The Creativity Minute

Overview

The Why

Reinforced Values
Freedom
Opportunity
Responsibility

This activity is all about developing our brains in a way that allows us to be creative problem-solvers. An IBM study showed that creativity and, more importantly, creativity applied to solve problems is the #1 attribute companies are looking for in the 21st century. Regularly implementing activities like a “Creativity Minute” encourages visual thinking and activates the brain, contributing to the development of an entrepreneurial mindset. The Creativity Minute is a great bell-ringer that gives students an opportunity to regularly work to develop their creativity. In the activity students will look at a basic shape or set of lines and brainstorm ideas, creating a vision for what the shape could be or represent. As a result, students will build creative fluency, creative flexibility, and creative originality.

• Protip: As you use The Creativity Minute activity, it will provide opportunities for discussion around comparative advantage, as many students whose strengths aren’t always evident in some class activities will likely shine during this activity.

Intro

Creativity and innovation within a well-run business has always been a part of the path to success. It is quite simple really – creativity leads to greater innovation, increasing the individual or organization’s ability to problem-solve. This simple exercise encourages us to consider multiple uses for a single ordinary object.

• Building our abilities in the following areas:
  • creative fluency (more than one idea along with the same topic or theme).
  • creative flexibility (multiple ideas across a topic; and the ability to link possible ideas together).
  • creative originality (development of unique ideas) and as a result building our creative confidence.
  • creative pace (ability to develop ideas quickly) shifting from a “no” to a “yes” mindset.

Social and Emotional Skills

1. During this activity, students are developing skills that enhance their self-confidence and self-perception – especially for students that believe they are not creative! By playing this activity multiple times throughout the year, students are given a low-risk opportunity to express their thoughts and ideas without needing to meet any expectations. When the educator changes what they reward students for, they are helping the student continue to challenge themselves intrinsically vs. to meet a status quo standard. This skill development is attributed to developing a growth mindset – which is the foundation for practicing the core competency, Self- Awareness.

Preparation

• Before class, decide if you want to give students a paper copy of the handout or give them access to the handout via your classroom platform. Another option is to have them use scratch paper or use a digital sketching tool. If making copies of the handout, you will want students to keep their handout readily available for each time you do the activity. The same goes for teaching virtually – keep the PDF posted to your classroom platform for easy access if you choose to use this activity as “bell ringers” or time fillers.
  • If physically mailing students The Creativity Minute handout, they will need multiple copies for the first time engaging in the activity. Students then keep their handout for future use.
  • If not using the handout, students will need a blank sheet of paper to document their responses.
• Protip: It can be beneficial for students to see their previous Creativity Minute responses. Frequently, they will see growth in themselves as they open their minds to new possibilities and ways of looking at things.
• Decide how you will engage students in the debrief following the activity.

Directions

• Post/share handout with students.
• Use the circle example on the handout to explain this activity.
• Tell students you will share a shape or lines on the screen, students will then visualize things that the shape could represent, writing down as many ideas as they can on their paper in 1 minute. (See circle example on the handout.)
• WILD IDEAS are encouraged!
  • You could also draw the object on a whiteboard or paper while on camera for students to see.
• Tell students there are no right or wrong answers – the goal is to build creative confidence and a problem-solving mindset by visualizing and responding quickly. The game will help them develop new perspectives on things they see every day. Sometimes, there is more there than what’s right in front of you.
• After students have written their responses for 1 minute, you may choose to do any of the following:
  • Allow students to share out their responses to the class.
  • Allow students time to share responses with a partner (pair share) in breakout groups.
  • Incentivize student responses according to your subjective value; one day it might be rewarding the most or quantity of responses, another day it might be rewarding unique responses, things other students didn’t think of, and so on.
• After you have played the game a few times, you can reward students based on growth, such as who had the biggest increase in responses from a previous session. This leads to discussions about the growth mindset and the value of students challenging oneself to grow throughout the activity. This also helps dispel the myth that some are born creative and others never will be, instead demonstrating that creativity can be developed as part of developing an entrepreneurial mindset.

Debrief

Students can complete the debrief in many ways. Some options include on paper, in a group setting via any virtual call platform, or by recording their feedback using EdTech tools and sharing with their classmates.   

• What value is there for people to develop their visual thinking skills?
• Does our culture limit or constrain creativity? Is there a connection between the Foundational Value, Responsibility, and how we address our creativity development?
• Creativity and innovation within a well-run business have always been a part of the path to success. How important to a business is freedom from rules and written or unwritten norms, that stifle creativity and creative destruction?
• What responsibility do we as producers-creators have to our community and society as a whole?
• Is there a connection between developing our creativity and our ability to see recognize and prepare to take advantage of opportunity?
• Why would the companies surveyed say creativity is the #1 attribute they are looking for in new employees?
• If you have done design-thing or the empathy process with your students, the following questions apply.
• What is the connection between this activity and developing a design-thinking mindset, specifically the empathy process? For example, if entrepreneurs “solve problems for profit” and the problems are our potential customer’s problems, like childcare for people who work 3rd shift. What is the relationship between empathy and solving this problem for 3rd shift workers?