For individuals
- 10 minutes
A very powerful technique that does require some preparation. Children
are great creativity resources. They do not have the preconceptions
about what is possible (or silly) that adults do and, accordingly, will
come up with a range of ideas and that are beyond the scope of
adults. Of course, their ideas will be impractical, but they make superb
starting points.
Using children is not a trivial issue. Any involvement of children in a
business process must take account of the appropriate laws. The best
approach is to formulate the input, let someone take it home to a child,
get a response, and use that response the next day. The child should be
given some context, phrased in a way they will under-stand without being
patronizing. Try to make the exercise a game for them – trying to think
of 10 different ways to do this, or five new things to sell in this sort
of shop.
This isn't an attempt to get hold of cheap child labor – children will
only give creative input if they are enjoying themselves. The age limit
is significant. Below six or seven, the child will not have enough
experience of the world, or vocabulary to deal with the problem. Once
into their teens, creativity is closing down fast, and they are less
likely to want to take part.
This technique can be quite hard to implement, not because it is
practically difficult, but because we are reluctant to accept guidance
from children. We are culturally programmed to expect the ideas of
children to be silly, yet they will often be particularly fresh. They
will need refining, but not discarding. Children's ideas will of-ten
spark something completely different by association, too. Don't be
afraid to chain-on from the child's suggestion.
Consider working with a local primary school as a resource exchange. See
if they'd be interested in hearing something about your work, or going
on a factory tour, or having some old office equipment in exchange for
an idea session.
Creativity
requires spending time "doing nothing" - workaholism guarantees its
death
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