help! I need to make people more creative
Discussion
Here's the deal.
I need to run a brainstorming type session in a few weeks at work, but I want to do something a bit different.
Basically the victims are all engineers / senior managers with an engineering / accountancy background, so thinking out of the box isn't always going to happen....
can anyone suggest a different way of doing this, other than just cramming them in a room and telling them to be creative?!
I need to run a brainstorming type session in a few weeks at work, but I want to do something a bit different.
Basically the victims are all engineers / senior managers with an engineering / accountancy background, so thinking out of the box isn't always going to happen....
can anyone suggest a different way of doing this, other than just cramming them in a room and telling them to be creative?!
$£100 prize for the most stupid idea in the morning. a £100 prize for the most likely to work idea in the afternoon.
Have a set of MOP's for the issue.
Put them in teams and pit them against each other.
Done a few of these things. I used to do Design for assembly consultancy and we had a team competition who could design the product with the least B parts.
On one they went from 36 parts in current production and a cost of £7 each to a Concept with 6 parts which after it was productionised was 9 parts (you have to back off the impossible) and £2.50.
I heard that as a reward the company outsourced the new version to eastern Europe, for £1.20 and made the whole lot redundent. LOL
Have a set of MOP's for the issue.
Put them in teams and pit them against each other.
Done a few of these things. I used to do Design for assembly consultancy and we had a team competition who could design the product with the least B parts.
On one they went from 36 parts in current production and a cost of £7 each to a Concept with 6 parts which after it was productionised was 9 parts (you have to back off the impossible) and £2.50.
I heard that as a reward the company outsourced the new version to eastern Europe, for £1.20 and made the whole lot redundent. LOL
NDT said:
Here's the deal.
I need to run a brainstorming type session in a few weeks at work, but I want to do something a bit different.
Basically the victims are all engineers / senior managers with an engineering / accountancy background, so thinking out of the box isn't always going to happen....
can anyone suggest a different way of doing this, other than just cramming them in a room and telling them to be creative?!
Sounds like just the sort of thing I've set up and run in the plast. If you woudl like to email me a few more details, I'll see what materials I have to hand that might be of use.
NDT said:
Here's the deal.
I need to run a brainstorming type session in a few weeks at work, but I want to do something a bit different.
Basically the victims are all engineers / senior managers with an engineering / accountancy background, so thinking out of the box isn't always going to happen....
can anyone suggest a different way of doing this, other than just cramming them in a room and telling them to be creative?!
i can recommend - www.unique-results.com/index.asp?page=Home - it is a business owned by a friend of mine, but objectively i know they do an excellent job.
ttfn
minimax said:
shirley "build a smaller box"? or have I the smelly end of the stick?
Give me the dimensions and I'll make one, from steel, wood, bricks, cardboard and in a few weeks, hopefully Aluminium or stainless after a TiG session!!
Why do I keep on getting dragged into these posts?
NDT said:
Here's the deal.
I need to run a brainstorming type session in a few weeks at work, but I want to do something a bit different.
Basically the victims are all engineers / senior managers with an engineering / accountancy background, so thinking out of the box isn't always going to happen....
can anyone suggest a different way of doing this, other than just cramming them in a room and telling them to be creative?!
tell them if they can be creatively cleverer than you, they can have your job, assuming one doesn't have to be creative to do it, after all they are only engineers/ senior managers, etc...
lunarscope said:
It's no good simply putting people in a room and calling that a 'brainstorming' session.
Get them all stoned first.
Do not follow this advice!!!
(all you will end up with is a shopping list for munchies followed by a vote as to who has to go to the all night garage to get then, see Ali G film)
rude-boy said:
It's no good simply putting people in a room and calling that a 'brainstorming' session.
Get them all stoned first.
Do not follow this advice!!!
(all you will end up with is a shopping list for munchies followed by a vote as to who has to go to the all night garage to get then, see Ali G film)
You'll also end up with:
a) The answer to the meaning of life.
b) A solution to all the troubles in the world.
From experience, there are long term and short term ways of doing this (I too have done this sort of thing for a living).
If you have no time, the fastest way to get the sort of results you're looking for is to get them to do the workshop in full fancy dress. Then they have to come up with ideas that the person they're dressed as might make - for example, a cowboy might decide that a better engineering strategy would be to use rawhide in the construction (because it's light, natural, ecological and as just as strong as steel in a particular application). You can hire the costumes if you like and get them to pick their own.
The best way is not to tell them they're dressing up beforehand. Days like this are not for the office - non-participants take the pi$$. Get a hotel conference room.
