5 a day

The aim of the exercise is for you to set time aside each day, asking yourself 5 interesting questions a day. The 5 a day exercise is well-suited to set as a challenge for personal development.
Instructions
The purpose of this exercise is to reinforce the habit of asking questions and considering options. This exercise will work most effectively if you try not to evaluate your ideas, and be open to unusual questions. Some suggestions would be to ask 5 a day about…
• Things you do not know about
• Places you would like to visit and why
• Famous people you would like to have had a conversation with and why
• Things you accept without questioning
• Things that make you very happy
• Things that make you very annoyed or angry
• Find five reports of the same story in the newspaper or on the internet and consider the similarities and differences. • What are the next 5 a day topics I should think of?
• What are the next 5 a day topics I should think of?

The topics for the 5 a day are not important but it is essential that the topics are of personal interest and that you make the time for consideration. It is important that you learn to follow your natural curiosity and ask your own questions when adopting the 5 a day exercise.

Discussion points
• As you practiced the 5 a day exercise more, did you find it easier to think freely?
• Were some topics easier to think about than others?
Debriefing
• We often consider creative thinking and idea generation to be an innate capacity. Some people have a greater tendency to think more creatively than others but we can all learn to become more fluent and original in our thinking.
• The frequent application of the 5 a day exercise will help you to become more confident in producing creative ideas and applying your natural curiosity. What is most important, is giving yourself the permission to think freely. the idea factory
The idea factory (attribute listing) is useful for ensuring all possible aspects of a problem have been examined. It breaks down the product, service or strategy in question, into smaller and smaller pieces, allowing for you to consider each attribute individually.
The idea factory is a good exercise to use in conjunction with brainstorming.
Instructions
• Set the initial ground rules. Everyone should try be involved, do not worry about being sensible or realistic just try to produce as many suggestions as possible.
• Choose a product, service or strategy that you want to think creatively about. For the first example, it is often best to pick a physical object.
• List the attributes of the chosen item or service. The attributes are the components, qualities, assemblies, properties or design elements that comprise the item or service.
• Draw a table, using the attributes as headings, then write down as many variations of each attribute as possible.
• Try to allow as long as possible for this stage so that more obscure features or attributes will be generated after the most typical observations have been recorded.
• Think about all the possible ways that each aspect recorded can be changed or done differently.
• Do not think about being realistic, practical or making suggestions that could be realised. The key is to explore as many different options as possible. It does not matter if the suggestions are sensible. •Select one attribute from each table column and combine them together to form a completely new product or service.
• Evaluate the new attribute grouping and consider if it could be altered, improved, recombined or have parts excluded to form a better product or service.
Below is a very brief example where this exercise has been applied to a bicycle:
Two wheels
•One, three, four, etc., wheels.
•Wheel could be replaced with a ball.
• Could have ‘caterpillar tracks’ like on a tank.
Two wheels
•One, three, four, etc., wheels.
•Wheel could be replaced with a ball.
• Could have ‘caterpillar tracks’ like on a tank.
Pedal using your feet
• Pedal using your arms.
• Add an engine or a sail
Steer using handlebars
•Steer using your head or by twisting your body, add in a steering wheel or a joystick.
Sit upright on a saddle
•Lie down on your back or front, stand up, replace saddle with a hammock.
Has a chain with gears
• Use a notched belt, magnetic drive.
Has a tubular frame
• Has a solid frame made from one piece of carbon fibre.

Discussion points
• Does it take a long time to begin to consider the less obvious suggestions?
• Is this easy to remember?
• Could you easily teach other people how to use the technique?
Debriefing
• We can learn techniques to help us think more fluently.
• Creative thinking is not just about free thinking and no structure.

Crawford, R. P. (1964) the kipling method The Kipling Method uses a set of questions to help stimulate ideas and solve problems
Rudyard Kipling recorded these questions in a poem:
“I have six honest serving men
They taught me all I knew
I call them What and Where and When
And How and Why and Who”
The questions are useful to ask when your creative output has decreased or if you can no longer think of any more ideas. You can integrate the Kipling Method into the process of attribute listing and brainstorming.
Instructions
Think of a problem or opportunity you would like to question, either at random or from the context of your work environment.
Ask yourself:
What? Where? When? How? Why? Who?

These questions can be extended to suit a particual purpose. For example:

What is the problem?
Where is it happening?
When is it happening?
Why is it happening?
How can you overcome this problem?
Who do you need to get involved?
When will you know you have solved the problem?

Discussion Points
• When the Kipling Method was a problem, did the rate at which you produced new ideas increase?
• Did the Kipling Method arouse your curiosity?

Debriefing
• There is often a tendency to believe that the creative process should be unstructured and any ‘rules’ or constraints should be avoided.
• Sometimes, simple rules or techniques can be an excellent way to prompt out thinking and to help us ask important questions that can improve quantity and quality of idea generation.

Kipling, R. (1902). more of...less off.. . Instructions
Spend five minutes writing down a list of all the key tasks, activities and responsibilities of your work role. The focus should be on tasks and responsibilities that are regularly occurring features of your work. Write down all the things that you particularly enjoy doing, as well as the activities you are not so interested in.

