• Exaggerate That [39]
• Problem Reversals [51]
• Turn Around [52]
Procedure
1. Distribute the Law Breaker Handout, review it with the participants, and answer any questions they may have.
2. Instruct the groups to list all possible assumptions about their problems.
3. Tell them to break each assumption. Specifically, have them ask why the assumption is made about a particular aspect of a problem and write it down on flip-chart paper.
4. Direct them to use the broken assumptions to stimulate new ideas, write them on Post-it® Notes, and place them on a flip chart for evaluation.
Debrief/Discussion
Consider having 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?
Law Breaker Handout
Suppose you want to generate ideas for a new chocolate candy bar. First, list assumptions regarding candy bars:
• Rectangular bar form
• Solid brown in color
• Uniform sweetness
• Uniform taste
• May contain either peanuts or almonds in addition to chocolate, but nothing else
• Wrapped in aluminum foil
• Melts in the sun
• Weighs no more than three ounces
Next, generate ideas by breaking any of these “laws” governing chocolate candy bars. Here are some possible ideas:
• Triangular-shaped bar
• Different shades of brown in the same product
• Variable sweetness in different parts of the product
• Different fillings in the center
• Wrap in “theme” papers (for example, dinosaurs, space travel)
• High heat resistance for eating in the sun
• Variable weights ranging from one ounce to ten pounds—all with names reflecting the weights (for example, “air” bar, “monster” bar)
Taken From : Pfeiffer 101 Activities for Teaching Creativity
