1. Distribute the handout, review it with the participants, and answer any questions they may have.
2. Tell them to think of the major principle underlying their problem.
3. Instruct each group to tape three pieces of flip-chart paper on a wall so that the sheets are side-by-side. If a wall is not available, have them put the paper on a table.
4. Tell them that one person should draw an abstract symbol that represents this principle and not to worry if they don’t have artistic abilities. Say that they just should draw whatever pops into their minds regarding the principle and to try to elaborate and provide some detail for each drawing.
5. Instruct them to have another person free-associate from this symbol and draw another.
6. Have someone different from each group then draw at least three additional symbols.
7. Tell the groups to examine all their symbols and use them as stimuli to generate ideas, writing them on Post-it® Notes to place on flip-chart paper for evaluation.
Debrief/Discussion
This can be a fun activity if participants are not hindered by a fear of ridicule for lack of natural artistic talent. You might remind them that some of the best symbols (that is, most useful for stimulating ideas) are those drawn by people without artistic talent. You also might conduct a discussion on the value of deferring judgment when producing any creative output. Too much analysis and criticism (whether internal or external) can be detrimental
to creative activities. Since there obviously is no “correct” way to draw the
symbols, there should be little hesitation in drawing them. Much the same can be said about preliminary ideas in the formative stage.
Also consider having the participants debrief using the following questions:
• What was most helpful about this exercise?
• What was most challenging?
• What can we apply?
• How would you rate the value of this exercise to helping us with this issue?
• Will this exercise be helpful in the future for other sessions?
• What did you learn?
• What will we be able to use from this exercise?
• What ideas were generated, and which ones were most interesting?
Variation
• Have the participants draw three or four symbols individually and then share them with the rest of the group to use as idea stimuli.
Taken From : Pfeiffer 101 Activities for Teaching Creativity
