Creative Thinking Workshop

Creative Thinking Workshop
Dr. Abdulaziz Saddique Pharm.D., CPHQ, SSMBB Quality Management Consultant

التفكر والنظرفي القران الكريم
قال تعالى: (إِنَّ فِي خَلْقِ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ وَاخْتِلاَفِ اللَّيْلِ وَالنَّهَارِ وَالْفُلْكِ الَّتِي تَجْرِي فِي الْبَحْرِ بِمَا يَنفَعُ النَّاسَ وَمَا أَنزَلَ اللّهُ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ مِن مَّاء فَأَحْيَا بِهِ الأرْضَ بَعْدَ مَوْتِهَا وَبَثَّ فِيهَا مِن كُلِّ دَآبَّةٍ وَتَصْرِيفِ الرِّيَاحِ وَالسَّحَابِ الْمُسَخِّرِ بَيْنَ السَّمَاء وَالأَرْضِ لآيَاتٍ لِّقَوْمٍ يَعْقِلُونَ) (1).

What is creative thinking
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines creative thinking as a new way of seeing or doing things, characterized by fluency (generating many ideas), flexibility (shifting perspective easily), and originality (conceiving of something new). Merriam-Webster dictionary

Albert Einstein thinks..
Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the whole world. Dr.T.V.Rao MD

Medicine is always a creative innovation never static
As medicine is based on science, physicians are supposed to know physiology and mechanisms of disease, but also to manipulate nature for the benefit of the patient. Yet our knowledge of diseases and of drugs is limited. For this reason, medicine is really a combination of science and invention.

Voltaire, French philosopher
"The art of medicine consists of amusing the patient while nature cures the disease." Voltaire, French philosopher

What is Creativity? An Ability. A simple definition is that creativity is the ability to imagine or invent something new. As we will see below, creativity is not the ability to create out of nothing (only God can do that), but the ability to generate new ideas by combining, changing, or reapplying existing ideas.

What is Creativity An Attitude. Creativity is also an attitude: the ability to accept change and newness, a willingness to play with ideas and possibilities, a flexibility of outlook, the habit of enjoying the good, while looking for ways to improve it. A Process. Creative people work hard and continually to improve ideas and solutions, by making gradual alterations and refinements to their works. Contrary to the mythology surrounding creativity, very, very few works of creative excellence are produced with a single stroke of brilliance or in a frenzy of rapid activity. The creative person knows that there is always room for improvement.

Creative Methods Several methods have been identified for producing creative results. Here are the five classic ones: 1. Evolution. This is the method of incremental improvement. New ideas stem from other ideas, new solutions from previous ones, the new ones slightly improved over the old ones. Many of the very sophisticated things we enjoy today developed through a long period of constant incrimination. Making something a little better here, a little better there gradually makes it something a lot better--even entirely different from the original.

Creative Methods 2. Synthesis. With this method, two or more existing ideas are combined into a third, new idea. Combining the ideas of a magazine and an audio tape gives the idea of a magazine you can listen to, one useful for blind people or freeway commuters. For example, someone noticed that a lot of people goes first to dinner and then to the theater. Why not combine these two events into one? Thus, the dinner theater, where people go first to eat and then to see a play or other entertainment.

Creative Methods 3.Revolution Sometimes the best new idea is a completely different one, an marked change from the previous ones. While an evolutionary improvement philosophy might cause a professor to ask, "How can I make my lectures better and better?" a revolutionary idea might be, "Why not stop lecturing and have the students teach each other, working as teams or presenting reports?"

Creative Methods 4. Reapplication Look at something old in a new way. Go beyond labels. Unfixate, remove prejudices, expectations and assumptions and discover how something can be reapplied. For example, a paperclip can be used as a tiny screwdriver if filed down; paint can be used as a kind of glue to prevent screws from loosening in machinery; dishwashing detergents can be used to remove the DNA from bacteria in a lab; general purpose spray cleaners can be used to kill ants.

