Being creative is not just about being good at generating ideas. Above all, it\u2019s about having the right mindset. If you want your team to be more creative you’ll have to challenge them to embrace (and build upon) bizarre ideas. At HatRabbits we’ve developed a simple little exercise that helps people to become more comfortable with “exceptional ideas”.<\/p>\n
“The human mind treats a new idea the same way the body treats a strange protein; it rejects it.” People who haven\u2019t had proper training in creative thinking are likely to behave like idea killers. Most of us are very pragmatic when it comes to judging ideas. There is always this little voice in the back of our minds, telling us why an idea won’t work.<\/p>\n “Yes, but…”. When you hear these two words at the beginning of a sentence (or thought) you know that you soon will witness the murder of one of your darlings. “That’s too expensive”, “it’s illegal”, “it’s impossible”, “it takes too much time”, “we’ve tried it before”, “that will never work” or the worst of all… “don’t be silly!”<\/p>\n Although everybody likes creative ideas, most of us find it very difficult to come up with extreme solutions. Even just considering the possibilities of a strange idea is often too much to ask. That’s why HatRabbits developed\u00a0“That\u2019s Outrageous!” a simple technique that helps you to get people in the right mood. It’s a short little exercise to\u00a0show that there is value in every<\/em> idea.<\/p>\n You can use it during a brainstorm to warm up participants.<\/p>\n Before you start. Divide the group into pairs and give each pair a fictional challenge.\u00a0For example: Give each pair a bizarre suggestion\u00a0to solve the\u00a0fictional challenge.<\/p>\n For example:<\/p>\n Obviously, these suggestions are unacceptable or\u00a0not very realistic. Yet they spark our imagination. Most people will smile or laugh about these weird\u00a0solutions. These outrageous ideas\u00a0help to get the creative juices flowing.<\/p>\n Ask every pair to think (approximately 2 or 3 minutes) about the positive sides\u00a0of their “outrageous”\u00a0idea. Challenge your team to come up with original points of view.\u00a0Let them write down circa 3 – 5 benefits.<\/p>\n “We put super glue on every chair in our\u00a0restaurant.”<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n In what other ways can we reach these benefits? Ask participants\u00a0to look for\u00a0feasible (yet original) alternative ideas. Associate on the ideas.<\/p>\n Our restaurant will always be filled with people We don’t need to clean the chairs anymore Our customers have something to talk about during dinner<\/em><\/strong> Customers can relate and identify with each other Ask every pair to think (approximately 2 or 3 minutes) about the negative\u00a0sides\u00a0of their “Outrageous”\u00a0idea. Challenge your team to come up with original points of view. What are the disadvantages of the\u00a0idea? How can we get rid of these disadvantages?<\/p>\n There will always be the same people in our restaurant. Customers might get upset about their damaged clothing Customers might not want to order all day long Our customers will smell after a while As you can see one crazy suggestion\u00a0can lead to many novel & feasible ideas.\u00a0Do you think this simple exercise\u00a0can help the people in your team to build upon unorthodox ideas? I\u2019d love to hear your thoughts in the comment box below.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Like this article?<\/strong> If you are looking for creative solutions, it’s important to build on unusual ideas. Use this simple technique to make the people in your team more comfortable with outrageous thoughts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22884,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"mc4wp_mailchimp_campaign":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,1],"tags":[638,640,227,43,637,639,636,641,642,643,42],"class_list":["post-7309","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-brainstorming","category-thinking-techniques","tag-bizarre","tag-build-on-ideas","tag-crazy","tag-exercise","tag-outrageous","tag-stepping-stones","tag-thats-outrageous","tag-unusual","tag-unusual-ideas","tag-warm-up-your-brain","tag-warming-up"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\n\u2015 Peter Medawar<\/em><\/p>\n
\n“How can we\u00a0make sure that our\u00a0fish restaurant is filled with customers on Monday evening?”<\/p>\n1. Hand Out Outrageous Ideas<\/h3>\n
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2. Look For Benefits<\/h3>\n
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3. Look For Positive\u00a0Alternatives<\/h3>\n
\n<\/strong>We place lots of mirrors in our restaurant so it seems\u00a0crowded.<\/em><\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>We remove our furniture and become the first ‘Fish & Disco’ where you can dance and eat delicious\u00a0fish snacks.<\/em><\/p>\n
\nWe provide conversation topics with every meal like the messages in fortune cookies.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>We specialize in\u00a0groups and give them a large discount to eat in our restaurant.
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\n<\/strong><\/em>etc.<\/p>\n4. Look For Downsides<\/h3>\n
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\n<\/strong>What are the drawbacks\u00a0of the\u00a0idea?
\nAgain don’t let\u00a0your list be too obvious.<\/p>\n\n
5. Look For Downside Alternatives<\/h3>\n
\n<\/strong>We give loyal customers a discount for every new person they bring to the restaurant.<\/em><\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>We offer a new service to our customers. A\u00a0repair and tailor shop inside our restaurant. While you are enjoying\u00a0dinner\u00a0your suit is getting dry cleaned.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n
\n<\/strong><\/em> We create a bar in our restaurant where people can just relax and chill and don’t need to order food.<\/em><\/p>\n
\n<\/em> <\/strong>The smell of fish might scare people away. We put other dishes besides fish on the menu.
\n<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n
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