🚩BLUF: Bottom Line Up Front🚩
The capacity for groups to listen, build on each other's ideas, collaborate, and create together give individuals and organizations a competitive advantage. Chris Federer led an activity called A Shiny New Object to practice these very skills.
*Exercise adapted from Jason Theodor by Jane Fischer at the Creative Education Foundation
🚩 Instructions 🚩
*Materials: Paper/index cards & pens (one of each for each person)
Ask participants to write the following (don’t share or show to others)
Line 1. (30 seconds) A noun/thing/object – give examples: tree, car, billboard, bicycle basket, etc. (don’t use proper nouns)
Line 2. (30 seconds) A few words for that object that can be described through the senses: blue, shiny, smells like lemons, tall, fuzzy, circular, loud, etc.
Line 3: (30 seconds) Its key function(s): holds up your pants, classes are held inside it, it writes words on paper, athletes use them, etc.
Divide participants into groups of 3 (a group of 4 will be fine if not evenly divided into 3).
Ask the group to determine a Person 1, Person 2, and Person 3 (and Person 4, if needed) – alphabetic order by name, birth order, etc.
Ask #1’s to circle their noun/object, #2’s to circle their function, and #3’s to circle their descriptions. **If there are #4’s, they also circle their function.
Participants will now create a “Shiny New Thing,” combining the object, function, and descriptions contributed as directed.
Give them a few minutes to create their product and let them know they will be pitching them to the group. They can create a verbal pitch, a drawing, a prototype, a commercial, etc.
🚩 DEBRIEF 🚩
Debriefing topics and connections to creativity:
The principle of “yes, and” - acknowledge and build
Diverging and converging - thinking of many possibilities and choosing one
Connecting previously unconnected objects, traits, and functions
How did this incorporate the improv principles of listening, accepting offers, and making your partner(s) look good?
What was the process like?
🚩🚩Takeaways🚩🚩
“Mash-Up thinking is a great way to collaborate! Thank You Chris!!!”
“Early, collaborative feedback is essential to generate ideas.”
“It’s important to be open to fun when collaborating with people.”
“This was a fun prompt, would love to use this as a warmup for ideation sessions.”
“I liked drawing the boot” - Decker 🥾