When you have finished writing their list of key activities, highlight the top five things you would like to do more of, and the top five things you would like to do less of.

Finally, reflect on your lists and examine them to see if there are any key themes or recurring issues. The ‘more of…’ list is likely to contain many of the elements of your roles that you are intrinsically motivated by.

If working in a group, it may be suitable for you to share your two top five lists.

Discussion Points
• Were there any key themes in the ‘do more of…’ lists of tasks and responsibilities?
• What was particularly interesting or appealing about the nature of the activities in the ‘do more of…’ list?
Debriefing
• We are all motivated by different things. These motives can change as we develop through our lives and our pressures and challenges change.
• Intrinsic motivators are often things we would like to do more of.
• When we engage in activities that engage and interest us, we are more likely to explore creative possibilities.

the oblique strategies

When presented with a seemingly unsolvable problem or a blockage in the creative process, the Oblique Strategy statements provide stimulus to help the you to consider alternatives.
Instructions
When searching for inspiration, chose an Oblique Strategy statement at random from the list given and allow it to influence your thinking.

Discussion Points
• Did the random statements allow you to think of things differently?
• Did some of the statements appear to be completely irrelevant, but actually made you start to think?
• Was it uncomfortable thinking, using random statements?

Debriefing
• When we are presented with a dilemma or a blockage in the creative process, it can sometimes be helpful to be forced into odd ideas or to think of things differently.

Eno, B. & Schmidt, P. (1975).

Abandon desire
Abandon normal instructions
Accept advice
Adding on
Always first steps
Ask people to work against their better judgement
Ask your body
Assemble some of the elements in a group
Back up a few steps. What else could you have done?
Be extravagant
Call your father/mother and ask him/her what to do
Consult other sources
Cut a vital connection
Decorate
Destroy nothing; destroy the most important thing
Disconnect from desire
Discover your formulas and abandon them
Display your talent
Distorting time
Do nothing for as long as possible
Do something boring
Do something sudden and unpredictable
Do the last thing first
Do the washing up
Do the words need changing?
Do not avoid what is easy
Do not be afraid of things because they are easy to do
Do not stress one thing more than another
Emphasise differences
Emphasise repetitions
Emphasise the flaws
First work alone, then work in unusual pairs
Get your neck massaged
Give way to your worst impulse
Go slowly all the way round the outside
Go to an extreme, move back to a more comfortable place
How would someone else do it?
How would you explain this to your parents?
How would you have done it?
Is it finished?
Is something missing?
Is the style right?
It is quite possible (after all)
It is simply a matter or work
Just carry on
List the qualities it has. List those you like
Listen to the quiet voice
Magnify the most difficult details
Move towards the unimportant
Mute and continue the oblique strategies Once the search has begun, something will be found
Only a part, not the whole
Only one element of each kind
Overtly resist change
Pay attention to distractions
Put in earplugs
Question the heroic approach
Remember those quiet evenings
Remove a restriction
Remove the middle, extend the edges
Repetition is a form of change
Retrace your steps
Revaluation
Reverse
Shut the door and listen from outside
Simple subtraction
Slow preparation, fast execution
State the problem in words as simply as possible
Steal a solution
Take a break
Take away as much mystery as possible. What is left?
Take away the elements in order of apparent non importance
Take away the important parts
Tape your mouth
The most important thing is the thing most easily forgotten
Think; inside the work, outside the work
Think of the radio
Tidy up
Towards the insignificant
Try faking it
Turn it upside down
Twist the spine
Use an old idea
Use an unacceptable colour
Use fewer notes
Use filters
Use something nearby as a model
Use your own ideas
Voice your suspicions
What context would look right?
What do you do? Now, what do you do best?
What else is this like?
What is the reality of the situation?
What is the simplest solution?
What mistakes did you make last time?
What most recently impressed you? How is it similar?
What to increase? What to reduce? What to maintain?
What were you really thinking about just now? Incorporate
What would your closest friend do?
What would you not do?
When is it for? Who is it for?
Which parts can be grouped?
Who would make this really successful?
Work at a different speed
Would anyone want it?
You are an engineer
You can only make one dot at a time
You do not have to be ashamed of using your own ideas
Your mistake was a hidden intention.

scammper
Scammper is an acronym for a list of verbs that can help you to think differently about a problem or opportunity. The aim of the exercise is to make changes to an existing product, service or strategy in order to create something new. These verbs can act as starting points to consider or as direct changes.
Instructions
Begin by clarifying the problem or opportunity that the you would like to address. Then go through the Scammper checklist, looking at the problem in relation to each section. Do not rush as unusual suggestions will take longer to make themselves apparent. The options provided for each verb below are suggestions, try to use each verb as a broad theme to guide your thinking.
Discussion Points
• Were some verbs more easy to use than others?
• Did the Scammper method provide a structure and a process for the ways that you would naturally think about finding new ideas and options?
• Did you find that the original or unusual ideas you had varied, depending upon how long you had been considering alternatives?
Debriefing
• Producing lots of ideas, options and alternatives is an important part of the creativity process.
• The process of incubation can allow us to consider many alternatives, but usually takes a long time.
• The Scammper method provides a structure and a process to follow to help us generate many ideas.
• The list of verbs help us to consider a large range of alternative approaches, some of which we might not naturally ask.

