This is one of the most widely used creative exercises that I know and it is the most effective way to understand creativity on an individual level. I have done this exercise with high school children and it showed me and those kids where they stand on creativity. I mean every individual kid knew the difference where the common ideas ends and creative ideas starts. They also understood divergent thinking. Before I move forward and start the exercise with you guys I want you all to look at this video and see what Sir Ken has to say about schools, creativity, divergent thinking, education system is going which way, and so much more. This video is for artists, arts students and pretty much for everybody. Those who think that creativity is only for artists and not for any one else. Well you are wrong and this video helps me with this point of view. You are a doctor, engineer, scientist, professor or astronaut this is for you all. After you watch the video we will move forward with the exercise. Enjoy!
Now that you have watched the video I know you are all itching to do the Paper Clip exercise. I will not waste you time and lets just start with the instructions.
Paper Clip Exercise
It is an individual exercise to help you understand where you stand on a creative level? Or in other words how creative are you? All you need to do is to think of as many uses possible of Paper Clip in day to day use as you can.
You have 15 minute for this task. Lets start the exercise and your time starts now.
Your times ends so stop please. And now the fun part starts for the Process Facilitator. As a Process Facilitator you should remember that this exercise is to discuss the process afterwards and not count the number of uses of Paper Clip. The group will understand creativity and you as a facilitator will be able to understand the process. And I am killing 2 with 1. 🙂
As a Facilitator you bring everybody together and sit in a circle. The first thing that facilitator should ask from the group is to how hard this exercise was? and after how long time the uses were finished in their minds and than they had to think of some uses?
In my observation after a person has written 7 to 10 uses he needs to start thinking for the rest of the uses in the given amount of time. This is 15 minute task so after 5 to 7 minutes most of the common uses that came in mind are done and now we have to think for the rest of 8 minutes. These 8 minutes will help you understand when you started your creative thinking and how it reached to a certain stage where you were done and finished with the uses and you were unable to think anymore but you stretched and stretched your mind to think of the uses. Also one more thing that I observed is the more young you are the more creative you will be. It is because the children do not judge and only write what comes to their mind in respect to the uses of parer clip. And often times we see really good creative uses from children. Okay lets just get back to you guys.
In a circle anybody can start and share the uses. When half of you share your uses you all should see the pattern. You should see that most uses are shared by everybody and those uses are the first uses that you as an individual written during the task. At this stage when you as a Facilitator realize this pattern ask the rest of the group only share the uses which others haven’t written. There will be only very few uses that will be shared at this stage.
Ask them what happened and you will hear all sort of answers that in the start it was easy and then we have to think of the uses. This is where you as Facilitator let everybody come to this thought and realization by letting them discuss one by one. It is the purpose of this exercise to make the group aware of the creativity and the way it works.
Just to give you guys an idea on how many uses are of Paper clip visit the following link and add your own uses their.
http://www.brainreactions.net/brainstorms/882
So, That is it for today and I will see you in the next post. Till than bai bai!!!
//Imran