Brainstorming technique (30 minutes)

Goal: Learn how to use the Brainstorming technique to solve problems.

Brainstorming is a group or individual creativity technique. It helps to find a conclusion for a specific problem by gathering a list of ideas spontaneously contributed by the member(s).

Form groups of 4 or 5 people. Read the following problem and follow the steps below:

“Your company is trying to beat a competitor to secure a contract renewal with a high-paying client, but the client is leaning towards your competitor. You have a short time to change their mind before they make the official decision.”

1. Come up with the dumbest/crazy ideas you can think of to address the problem. Write them all down. Ideally, use Post-its to stick all ideas on the wall or on an online board. 
2. Withhold criticism, there are no bad ideas!
3. Build on other people’s ideas. Listen to them first and then add “Yes and….!”.
4. Look for opportunities to combine ideas.
5. Now, group members should vote for the best 3 ideas. Do not vote for your own ideas! If the groups use Post-its, just put a dot with a marker on the top 3 ideas.
6. Now, pick the top 3 ideas with the most votes. If there is time and you want to improve these ideas further, go for another round using these top 3 ideas as a starting point to build on them. Look for gaps in these ideas and find ways to improve them until you have solid ideas to solve the problem.
7. 5-6 people from different groups to share their top ideas.

IDEA model to solve problems (30 minutes)

Goal: Learn how to use the IDEA model to solve problems.

IDEA is a simple yet effective four-step problem-solving process to identify the problem, develop solutions, execute a plan and then assess your results.

I: Identify the problem

D: develop solutions

E: execute your plan

A: assess the extent to which the plan resolved the problem

Form groups of 4 or 5 people, with different people. Read the following problem and follow the steps below.

“Our oceans are full of plastic waste. A lot of them are eaten by fish. This causes uncertain effects on our health. According to The Economist newspaper, by 2050, the oceans could contain more plastic than fish, measured in weight. So: How can we reduce the plastic waste in our oceans today?”

1. Identify and understand the problem you are trying to solve. Is the oceans being polluted the symptom or consequence? What is the root cause? Ask “Why?” as often as necessary until you get to the bottom of the issue.

2. Brainstorm to come up with a few possible solutions. Determine the Pros and Cons for each of them until everyone agrees on which one would be the most appropriate. Once you have determined the solution, come up with goals that we can execute and will help us solve the problem.

3. Discuss how the goals you set in the previous step can be executed. If one of your goals was to remove 10% of plastic waste in our oceans in 1 year, you must explain how you will accomplish this goal.

4. The final step is to assess if the solution addresses the problem. We won’t be able to solve the problem in 30 minutes, but instead, identify the ways you could monitor and assess progress on solving the problem on an ongoing basis.