Creative Methods 5. Changing Direction Many creative breakthroughs occur when attention is shifted from one angle of a problem to another. This is sometimes called creative insight. A classic example is that of the highway department trying to keep cars from driving in the Emergency stop areas in the Highways, nails was put there to make the road pumpy for the cars so they stop using that area as a lane, but people did not mind little rough road to drive away from the jammed traffic, later speed pumps were put there to prevent from driving, this diminished the driving significantly.

Negative Attitudes That Block Creativity

Oh no, a problem! The reaction to a problem is often a bigger problem than the problem itself. Many people avoid or deny problems until it's too late, largely because these people have never learned the appropriate emotional, psychological, and practical responses. A problem is an opportunity. The happiest people welcome and even seek out problems, meeting them as challenges and opportunities to improve things.

Definition: a problem is
seeing the difference between what you have and what you want or recognizing or believing that there is something better than the current situation or an opportunity for a positive act. Seeking problems aggressively will build confidence, increase happiness, and give you a better sense of control over your life.

It can't be done. This attitude is, in effect, surrendering before the battle. By assuming that something cannot be done or a problem cannot be solved, a person gives the problem a power or strength it didn't have before. Again, the appropriate attitude is summed up by the statement, "The difficult we do immediately; the impossible takes a little longer."

I can't do it. Or There's nothing I can do. Some people think, well maybe the problem can be solved by some expert, but not by me because I'm not smart enough, ) an engineer, or (c) a blank (whether educated, expert, etc.) Again, though, look at the history of problem solving.

But I'm not creative. Everyone is creative to some extent. Most people are capable of very high levels of creativity; just look at young children when they play and imagine. The problem is that this creativity has been suppressed by education. All you need to do is let it come back to the surface. You will soon discover that you are surprisingly creative.

That's childish. In our effort to appear always mature and sophisticated, we often ridicule the creative, playful attitudes that marked our younger years. But if you solve a problem that saves your marriage or gets you promoted or keeps your friend from suicide, do you care whether other people describe your route to the solution as "childish?" Besides, isn't play a lot of fun? Remember that sometimes people laugh when something is actually funny, but often they laugh when they lack the imagination to understand the situation.

What will people think? There is strong social pressure to conform and to be ordinary and not creative. Almost every famous contributor to the betterment of civilization was ridiculed and sometimes even jailed. Think about Galileo. Quotation: "Progress is made only by those who are strong enough to endure being laughed at." Solutions are often new ideas, and new ideas, being strange, are usually greeted with laughter, contempt, or both. That's just a fact of life, so make up your mind not to let it bother you. Ridicule should be viewed as a badge of real innovative thinking.

I might fail. Thomas Edison, in his search for the perfect filament for the incandescent lamp, tried anything he could think of, including whiskers from a friend's beard. In all, he tried about 1800 things. After about 1000 attempts, someone asked him if he was frustrated at his lack of success. He said something like, "I've gained a lot of knowledge--I now know a thousand things that won't work

Myths about Creative Thinking and Problem Solving

Every problem has only one solution (or one right answer). The goal of problem solving is to solve the problem, and most problems can be solved in any number of ways. If you discover a solution that works, it is a good solution. There may be other solutions thought of by other people, but that doesn't make your solution wrong. What is THE solution to putting words on paper? Fountain pen, ball point, pencil, marker, typewriter, printer, Xerox machine, printing press?

The best answer/solution/method has already been found. Look at the history of any solution set and you'll see that improvements, new solutions, new right answers, are always being found. What is the solution to human transportation? The ox or horse, the cart, the wagon, the train, the car, the airplane, the jet, the Mobile Phones? Is that the best and last?

Creative answers are complex technologically. Only a few problems require complex technological solutions. Most problems you'll meet with require only a thoughtful solution requiring personal action and perhaps a few simple tools. Even many problems that seem to require a technological solution can be addressed in other ways.

Ideas either come or they don't. Nothing will help. There are many successful techniques for stimulating idea generation. We will be discussing and applying them.

