informing the speaker. The speaker is not allowed to look back to see the new picture. The other members of his group have to link the story to the new random picture. As soon as someone from the team volunteers to continue he can stop the present speaker and replace him. This will continue with 5 different pictures for the same group. The next group will see a different set of pictures.

Steps:

1. Divide the group into smaller groups of 4.
2. Show one picture on the screen.
3. Call one member from a group and make him stand facing the audience, and then ask him to start a story with the picture as stimuli.
4. After a minute change the picture on the screen without informing the speaker.
5. Then let the game take its course

Expected outcome of the game: The participants face enormous challenge of quick idea generation, receiving stimulus from the speaker’s story and the picture, and then linking both of them to create a new story line. This is in harmony with basic objective of creative thinking – To explore and think out of the box quickly.

The natural preservative,Bisin,could lead to poverty alleviation

1.3 billion tonnes of food are wasted every year when 50% of the world population sleeps without adequate nutrition. I was searching for an answer which can evolve into a better solution for poverty alleviation and luckily got a probable solution. Scientists in the University of Minnesota has discovered a natural preservative called Bisin which can keep food fresh for years.

I would recon it as a revolutionary discovery because it not only prevents rotting of food but could also give us a hope that billions of people living in poverty could be benefited. There are several benefits which I could think of:

1. The natural preservative can reduce food borne diseases among people living in unhealthy conditions. Most of them are earn daily wages and could afford to buy food for that day. In case of excess they have to throw it away or eat it in a half rotten condition the next day. Bisin will act as the low cost refrigerator for them.
2. The reduction in food wastage will lead to lesser consumption which in turn will reduce the price of food products. Food products will become affordable for the poor; they will live a healthy life and earn more. The reduction in consumption by the affluent class will get compensated by more consumers climbing up from the bottom of the pyramid. Overall the economy gains, thanks to the natural preservative – Bisin.
3. Imagine the amount of resources like water, electricity and fuel that would have been used to produce 1.3 billion tonnes of food. Add logistics and other costs to it, the amount would be mind boggling. Everything can change overnight, the world could save so much of energy and resources which can slowly percolate to the poverty stricken people and give them a better life.

Use Combination to generate new ideas

Any two or more things can be combined to get a product with enhanced features like a mobile phone with camera and MP3 player. This is the most widely used technique for creative thinking and product development. Many products of daily use are simple examples of combination. A pencil and an eraser, a music player cum recorder, a watch with a compass are all simple examples of combination.

We can have two different approaches. Either we work on a problem statement and try out various combinations or try combining different products to stimulate our imagination to create a new product.

What if we combine a sports shoe with a mini weighing machine to create an exciting product? What could be its impact on the buyers? Weight displaying shoes would certainly be a bold thing to wear; many would want to flaunt their weight as a style statement while others might reduce a few kilos to get into the shoe. The shoe might soon become an aspiration for the youth.

Poseidon Resort in Fiji combined underwater experience with a resort. It is the world’s first underwater resort which offers exciting adventures with luxury accommodation. Combine tree with hotel. There are many such hotels built on trees in different parts of the world, one such hotel is in Okinawa, Japan.

A fifth standard student came up with an idea of combining grass, leaves, and flowers with shoes. Perishable natural shoes could be used by ladies for special occasions, maybe for a special dinner or marriage evening. Imagination does not have any boundaries.