Think BEJOND the ordinary: teaching the Creators and Innovators mindset.
We are Creators and Innovators. We create digital products and experiences bejond the ordinary: to help companies stay relevant in times of rapid change.
And sometimes we help others become Creators and Innovators themselves. We teach companies, startups and students how to think bejond the ordinary. We teach them the Creators and Innovators mindset.
Obviously this mindset is different to ordinary thinking.
Most of us think linear. We feel confident thinking ordinary. It’s tried and tested. What worked in the past, will work again. We can trust it. Nothing wrong with it to master the world as it is.
While ordinary thinking delivers old results — thinking bejond the ordinary can deliver something new. In other words: We have to think wrong to master the world as it might be. We have to feel confident to think wrong. And we have to be capable to deliver more than one solution to a problem.
To get rid of the “one problem one solution” issue, we use the creative exercise “Thirty Circles”. It’s thirty circles on a sheet of paper. No surprise here.
How does the exercise work exactly? The participants sit around a table. They have two minutes to fill the first five circles. After this, they pass the sheet to their neighbor on the right. And have two minutes again to fill the next five circles. The challenge here: They must not copy their first ideas or the ideas already on the sheet. After two minutes the sheet is passed to the right again. And so on. After 10 minutes the show is over. Now each participant presents the best solution from the sheet in front of him.
This are the rules we put on our slide:
- Fill five circles. You’ve got two minutes. Pass it to the right.
- Fill five circles in the next row. Don’t finish missing circles. Don’t copy the ones on the new sheet. Don’t reuse your old ones.
- Fill five circles in the next row. Don’t finish missing circles. Don’t copy the ones on the new sheet. Don’t reuse your old ones.
You got it …
No wrong. No right.
No questions. No rules.
Thinking bejond the ordinary brakes rules. And gives creative confidence. At this time you see people smile. They have fun. Now it’s time to use this positive energy to start the first innovation challenge of the day.
The challenge: Create something totally useless.
How does the “Useless Innovation” exercise work exactly? This is a collaborative exercise: five groups with five people work best. Uneven numbers prevent stalemates.
The rules we put on a slide:
- You’ve got thirty minutes to create something totally useless.
- name it
- describe it
- scribble it
- present it
- have fun :)
At this point people are laughing. They’re relaxed. They present with confidence. Crazy, unseen and awesome things. The other groups honor the ideas with applause.
The learning: Creativity delivers new and surprising results. In this case: new, surprising and totally useless results. And that’s the difference between creativity and innovation.
Now it’s time to give creativity a direction: usefulness. And todays last exercise is: Create something new, surprising and radically useful.
How does the “Innovation Exercise” work exactly? Well, there are two ways to run this challenge successfully. If your groups are excited, inspired and ready to unleash their creative potential — let them go. Let them create whatever innovation they want. You’ll be surprised what great ideas will happen.
If your group is struggling with “useful” thinking, here are the kind of problems we let them tackle. They are called wicked problems. Problems that are pretty tough to solve. And again: Your groups will come up with solutions that will surprise you.
Some typical examples of wicked problems include pollution, dwindling natural resources and global warming. But also digital transformation, workplace gender inequality or the implementation of disruptive innovations and others qualify as wicked problems.
Save the world. Have fun.
These three books will help you think bejond the ordinary:
Paule is a creative tausendsassa. He’s worked with fortune 500 companies and some of the most innovative startups in Germany-in #1 agencies for digital transformation, design and content. Now he loves to take the German Mittelstand bejond the ordinary.
Sometimes he writes, sometimes he teaches, sometimes life is nuts.
