This is a fun brainstorming exercise that introduces a technique and helps exercise participants’ creative muscles. All you’ll need are sticky pads that measure 5 x 3 inches or 6 x 4 inches. You’ll also need a marker pen for each participant. Here’s how it goes –

1. Divide participants into small teams.

2. Set a task. For example, ask participants to think of as many uses as they can for an everyday object, such as a brick or a paper clip.

3. Each team is given 10 minutes to write its ideas down on Post Its, stick them on a white board or wall, and group them to eliminate duplicates. The team should appoint a member to facilitate or lead this stage. New ideas can then be added at this point.

4. The team counts how many different uses it has identified. It decides which it thinks are the three most creative, and notes the reasons.

5. The teams then reconvene. Each team presents its results to the rest of the group.

That’s it! Lead a discussion on the use of brainstorming in problem solving. Oh! A follow on exercise can be done in which teams have 10 minutes to think of all the things it is impossible to do with the object. When they do their presentations, their ideas are challenged by the other teams. This can lead on to a discussion about how reversing the question can be a productive way to generate ideas or at least determine what is impossible.