Using Images as Metaphors for Creative Thinking
Metaphors are one of the most useful tools in creative thinking. Figures of speech, they are useful to compare different things. However, metaphors can also be used as a visual
Games & Exercises
Posts under Games & Exercises focus on different ways to encourage participants to stimulate their creative skills during a brainstorm session using icebreakers and other warm-up activities. Please use the Search bar to scan for other relevant words or tags.
By Andy Eklund
LEGO Serious Play
When was the last time you attended a business meeting where every person actually joined in? The team found new solutions to old problems? And, you had fun playing with
Introduction to Metaphors
Waaaaaay back in 2006 when I started the first iteration of this website, I opened with a question about comparing the Sydney Harbour Bridge to the wire coat hanger. That
Mood Boards
Click here for Online Mood Boards Long a favourite of professional designers, mood boards are a curated collection of random images, words and textures brought into focus by a single reference point.
Lotus Blossom
Created by Yasuo Matsumura, a management consultant working in Japan, the Lotus Blossom may look elaborate, but it’s a simple creative exercise which uses free association to create ideas. This brainstorm
New Point of View
Easily one my favourite brainstorm techniques, New Point of View is a classic mental excursion. Excuse me, excursion? A creative excursion is not a literal journey but a mental one.
SCAMPER, Part 2
For those of you who like the first post on the SCAMPER exercise, here are more details, questions and synonyms for you to try. But first, a gentle reminder ,,,
SCAMPER, Part 1
SCAMPER is one of the most well-known brainstorm techniques. The brainstorm exercise first appeared in Alex Osborn’s book Applied Imagination (1953). He outlined a series of challenge questions about a product or
More Brainstorm Icebreakers! (Part 2)
This is a follow-up post to one of my most popular articles: Brainstorm Icebreakers. People working at their desk need to clear their mind and switch gears before they come into a
Use Mental Stimuli For Brainstorming
Use Mental Stimuli to Brainstorm is Post #6 in a series from a presentation entitled 11 Great Creative Slip-Ups: The Most Common Mistakes in Brainstorming. The introduction to the series begins here.
Brainstorm Icebreakers, Part 1
Jump to Examples If you’ve ever lived where it snows in winter, you will understand this situation and its connection to brainstorm icebreakers. I lived in Chicago for many years,
How To Use Metaphors To Inspire Creative Thinking
Metaphors, analogies and similies are one of the most useful tools in brainstorming and creative thinking. A common element in virtually every language, these ‘figures of speech’ compare an existing