This n’ That

Creativity is connecting things. If you are looking to give your creative mind a workout with a simple concept mash-up, look no further. The more you do this, the better you’ll get at one of the fundamental skills that lead to new ideas, combining elements. We've found a simple online tool from Dave Birss that helps you to define random objects that can form the basis of your creative combination.

Duration: 5m - 60m
Participants: 2 - 40
Difficulty:  Low
Hyper Islandby 

Materials

    Instructions

    Step 1:

    Head to the “This n’ That“ tool on Dave Birss’ website for an automated mash-up tool.

    Step 2:

    The site immediately gives you two familiar objects.

    Your job is to come up with at least three different ideas from combining those objects.

    Preferably something you’ve not seen before.

    Step 3:

    You may find it easier to draw some of your ideas than explain them in words.

    Do whatever works best for you.

    Step 4:

    Once you’ve come up with at least three ideas from the given prompts, tap the ‘Go Again’ button to get new prompts.

    Do this exercise a few times and see if there are any useful ideas you’d like to develop.

    Step 5:

    If you are working with a team, the activity can lead to a round of sharing of ideas.

    An interesting way to spice up ideas sharing is to ask participants to select their best and worst ideas.

    When they present to the group they should not say which, in their opinion, was the best and worst idea.

    This can help them to explore the ideas we sometimes discount as bad or crazy ideas - and these could be ideas which others see potential to develop further.

    Step 6:

    Closing with Reflection

    We recommend closing the activity with a simple reflection activity in which all participants can reflect upon their insights about how they felt undertaking the activity, and what insights emerge around creativity and the creative process.


    Attachments

    • this-and-that-cover.jpeg

    Background

    This n' That Creativity Exercise: https://davebirss.com/thisnthat-creativity-exercise/

    Along with the ‘This n’ That’ tool Birss’s website has a host of other digital creativity tools worth checking out.

    Steve Jobs: Three Steps to Making Connections that Matter- https://medium.com/taking-note/steve-jobs-three-steps-to-making-connections-that-matter-c2a8eb77b402

    Author

    Hyper Island designs transformative learning experiences to enable growth – for individuals and for businesses. Unlike typical education or service providers, we follow a tried-and-tested methodology and a wide network of real industry experts. Through our global network of schools and business services, we put people at the heart of innovation, leadership and change – for success today and tomorrow.

    More about author

    0 Ratings 

    No ratings yet.

    0 Comments

    Please Log in or Sign up for a FREE SessionLab account to continue.