S - Substitute
• What components, materials, people or processes can be replaced or swapped?
• Can you change its name?
• What attributes does it have?
• Can the rules or methods be changed?
C - Combine
• What attributes can be mixed or combined attributes?
• What parts can be merged, linked or amalgamated?
• Could it be combined with other products or strategies?
• What else is it like?
A - Adapt
• What can be altered, changed or incorporated with something else?
• Can its function be adjusted?
• Can anything be learnt from past processes?
M - Magnify
• What could you increase or reduce the scale of?
• What elements could be enlarged or amplified?
• What can you increase the frequency of?
• Can you increase your market?
M - Modify
• What can be manipulated, reformed?
• Can you change the colour, shape, etc.?
• Can you add more time to the process?
• Can you add value?
P - Put to another use
• How could it be applied differently?
• Can it be used by others than those it was originally intended for?
• How would a child use it?
• If you knew nothing about it, could you understand its purpose?
• Are there any other markets or industries it could be used for?
E - Eliminate
• What can be removed or taken away?
• Could you reduce the timescale? Effort? Cost?
• What are the most important parts?
• The least important parts?
• Can it be simplified?
• What is its basic functionality?
R - Reverse
• What can be turned inside out, upside down?
• What can be rearranged?
• What if you consider the processes backwards? six thinking hats

This exercise requires you to look at a problem or opportunity from different perspectives. It helps you to understand the full complexity of a possible decision and to see the best course of action.
Instructions
If working with a group, divide up into six smaller groups. Each group is to be given a different coloured hat, metaphorically or literally. If working alone, look at each hat separately. The coloured hats symbolise different styles of thinking. Switching to a different hat means switching to a different way of thinking.
With the hat/s ‘on’, evaluate an issue and possible decision that you have at work currently .
Discussion Points
• Do you, or the group, feel you have developed a better solution as a result of using the thinking hats?
• Do you think it helped you to see problems and opportunities you might not have ordinarily seen?
• Was there any particular thinking style you may not have normally considered that you found useful?

Debriefing
• Looking at an issue from different perspectives allows you to see fatal flaws and risks you may have otherwise missed.
• Knowledge of the Six Thinking Hats can be used to help prevent disagreements between people who adopt different thinking approaches.
• It allows people who normally use one thinking style to consider other options.
• This exercise can be adapted depending on the situation. Instead of using six different coloured hats to represent different ways of thinking, try using six different professions, for example, a doctor, a marketer, a surveyor, etc.

de Bono, E. (1985).

six thinking hats

White Hat
From this style of thinking, you should focus on all the factual information available. What do you know about the issue and what do you not know? Can you fill in any gaps in your knowledge and if not, should these gaps be considered in your final decision? The white hat is mostly related to the factors of curiosity and ambiguity.

Red Hat
When wearing the red hat you should use your emotions as your guide. What was your first instinct or intuition? What are your likes, dislikes, feelings and fears? When wearing the red hat you can express how you feel about the issue or decision without any justification of why. Red hat thinking is most closely related to the experience of illumination and intrinsic motivation.

Black Hat
The focus of the black hat is to look at everything pessimistically; to cautiously and defensively evaluate. Why might the approach not work? Why could things go wrong. With the black hat on you should look at weaker areas in the proposed plan. This hat is closely related to the achievement factor which is concerned with achieving excellence and maintaining high standards.

Yellow Hat
The yellow hat looks at the issue and possible decision from an optimistic and positive perspective. What are the benefits and value of the solution? Are there any further opportunities that might arise as a result? This hat is concerned with confidence in producing ideas.

Green Hat
With the green hat you should adopt a creative style thinking perspective. What are all the other possibilities and alternatives that might work? Are there any new concepts and methods that could be introduced? The green hat allows you to think freely without the prospect of criticism. The factors or fluency and originality are closely linked with the green hat.

Blue Hat
When wearing the blue hat, you should think about thinking. You are the controller of all the other hats. Is there a time when one perspective might be more important to consider than another? Which hat makes the best point? The ambiguity and implementing ideas factor are applicable to the blue hat.

write your own entry in ‘who’s who’

Instructions
Imagine you have achieved all your dreams and accomplished many things. You have been approached to write an entry to ‘Who’s Who’. Your entry should outline all of your hey achievements and successes.
You should spend 10 minutes recording what your entry in ‘Who’s Who’ would contain.
Discussion points
• What did you perceive to be your greatest achievements?
• Family and friends?
• Fame and fortune?
• Overcoming adversity?
• Having fun and socialising?
• Generosity and kindness?
• What does this suggest to you about what will motivate you at work?

Debriefing
• We all have different sources of motivation for what we want to achieve.
• When our desires of what we want to achieve align with what we do at work, we are more likely to enjoy what we do, apply ourselves fully and be creative.
• It is not about the ultimate aim (for example, to be the most famous person in the world) but about how we can achieve within the same theme (to be highly recognised for our expertise or knowledge).