Forty Uses For A Brick
Here’s an example of how to use creative thinking tools to generate ideas. The problem: How many different ways can we use a brick? Let’s set a goal of forty ideas, and have at it.
Step One - Empty Your Mind Of Ideas
Rapidly list all the ways you can think of, off the top of your head, to use a brick. Here’s what I came up with:
- Build a wall
- Build a mailbox
- Siding for a house
- Paperweight
- Melee weapon (whack someone on the head)
- Projectile weapon (throw it at someone)
- Paving (sidewalk, patio)
- Build a deck
Eight, total. That’s not many, is it?
Step Two - Group the items into common themes
Several of my ideas fell into the category of ‘building material.’ So focusing on that, what other things can be built out of bricks?
- Flowerpots
- Landscaping
- Mailboxes
- Barbecues
- Smokehouses
- Outhouses (heh heh)
- Shelving
- Outdoor bar
Eight more right there. My running total: 16.
Also, a few of the ideas fell into the category of ’small, hard, relatively heavy objects.’ What other uses are there for that?
- Doorstop
- Bug whacker
- Ballast
- Hold down sheets of cloth, plastic etc.
There’s four more. My running total: 20
Step Three - Consider the attributes of the item
What are the attributes of bricks?
- Hard
- Durable
- Rectangular
- Smallish
- Holds heat well/insulates
- Compact
- Come in several earth-tone colors
- Cheap
“Holds heat well” inspires a new focus for ideas.
- Kiln
- Lining for a metal grill/smoker
- Something to protect a surface from a hot metal pot or pan
- Mount a metal grill/smoker on a wood deck
- Mount a hot water heater on a wood/tile/linoleum floor
Also bricks are “hard.” Do some uses require extra strength or durability?
- High explosives/hazardous materials storage buildings
- High explosives/hazardous materials handling facilities
- Backstop for a shooting range
- Firing position
- Vault
Ten more there. Running total: 30. We are three quarters of our way to the target, and haven’t even used an abstract thinking tool. So without further ado:
Step Four: Force Connections
Let’s use random words first. Random words are a fairly linear tool for forcing novel connections. I pull out a random words list, close my eyes and point a finger at:
- nut
- pet
- Mass
- hospital
- trophy
Here are the words and phrases that I associate with each:
- nut - small, tasty, almond, walnut, squirrel, fiber, pecan, pie, cookie, peanut, sold in bags, baseball games, sold alone or mixed
- pet - dog, cat, hamster, gerbil, snake, lizard, sold in specialty stores, cute, pet food, fish tank
- Mass - Catholic, church, service, Eucharist, sanctuary, baptism, wafer, wine, Pope, priest, nun, prayer, forgiveness, collection
- hospital - emergency, rooms, beds, patients, doctors, nurses, operations, x-ray, MRI, expensive, health care, ambulance, surgery, healing
- trophy - prize, engraving, given to the winner, valuable, prestige, mantle piece, display case, pride
Forcing connections with the words and phrases I get these ideas:
- Build a doghouse (pet)
- Build a squirrel/bird feeder (nut)
- Build a memorial (Mass, nut)
- Build an outdoor altar (Mass)
- Line an X-ray or radiology room (hospital)
- Build a baptismal font (Mass)
- Build a fireplace (trophy)
- Build a trophy case (trophy, nut)
- Build an aquarium stand or case (pet)
- Create engraved pavers for fund raising (trophy)
That’s ten more, bringing my total up to 40. Goal achieved!
To be honest, this was too easy. I could have kept generating idea after idea by using other creative thinking tools. I could have used a morphological matrix to create novel combinations, I could have reversed assumptions to generate extremely novel uses. And just think of what a GROUP of thinkers could come up with - as a change facilitator, for a group of five I would have set the goal at 100-150 ideas.
“Forty uses for a brick” might have sounded daunting at first, based on what we think we know now (i.e., the ideas at the top of our heads). But as I have illustrated it doesn’t take a lot of thinking to proliferate ideas, as long as you do it systematically, using proven tools and techniques.
To proliferate ideas:
- Rapidly write down your initial ideas to ‘clear the mind’
- Refocus on the themes into which your ideas fall
- Consider the attributes of the problem and refocus again
- Use creative thinking tools to force connections and challenge assumptions
Followup: Putting These Techniques To Work In A Real-World Example
Social Bookmarks:
Comments
5 Responses to “Forty Uses For A Brick”
Leave a Reply
The brick example is simple and effective–like a brick. I would expect if you separated the brainstorming team to work independently you would find they would produce more and better quality ideas than if they worked in a team.
http://relationary.wordpress.com/category/brainstorm/
I look forward to the more meaty strategic business plan.
Cheers.
Grant, thanks for the comment. This is not the first time I’ve heard this criticism levelled at brainstorming. The study you cite is not available on the internet but I did find a discussion of it here:
http://books.google.com/books?id=G1dZrolqW9gC&pg=PA109&lpg=PA109&dq=brainstorming+1987+study&source=web&ots=PzipSolalk&sig=XC3oUpVXwxtdzv3_YaRp9CUOd7g#PPA109,M1
The study itself apparently does little more than collectively assess a bunch of prior studies. But without seeing how the prior studies were performed it’s difficult to say if we are comparing apples and oranges. I expect that we are because the book I referenced mentioned brainwriting as an alternative to brainstorming - yet in creative problem solving both brainstorming and brainwriting are individual tools, as are forced connections, challenging assumptions, etc. Brainstorming is a mere subset of CPS - group facilitation takes people who have no creative thinking experience and applies these tools in a time-limited session.
There are positives to be sure associated with individual creativity. And if you had a group of people trained in creative thinking techniques it’s very possible that a preliminary virtual session would produce excellent results, especially in the area of problem finding. Even IDEO takes a lot of time before brainstorming to define the problem in smaller groups and individually.
But the problems with group dynamics you discuss are largely addressed by Myers-Briggs and KAI grouping. For instance, if I want to generate a lot of novel ideas I’ll get a group of xNxPs with KAIs over 96. If I want to generate ideas to improve efficiency, effectiveness, etc I’ll get a group of xSxJs with KAIs below 96. Grouping by MBTI and KAI improve group performance and teamwork, especially when it comes to developing solutions.
[...] in September I posted an example of how to use creative thinking techniques to proliferate ideas. “Forty Uses For A Brick” became one of my most popular articles. I promised to give an example of how to apply these same [...]
[...] Forty Uses For A Brick Posted on September 24, 2007 by Innovation Catalyst Open Source Innovation has moved - here is the new link to Forty Uses For A Brick. [...]
Dear IC,
It’s been a while and thanks for your thoughtful response. I can see where you are coming from with the development of a set of tools instead of a single approach. I applaud that. Diversity acknowledges the willingness to admit the uncertainty of any all-in-one solution.
Keep up the fine work.