Mental Blocks to Creative Thinking and Problem Solving

Prejudice. The older we get, the more preconceived ideas we have about things. These preconceptions often prevent us from seeing beyond what we already know or believe to be possible. They inhibit us from accepting change and progress. Example: How can we make lighter weight bullet proof windows? Thicker glass is too heavy. Answer: Use plastic. Again, we are prejudiced against plastic. But some plastics are not flimsy at all and are used in place of steel and in bullet proof windows.

Functional fixation. Sometimes we begin to see an object only in terms of its name rather in terms of what it can do. Thus, we see a mop only as a device for cleaning a floor, and do not think that it might be useful for clearing cobwebs from the ceiling, washing the car, doing aerobic exercise, propping a door open or closed, and so on. Similarly, when the telephone began its rise, some of the telegraph companies said, "That's not our business; we're telegraph companies." But if they had said, "Hey, we're in the communication business, and here's a new way to communicate," they would have grown rather than died.

Learned helplessness. This is the feeling that you don't have the tools, knowledge, materials, ability, to do anything, so you might as well not try. We are trained to rely on other people for almost everything. We think small and limit ourselves. But the world can be interacted with. If you are technologically poor, you can learn. Learn how to cook, use tools, make clothes, use a computer. You can learn to do anything you really want to do. All you need is the motivation and commitment. You can learn to fly an airplane, drive a truck, scuba dive, fix a car--name it.

Psychological blocks. Some solutions are not considered or are rejected simply because our reaction to them is "Yuck." But icky solutions themselves may be useful or good if they solve a problem well or save your life. Eating lizards and grasshoppers doesn't sound great, but if it keeps you alive in the wilderness, it's a good solution. For example, I was once attempting to repair something, without apparent success, when an onlooker asked testily, "Do you know what you're doing?" I replied calmly, "No, that's why I'm doing it."

Positive Attitudes for Creativity

Curiosity. Creative people want to know things--all kinds of things-- just to know them. Knowledge does not require a reason. The question, "Why do you want to know that?" seems strange to the creative person, who is likely to respond, "Because I don't know the answer." Knowledge is enjoyable and often useful in strange and unexpected ways.

Challenge. Curious people like to identify and challenge the assumptions behind ideas, proposals, problems, beliefs, and statements. Many assumptions, of course, turn out to be quite necessary and solid, but many others have been assumed unnecessarily, and in breaking out of those assumptions often comes a new idea, a new path, a new solution.

Constructive discontent. This is not a whining, griping kind of discontent, but the ability to see a need for improvement and to propose a method of making that improvement. Constructive discontent is a positive, enthusiastic discontent, reflecting the thought, "Hey, I know a way to make that better.“ Constructive discontent is necessary for a creative problem solver, for if you are happy with everything the way it is, you won't want to change anything. Only when you become discontent with something, when you see a problem, will you want to solve the problem and improve the situation.

A belief that most problems can be solved. By faith at first and by experience later on, the creative thinker believes that something can always be done to eliminate or help alleviate almost every problem. Problems are solved by a commitment of time and energy, and where this commitment is present, few things are impossible.

The ability to suspend judgment and criticism. Many new ideas, because they are new and unfamiliar, seem strange, odd, bizarre, even repulsive. Only later do they become "obviously" great. Other ideas, in their original incarnations, are indeed weird, but they lead to practical, beautiful, elegant things. Thus, it is important for the creative thinker to be able to suspend judgment when new ideas are arriving, to have an optimistic attitude toward ideas in general, and to avoid condemning them with the typical kinds of negative responses like, "That will never work; that's no good; what an idiotic idea; that's impossible," and so forth.

Seeing the good in the bad. Creative thinkers, when faced with poor solutions, don't cast them away. Instead, they ask, "What's good about it?" because there may be something useful even in the worst ideas. And however little that good may be, it might be turned to good effect or made greater.

Problems lead to improvements. The attitude of constructive discontent searches for problems and possible areas of improvement, but many times problems arrive on their own. But such unexpected and perhaps unwanted problems are not necessarily bad, because they often permit solutions that leave the world better than before the problem arose.