I promise you, you get instant creativity because people are no longer who they are day to day, but are 'allowed' to be someone else... and to make mistakes without being criticised personally - it's the character that's being addressed, not the person.
>> Edited by Bruce Fielding on Friday 25th February 15:25
If you have no time, the fastest way to get the sort of results you're looking for is to get them to do the workshop in full fancy dress. Then they have to come up with ideas that the person they're dressed as might make - for example, a cowboy might decide that a better engineering strategy would be to use rawhide in the construction (because it's light, natural, ecological and as just as strong as steel in a particular application). You can hire the costumes if you like and get them to pick their own.
The best way is not to tell them they're dressing up beforehand. Days like this are not for the office - non-participants take the pi$$. Get a hotel conference room.
I promise you, you get instant creativity because people are no longer who they are day to day, but are 'allowed' to be someone else... and to make mistakes without being criticised personally - it's the character that's being addressed, not the person.
>> Edited by Bruce Fielding on Friday 25th February 15:25
A bit of professional help would be a good idea.
You have a tricky group, because these are the sorts who are not spontaneous - they like to mull over things, and present fully-formed ideas. You need to account for this, and force them to take bigger risks, rely more on intuition, and so be more spontaneous. Since it sounds like a long session you want, a couple of suggestions:
Venue
If you conference room (hotel or office), dress it:
- Lots of paper/markers
- Dress the walls. have space to hang things
- Things to finger. The product, Lego
- Reference material (dictionary, thesaurus, perhaps an computer lined to Google)
- It might be worth having a couple of computers with PowerPoint available.
- If you are going to split the group, have other rooms (or space in the bar or reception area) where they can go.
Staff
- Make sure you have someone who can act as chairman. Their role is not to contribute to ideas, but to make sure everyone is thinking, making contributions, and gets heard.
- It might be worth calling in a facilitator. A professional might be good (though I dislike that myself) who will assist in creating a plan for the day. Alternatively, how about someone from marketing (used to brainstorming, can offer a different opinion)?
- Altenratively, find a good bookshop and browse the business section for a "self-help" book (there must be one like "the 30-minute brainstorm book")
- Have a secretary on call to bring the coffee in (and serve it), do an internet/Yellow Pages search, collect printed pages, emergency typing, and hover around discretely dealing with all the things that could disrupt the atmosphere.
Plan For The Session
- It will take twice as long as you expect. If it's an all-day session, create a plan that you expect to only take the morning. If it goes well, you will know what to focus on in the afternoon. If it goes slowly, you allow more time for particular areas.
- Avoid obvious, 'official' breaks. You need to maintain the hothouse feeling. If people need the toilet or a fag, they leave the session (or sub-session). If you split groups up, they need to be settled within 60 seconds (so there's no point having a second room at the other end of the building - it needs to be right outside). Breakfast, coffees must be brought in without disruption. Even lunch can be on the hoof.
- Conversely kick people outside occasionally, but with a task - e.g. 10 minutes in the car park to find 5 interesting details on cars. Fresh air wakes them up (and allows for a ciggie), but maintains their concentration.
- Throw in a few creative exercises (10 minute things), to keep people alert.
- Break the group up into sub-groups. They may be working on different elements, or on competing ideas. Get them to present their proposals. Then discuss and move on.
- Think of the day as expanding and contracting. Spend some time pure brainstorming (for wider, bigger ideas). Then spend a little time being more practical, or researching an idea (contracting and refocussing). The expand again, etc.
- Do not expect a resolution from one session. You should end up with a range of ideas. You may have some sort of grading or assessment, but you are unlikely to have a final decision or strategy. Get someone good to write up the results as a proposal explaining what you've learned, issues to consider, ideas, why they may or may not be viable or apropriate, and what steps need to be taken to develop them. This should be well written, as if it were to be presented to the MD. Know what the next step will be (perhaps another session once the first has sunk in, perhaps a team to review and shortlist).
- It might be worth having a short pre-session with a couple of people, to have a few seeds of ideas. Choose people who are charismatic and free-thinking, and so will add the initial 'fizz' to get everyone else involved. Given the type of people you have (as I mentioned at the start), this might suit them. However, NEVER present these as a fait accompli. Get people to casually drop them in at a quiet moment ("I've got half an idea...")
- Though it breaks the normal rules, I like a little warning - a brief that I can read beforehand. This allows me a day to cogitate, identify issues (and ideally the central problem), and have a few ideas in the bank.
