Chapter 9 Specialty Groups and Creativity in Groups Prepared by: Nathaniel N. Ivers, Wake Forest University

Roadmap What specialty groups are Different types of specialty groups What creativity is in a group setting Six Hat’s Approach SCAMPER Model Zig Zag Idea Creative Exercises in Different Group Stages

Specialty Groups Groups that focus on one particular population or problem, such as: Military veterans New mothers Addiction Require a great deal of knowledge and expertise from their leaders

Examples of Specialty Groups Groups for Health Care Providers and Health Care Consumers Groups for Military Personnel and Their Families New Mothers’ Groups Involuntary and Mandated Groups Anger and Aggression Management Groups Cancer Support Groups Telephone Groups

Examples of Specialty Groups Online Groups Trauma Stress Groups Disabled Persons Groups Adventure Groups Prevention Groups Groups for Depression Achievement Groups

Creativity in Groups Creativity: The ability to produce new and useful thoughts, behaviors, and feelings in a socially appropriate context (Csikszentmihalyi, 2013) In group work, there is no recipe or formula. Groups that work well depend on collaboration and the innovation that spawns from it.

Six Hats Approach to Creativity Problems, difficulties, challenges, etc. ought to be broken down into six hats (six ways of thinking) Each hat is color coded and is employed before a decision is made as to what to do. In ordinary, unstructured thinking, the process is unfocused. The six hats thinking process attempts to introduce parallel thinking, as opposed to spaghetti thinking (DeBono, 1999).

Six Hats White hat: Information Red hat: Emotions Black hat: Negative points of an idea highlighted Yellow hat: Good points of an idea highlighted Green hat: Potential growth of a particular idea Blue hat: Thinking about thinking – Organizing hat.

SCAMPER Model of Creativity S – What can be substituted for what has been C – What can be combined, such as ideas A – What can be adapted or adopted M – What can be modified P – What can be “put to other uses” E – What can be eliminated R – What can be reversed or rearranged (Eberle, 1971)

Zig Zag Model of Creativity Sawyer, the author of the zig zag model, believes the creativity process is a nonlinear set of behaviors that can be learned Sawyer developed an eight-step process

Creative Exercises for Different Stages Forming Storming Norming Performing Adjourning

Creative Exercises: Forming Music Openings Poems as a Group Catalyst Train Station Passive-Active

Creative Exercises: Storming Circles Home Spot Hamlet’s Dilemma

Creative Exercises: Norming Group Mural Clay Pieces

Creative Exercises: Performing Locomotion Adverbs Areas Common Objects Acting “As If” Skits Role-Plays

Creative Exercises: Adjourning Music Good-bye Saying “Good-bye” Balloons Rainbow Closing Poems