A problem can also be a solution. A fact that one person describes as a problem can sometimes be a solution for someone else. Above we noted that creative thinkers can find good ideas in bad solutions. Creative thinkers also look at problems and ask, "Is there something good about this problem?“ For example, soon after the advent of cyanoacrylate adhesives (super glue), it was noted that if you weren't careful, you could glue your fingers together with it. This problem--a permanent skin bond--was soon seen as a solution, also. Surgeons in Viet Nam began to use super glue to glue wounds together.

Problems are interesting and emotionally acceptable. Many people confront every problem with a shudder and a turn of the head. They don't even want to admit that a problem exists--with their car, their spouse, their child, their job, their house, whatever. As a result, often the problem persists and drives them crazy or rises to a crisis and drives them crazy.

Miscellaneous Good Attitudes

1. Perseverance. Most people fail because they spend only nine minutes on a problem that requires ten minutes to solve. Creativity and problem solving are hard work and require fierce application of time and energy. There is no quick and easy secret.

2. A flexible imagination. Creative people are comfortable with imagination and with thinking so- called weird, wild, or unthinkable thoughts, just for the sake of stimulation.

3. A belief that mistakes are welcome. Modern society has for some reason conceived the idea that the only unforgivable thing is to fail or make a mistake. Actually failure is an opportunity; mistakes show that something is being done. So creative people have come to realize and accept emotionally that making mistakes is no negative biggie. One chief executive of a big American corporation warns all his newly hired managers, "Make sure you make a reasonable number of mistakes." Mistakes are educational and can lead to success--because they mean you are doing something.

Characteristics of the Creative Person
curious seeks problems enjoys challenge optimistic able to suspend judgment comfortable with imagination sees problems as opportunities sees problems as interesting problems are emotionally acceptable challenges assumptions doesn't give up easily: perseveres, works hard

CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING
Before you begin this workshop, ensure you have the following materials available: Overhead projector, flip chart paper, colored markers for groups, masking tape (optional if you want to put finished charts on wall), booklets or handouts for each participant.. Review the Instructor’s and Participants’ Workbooks. Useful background information is covered on page 2 of Instructor’s Workbook.

CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING
What is creative problem solving? The instructor asks the participants this question to engage them in the discussion. She/he may record the participant’s comments on flipchart or make mental note of them. After the discussion, go to the next slide.

DEFINITION “Creative problem solving is - looking at the same thing as everyone else and thinking something different.” Conclude the discussion with this definition. While there may be other valid definitions, this provides a good transition to the remainder of the workshop. Adapted from a famous quote from a former Nobel prize winner, Albert Szent-Gyorgi.

EXERCISE The instructor tells the participants that they are now going to have an opportunity to apply some creative thinking to solve a problem. She/he directs the participants to turn to page 3 of their workbook with nine dots on the page. The instructor then reads the following instructions, word for word, to the participants. Connect all nine dots with four (4) straight continuous lines without your pen (or pencil) leaving the paper. The instructor gives the participants five (5) minutes to complete the exercise. He/she may draw the nine dots in the same pattern up on a flipchart. Then, the instructor asks is anyone thinks they have gotten the answer and would they like to draw it on the flipchart. The next slide has the solution.

A SOLUTION The instructor asks who got the answer. Then, asks participants what happened? Lead a discussion about the barriers to creative problem solving. Narrow thinking keeps people within the imaginary boundaries of the “box” and stuck dealing with the same old problems. Creative thinking goes outside the imaginary “box” and discovers innovative ways of solving problems. Are you faced with s lingering problem that you could solve by thinking and going outside your “box”?

LET’S TALK ABOUT: Why don’t we think creatively more often?
What are the barriers that get in our way? Ask the participants two questions to engage them in the discussion. The instructor or one of the participants may record the participants’ comments on a flipchart. As a follow-up question to further stir their thinking, the instructor may ask the participants to think of things they do automatically, without really thinking. The instructor may want to flip through the next series of slides one at a time or go to chart 24.

BARRIERS THAT GET IN OUR WAY
Time Why change? Usually don’t need to be creative Habit Routine Haven’t been taught to be creative After the initial discussion, refer participants to page 4 of their workbook and cover the main points (pages 7-8 of Instructor’s workbook). Once you cover the main points, ask about other barriers to keep participants actively involved. What are some other barriers that get in our way?

