Creativity is a skill. We are all capable of being creative, although some are more skilled than others. And as with any other skill, practising leads to improvement.
Edward de Bono wrote a lovely book called How to have creative ideas: 62 exercises to develop the mind (affiliate link). The exercises, which all use random words, aim to “tickle” your brain into creativity.
Here are a few of the exercises.
The book includes tables of random words, but you can use any method to get a random word. One way is to take a book, open it at random, and place your finger on a word.
Odd man out
- Get four random words.
- Study the words, and find one that could be the “odd man out.”
- Explain why.
De Bono’s example with random words FUR, RANSOM, CHIMPANZEE, and WORRY:
- … ‘worry’ is the only human emotion among the words
- … ‘chimpanzee’ is the only creature
- … ‘ransom’ is the only word that implies criminality
- … ‘fur’, ‘ransom’, and ‘worry’ are all unpleasant (for some people). ‘Chimpanzee’ is not.
Grouping
- Get six random words.
- Divide the six words into two groups of three on some basis.
- Explain your reasoning.
De Bono’s example with random words TEARS, NIGHT, PREJUDICE, SPINACH, ANGLE, PYJAMAS:
- … ‘prejudice’, ‘night’, and ‘tears’ are dark in nature; the others not
- … ‘angle’, ‘tears’, and ‘prejudice’ are all ways of looking at something
- ‘… prejudice’, ‘spinach’, and ‘tears’ can all be complicated; the others are not
Pairing
- Gather two lists of four random words each (List A and List B).
- On some basis, pair a word from List A with a word from List B.
- Define the basis of the pairing.
De Bono’s example with List A (TOAST, PROPHET, CHIP, TAIL) and List B (RUNWAY, FORMULA, LOLLIPOP, PYRAMID):
- … ‘toast’ (from List A) and ‘lollipop’ (from List B) are both edible
- … ‘prophet’ and ‘pyramid’ both occur in ancient cultures
- … ‘tail’ and ‘runway’ are both to do with aeroplanes
- … ‘chip’ and ‘formula’ require mathematics
Combining
- Obtain two random words.
- Try to combine the words to create a new business.
- Show how the new business would work and why it might be expected to make a profit.
De Bono’s example with DOCK and CABIN
- … special parks where travelling cabins (motor homes) can dock very easily and comfortably
- … creation of special docks for the home (‘cabin’). These would be places where you could put various things like cameras, computers, briefcases, etc.
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De Bono, E. (2007). How to have creative ideas: 62 exercises to develop the mind. London: Vermilion.
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