You have a tricky group, because these are the sorts who are not spontaneous - they like to mull over things, and present fully-formed ideas. You need to account for this, and force them to take bigger risks, rely more on intuition, and so be more spontaneous. Since it sounds like a long session you want, a couple of suggestions:
Venue
If you conference room (hotel or office), dress it:
- Lots of paper/markers
- Dress the walls. have space to hang things
- Things to finger. The product, Lego
- Reference material (dictionary, thesaurus, perhaps an computer lined to Google)
- It might be worth having a couple of computers with PowerPoint available.
- If you are going to split the group, have other rooms (or space in the bar or reception area) where they can go.
Staff
- Make sure you have someone who can act as chairman. Their role is not to contribute to ideas, but to make sure everyone is thinking, making contributions, and gets heard.
- It might be worth calling in a facilitator. A professional might be good (though I dislike that myself) who will assist in creating a plan for the day. Alternatively, how about someone from marketing (used to brainstorming, can offer a different opinion)?
- Altenratively, find a good bookshop and browse the business section for a "self-help" book (there must be one like "the 30-minute brainstorm book")
- Have a secretary on call to bring the coffee in (and serve it), do an internet/Yellow Pages search, collect printed pages, emergency typing, and hover around discretely dealing with all the things that could disrupt the atmosphere.
Plan For The Session
- It will take twice as long as you expect. If it's an all-day session, create a plan that you expect to only take the morning. If it goes well, you will know what to focus on in the afternoon. If it goes slowly, you allow more time for particular areas.
- Avoid obvious, 'official' breaks. You need to maintain the hothouse feeling. If people need the toilet or a fag, they leave the session (or sub-session). If you split groups up, they need to be settled within 60 seconds (so there's no point having a second room at the other end of the building - it needs to be right outside). Breakfast, coffees must be brought in without disruption. Even lunch can be on the hoof.
- Conversely kick people outside occasionally, but with a task - e.g. 10 minutes in the car park to find 5 interesting details on cars. Fresh air wakes them up (and allows for a ciggie), but maintains their concentration.
- Throw in a few creative exercises (10 minute things), to keep people alert.
- Break the group up into sub-groups. They may be working on different elements, or on competing ideas. Get them to present their proposals. Then discuss and move on.
- Think of the day as expanding and contracting. Spend some time pure brainstorming (for wider, bigger ideas). Then spend a little time being more practical, or researching an idea (contracting and refocussing). The expand again, etc.
- Do not expect a resolution from one session. You should end up with a range of ideas. You may have some sort of grading or assessment, but you are unlikely to have a final decision or strategy. Get someone good to write up the results as a proposal explaining what you've learned, issues to consider, ideas, why they may or may not be viable or apropriate, and what steps need to be taken to develop them. This should be well written, as if it were to be presented to the MD. Know what the next step will be (perhaps another session once the first has sunk in, perhaps a team to review and shortlist).
- It might be worth having a short pre-session with a couple of people, to have a few seeds of ideas. Choose people who are charismatic and free-thinking, and so will add the initial 'fizz' to get everyone else involved. Given the type of people you have (as I mentioned at the start), this might suit them. However, NEVER present these as a fait accompli. Get people to casually drop them in at a quiet moment ("I've got half an idea...")
- Though it breaks the normal rules, I like a little warning - a brief that I can read beforehand. This allows me a day to cogitate, identify issues (and ideally the central problem), and have a few ideas in the bank.
Don't bother with DeBono, a lot of his books are simply DeBono wanking his ego. He has a few ideas though.
I reckon CREATIVITY is a WELL OVERUSED WORD and I am sick of hearing it. It is a pseudonym for "Load of flaky bollox". Get the men to spit there ideas out in a straightforward fashion. A group session managed by a well voiced democratic manager with a planned agenda should see effective results.
I heard so many bloody art students use the word "Creative", when I hear it, it makes me cross. Think "outside the box" and remove the word "Creative" from your vocabularly and that will be a step in the right direction. "Ramping up" "Playing Hardball"
Shoot me at dawn
>> Edited by love machine on Friday 25th February 17:58
I reckon CREATIVITY is a WELL OVERUSED WORD and I am sick of hearing it. It is a pseudonym for "Load of flaky bollox". Get the men to spit there ideas out in a straightforward fashion. A group session managed by a well voiced democratic manager with a planned agenda should see effective results.
I heard so many bloody art students use the word "Creative", when I hear it, it makes me cross. Think "outside the box" and remove the word "Creative" from your vocabularly and that will be a step in the right direction. "Ramping up" "Playing Hardball"
Shoot me at dawn
>> Edited by love machine on Friday 25th February 17:58
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