How can we be more creative?
BEING MORE CREATIVE How can we be more creative? Jot down at least 3 ideas that come to your mind. Refer participants to page 6 of their workbook. Ask the participants for ways in which we can be more creative and have them write down their thoughts in the workbook. The instructor or one of the participants can record the participants’ thoughts on a flipchart. Following the group discussion, the facilitator shares with the participants the following “golden rules” of creative thinking.

Golden Rules of Creative Thinking
Start small trying to discover new ways to be creative, ___________. __________ to abandon the old, obsolete ways of doing things and explore new ways. It is not possible to change the way we think about everything. ________ in which to try creative thinking techniques. Understand that creative thinking requires __________, but it is worth it! Remember that creative thinking is both _______ and__________!!! Refer participants to the rules on page 6 of their workbook (page 14 of the Instructor’s Workbook). ANSWERS: 1. “but start.” 2. “Give yourself permission” 3. “Target specific areas” 4. “time” 5. “hard work” and “fun!!!”

Golden Rules of Creative Thinking (Continued)
_________ on what you can reasonably do. Trying to do too many things at once compromises the effort and may take away from the results. _________creative thinking for today as well as tomorrow. Include other people in the creative thinking process with you. __________fosters creative thinking. Include _______ and ______ in your creative thinking process as well as ___________. Keep ________________. ANSWERS: 6. “Focus” 7. “Practice” 8. “Collaboration” “new and different” “innovating” Optimist International

CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING PROCESS
STEP 1. State what appears to be the problem. The real problem may not surface until facts have been gathered and analyzed. Therefore, start with what you assume to be the problem, that can later be confirmed or corrected. Refer participants to the seven steps of the creative problem solving process on page 7 of their workbook (page 15 of Instructor’s Workbook). Describe and discuss each step, and answer any questions. Discussion is provided on the subsequent slides.

STEP 2. Gather facts, feelings and opinions. What happened? Where, when and how did it occur? What is it’s size, scope, and severity? Who and what is affected? Likely to happen again? Need to be corrected? May need to assign priorities to critical elements.

STEP 3. Restate the problem. The real facts help make this possible, and provide supporting data. The actual problem may, or may not be the same as stated in Step 1.

STEP 4. Identify alternative solutions. Generate ideas. Do not eliminate any possible solutions until several have been discussed. Optimist International

STEP 5. Evaluate alternatives. Which will provide the optimum solution? What are the risks? Are costs in keeping with the benefits? Will the solution create new problems?

STEP 6. Implement the decision! Who must be involved? To what extent? How, when and where? Who will the decision impact? What might go wrong? How will the results be reported and verified?

STEP 7. Evaluate the results. Test the solution against the desired results. Make revisions if necessary.

10 Questions To Encourage Ideas
What if…? How can we improve…? How will the Optimist Member and/or the community benefit? Are we forgetting anything? What’s the next step? Review the 10 questions with the participants, provided on the 2 charts. Explain that these are questions that can be asked to get the thinking process started and to keep it going. Participants will have an opportunity to practice these questions with the exercises that follow.

10 Questions To Encourage Ideas
What can we do better…? What do you think about…? What should we add? What should we eliminate? What other ideas do you have...?

TOOLS & TECHNIQUES BRAINSTORMING Purpose:
To generate a large number of ideas in a short period of time. Cover the PURPOSE with a piece of paper. Ask the participants the purpose and the rules of Brainstorming. Ask these questions first in the event some of the participants are familiar with brainstorming. It is helpful to the learning process to invite them to share their understanding. After a brief discussion of the purpose, remove the paper to expose the answer and continue discussion of the rules of Brainstorming.

Rules for Brainstorming:
The more ideas the better! No discussion No idea is a bad idea Build on one another’s ideas Display all ideas The more ideas the better! Everyone thinks freely and adds as many ideas as possible, regardless of how crazy they may seem. No discussion during brainstorming - keep the thoughts coming!! No idea is a bad idea - no criticizing, groaning, or making fun of other people’s ideas. Hitch hike or piggyback on one another’s ideas. Display all ideas for everyone to see (recording ideas on a flipchart works best).

