Creative Thinking Workshop
A collection of exercises and prompts to boost creative thinking and problem-solving skills.
Instead of asking "How can we solve this?", ask "How can we make this worse?"
Steps:
- List all ways to make the problem worse
- Reverse each negative solution
- Evaluate the reversed solutions
This technique helps break mental blocks and discover unconventional solutions.
A structured approach to thinking from different perspectives:
- White Hat: Facts and information
- Red Hat: Emotions and feelings
- Black Hat: Risks and caution
- Yellow Hat: Benefits and optimism
- Green Hat: Creativity and alternatives
- Blue Hat: Process and control
Use each hat systematically to explore all angles of a situation.
SCAMPER is an acronym for creative thinking prompts:
- Substitute - What can you replace?
- Combine - What can you merge?
- Adapt - What can you adjust?
- Modify - What can you change?
- Put to other use - New ways to use it?
- Eliminate - What can you remove?
- Reverse - What can you flip?
Apply each prompt to your challenge to generate new ideas.
Use a random word to spark unexpected ideas:
- Pick a completely random word (book, dictionary, generator)
- List its attributes and associations
- Force connections between the word and your challenge
- Explore the most interesting connections
Example: Designing a new chair + random word "ocean" → Could lead to fluid shapes, wave-like contours, or materials inspired by marine life.
A simple but powerful technique to find root causes:
- State the problem
- Ask "Why does this happen?"
- For each answer, ask "Why?" again
- Repeat five times (or until you reach the root)
- Address the root cause, not symptoms
Tip: Sometimes you need more or fewer than five whys. The number is a guideline, not a rule.
Generate the worst possible ideas first:
Why this works:
- Removes fear of judgment
- Makes brainstorming fun and relaxing
- Bad ideas often contain seeds of good ones
- Gets creative energy flowing
Process: Spend 5-10 minutes generating deliberately terrible ideas. Then discuss what makes them bad, and see if reversing them creates something useful.