BRAINSTORMING EXERCISE
How Do We Motivate Our Local Optimist Club Members? Ideas: Freely record your ideas as they come to your mind. The instructor leads the participants through an exercise to practice brainstorming. If there are more than six participants, break the class into small groups (groups of 4 to 5 participants is preferable. How do we motivate our local Optimist Club Members is shown as an example question. Following are other brainstorming questions that may be used. Please feel free to make up your own process questions! - Why do people join Optimist International? - What does Optimist International have to offer its members? - What are the causes of a car failing to start? - When shopping for a TV, what does one need to look for? - What are the uses of a paper clip? Note: Should the instructor be working alone, we encourage you to invite a friend, colleague or family member to join you in the practice exercise. If that is not possible, try to unlock your mental blocks and let your thoughts flow. Let’s see how imaginative you can be.

BRAINSTORMING GUIDELINES
Remember Creative Thinking 1. Practice question: How Do We Motivate Our Local Optimist Club Members? 2. Clarify understanding. Once all the ideas have been generated (it may take approximately 5 to 6 minutes), review ideas offered. Re-state the question to keep the process going What did you mean by that?!!! The previous slide was a practice exercise. This and the next slide present additional information to teach the brainstorming technique and process. GUIDELINES: 1. Remember, there are no right or wrong answers. Brainstorming is an exploration of thought and ideas. It may be helpful for the instructor to periodically re-state the question to keep the process going. 2. Once all the ideas have been generated (it may take approximately 5 to 6 minutes), review ideas offered. This is the time participants may ask questions of one another’s ideas to clarify their understanding. i.e. “What did you mean by that?”

BRAINSTORMING GUIDELINES
Let’s combine ideas!!! 3. Combine items that are similar and/or eliminate duplicates. 4. Completion. Are we done yet? 3. Combine items that are similar and/or eliminate duplicates. 4. The brainstorming process is completed once the ideas have been offered, discussed and consolidated.

TOOLS & TECHNIQUES - MULTIVOTING
Purpose: To help a group of people make a decision with which they are comfortable. Definition: A way to vote to select the most important or popular items (alternatives) from a list. Direct participants to page 12 of their workbook. Review the purpose and definition with the participants.

MULTIVOTING Steps 1. Generate a list of items and number each item.
2. If two or more items seem similar, they may be combined. 3. If necessary, renumber the items. Multivoting List 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Take the participants through an example of the multivoting process. See pages of Instructor’s Workbook. Step1. You may use your list of brainstorming results. Step 2. However, it is important that the group agrees. Step 3. (No explanation needed.) Revised List 1. 2. 3.

MULTIVOTING Steps (Continued)
4. Write down the numbers of the items you feel are the major cause of the problem. 5. Share your votes by a show of hands. 6. Eliminate those items with the fewest votes. 7. Repeat steps 3 (renumber) through 6 on the list of remaining items. Continue this process until only a few items remain. If a clear favorite does not emerge, the group may discuss the items listed and make a choice. 4. Have the participants write down on a sheet of paper (or in the booklet) the numbers of the items they feel are the major cause of the problem. Allow each participant a number of items equal to at least one-third of the total number of items on the list. For example: 48 item list = 16 choices; 37 item list = 13 choices 5. After all the participants have made their selections and recorded them on notepaper, you may have them share their votes. Call out the item numbers, members vote by a show of hands. 6. If you are working with a small group (5 or fewer) you may need to eliminate items with 1 or 2 votes. If you are working with a medium sized group (6-15), eliminate items with 3 or fewer votes. If the group is large (more than 15 members), eliminate items with 4 votes or less. 7. Each participant has one vote.

Unblock our thinking. MIND MAPPING Purpose :
Definition : A visual picture of a group of ideas, concepts or issues. Purpose : Unblock our thinking. See an entire idea or several ideas on one sheet of paper. See how ideas relate to one another. Look at things in a new and different way. Look at an idea in depth. The instructor asks the participants to turn to page 13 in their workbook (see pages of Instructor’s Workbook). Review the definition and the purpose of mind mapping (you can cover the slide with a piece of paper while you solicit ideas from the participants as you discuss the definition and purpose). You may ask if any participants are familiar with this technique, if so, ask them to share their experience with mind mapping with the group.

1. Initial Tumble of Ideas.
Think freely!! Mind Mapping Exercise Over-sized blank sheet of paper. Select word, phrase or problem statement to serve as a focus for discussion. Print it in the middle of the paper. Enclose it in a box or oval. Let a word pop out of your mind. Print it anywhere on the paper. Underline it and connect the line with the problem statement (or key phrase or word) you are working. Record the next idea and connect it to original focus point or the prior thought. Continue printing and connecting words. 1. Initial Tumble of Ideas. Motivating Members Methods How Use these guidelines to assist the participants to learn how to use mind mapping. An example is on the next slide; the basics are illustrated on this slide. See pages of Instructor’s Workbook. Initial Tumble of Ideas. 1. Start with an over-sized blank sheet of paper. (a flipchart is ideal) 2. Select a single word, phrase or problem statement (focal point) that will serve as a focus for the discussion. Print it in the middle of the paper. Enclose it in a box or oval. (Be sure the group agrees!) 4. Let a word pop out of your mind. Print it anywhere on the paper. Underline it and connect the line with the problem statement (or key phrase or word) you are working. See example next chart 5. Record the next idea and connect it to either the original focus point or the prior thought. 6. Continue printing and connecting words as they come into your mind. Don’t be afraid to think freely!!

Mind Mapping Exercise EXAMPLE Helping Others People Purpose Resources
Motivating Members Helping Others Purpose Learning Results Fun Methods How Refer participants to page 14 in their workbook to see a diagram of a mind map.

Mind Mapping Exercise -- Helpful Hints
Keep your printing large and easy to read. Feel free to use symbols and or pictures. Have some fun using different colors.

COMPLETED MAP Draw over clusters of similar thoughts that are associated with the main focus point. Have fun using a different color highlighter with each cluster of words. How do the variety of ideas relate to one another? Do you notice any common causes of the problem? What are the most important causes? You are now ready to brainstorm solutions! Have Fun Drawing Your Own Mind Map! Look for clusters of similar thoughts that are associated with the main focus point (key phrase or word). Draw over each of these words with a highlighter pen. Use a different color highlighter with each cluster of words. Seeing the ways in which ideas relate to one another gives people a better understanding of the focus issue. It is now possible to see the various causes of a problem. You may identify the most important causes and then brainstorm solutions.

CREATIVE THINKING ROAD MAP
Define Objectives Brainstorm Solution Categorize Affinity Diagram Combine and Refine Select Solution Action Plan A P C D

Enhance Performance Value How Definition This will never work When Solve Prob. Wet Blanket Why I am not an expert Creative Thinking Benefits Techniques State Problem Breaking Traditional thinking process More Innovative ideas Make people see it the way you do Brainstorm Solve Problems more efficiently Causes Proceed Is this a Symptom We think this is it

APPLICATION OF LEARNING
What Are The Three Greatest Problems / Opportunities Your Organization is Currently Facing? i.e. “How do you motivate your Organization members?” 1. 2. 3. Refer participants to page 16 of their workbook (page 25 of Instructor’s Workbook). The instructor starts by asking the participants to list what they see as the three greatest problem/opportunities that their club is currently facing? i.e. “How do you motivate your club members?” The instructor then leads participants in answering this question by utilizing the previously discussed problem solving tools. First – the instructor may start with brainstorming to have participants come up with and prioritize the important issues with which the club is dealing. Second – the instructor may use mindmapping to help participants visually illustrate the possible and probable solutions. Third - the instructor may use multivoting to assist participants in selecting a specific solution and course of action to follow. NOTE: These three tools may be used interchangeably to illustrate the causes and generate possible solutions. THIS COMPLETES THE WORKSHOP. Don’t forget to have participants complete the evaluation form on the last page of their workbook and forward to Optimist International.

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