COOPERATIVE INVENTIONS: FOSTERING CREATIVITY

Goals

To allow the participants to examine their individual approaches to creating ideas.

To offer the participants an opportunity to share and learn methods of completing a
creative task that requires a joint effort.
To help the participants to gain insight into factors that inhibit creativity as well as ones
that foster creativity.

Group Size
Five to fifteen pairs.

Time Required
Approximately forty minutes.

Materials

An object card for each participant. Prior to conducting the activity, the facilitator writes
the object names (from the Cooperative Inventions Object List) on 3" x 5" cards, one
name per card with no duplications. Forty names are included so that the facilitator can
choose the objects that are most appropriate.
A copy of the Cooperative Inventions Task Sheet for each participant.
A stopwatch for timing the six creative rounds of the activity (for facilitator’s use).

Physical Setting
A room with enough space so that the participants can move about freely and can work in pairs
without disturbing one another. Furniture may need to be moved so that the participants can
move from partner to partner quickly and easily.

Process
1. The facilitator introduces the goals of the activity.

2. The facilitator distributes the object cards and copies of the Cooperative Inventions Task
Sheet and asks the participants to read the sheet. After answering questions about the
task, the facilitator demonstrates the creative portion of the process by drawing two cards
randomly, announcing the names of the objects that appear on the cards, and eliciting
ideas from the group about how these two objects might be combined. After the
participants have contributed examples, the facilitator reminds them that creativity rather
than practicality is the goal and then asks them to choose their first partners. Once all
participants have found partners, the facilitator tells them to begin the first ninety-second
creative process. (Ten minutes.)

3. After ninety seconds the facilitator calls time and tells the participants to find new partners
and repeat the creative process. This procedure is repeated until each participant has
had a chance to work with a total of six partners. (Approximately ten minutes.)

4. The total group is reassembled, and the facilitator asks the following questions:

COMPETENCY MODEL | Learning Sessions by Competencies

AIESEC in the Republic of MACEDONIA | Faculty of Economics | Krste Misirkov bb | 1000 Skopje | Republic of Macedonia
www.mk.aiesec.org | e-mail macedonia@aiesec.net | tel + 389 2 328 68 51 | fax + 389 2 311 87 01
 What was your favorite invention? What in particular did you like about it?
How did you personally approach this task? How did your approach differ from
the approaches used by your partners? How did you and your various partners
combine your approaches to generate ideas?
What factors or conditions made it difficult to come up with ideas? What factors
or conditions made it easy?
What might you have done to overcome the factors that hindered your creativity?
What are some generalizations that we can make about the creative process?
How can you apply what you have learned to everyday situations in which you
need to be creative? What are some specific ways in which you might be more
creative in your job?

Variations

Additional discussion questions may be added to address other subjects such as

teamwork, communication, and leadership.
The facilitator may substitute object names that relate to the participants’ specific
organizations or occupations. For example, if the participants were bankers, the object
names might include “Waiting Lines,” “Bank Lobby,” “Teller Window,” and “Loan
Application.”
To further focus on individuals’ and partners’ approaches to creativity, the facilitator may
allow time during steps 2 and 3 for the participants to make notes or to process their
approaches with their partners.
The activity may be run at the beginning of a workshop on creativity and repeated at the
end, using different object names. Subsequently, the facilitator leads a discussion in
which the two experiences are compared.

COMPETENCY MODEL | Learning Sessions by Competencies

AIESEC in the Republic of MACEDONIA | Faculty of Economics | Krste Misirkov bb | 1000 Skopje | Republic of Macedonia
www.mk.aiesec.org | e-mail macedonia@aiesec.net | tel + 389 2 328 68 51 | fax + 389 2 311 87 01
 COOPERATIVE INVENTIONS OBJECT LIST
Kite Umbrella Suitcase

Fishbowl Clothespin Chalkboard

Potholder Tricycle Firecracker

Pencil Broom Tape Recorder

Dinosaur Balloon Bow and Arrow

Zoo Horn Magnifying Glass

Candle Sled Frying Pan

Turntable Clock Ice Cube

Museum Television Set Hat

Dice Water Gun Pinball Machine

Fan Folding Chair Circus

Mirror Skateboard Tweezers

Can Opener Eggbeater

Sailboat Coffee Cup

COMPETENCY MODEL | Learning Sessions by Competencies

AIESEC in the Republic of MACEDONIA | Faculty of Economics | Krste Misirkov bb | 1000 Skopje | Republic of Macedonia
www.mk.aiesec.org | e-mail macedonia@aiesec.net | tel + 389 2 328 68 51 | fax + 389 2 311 87 01
 COOPERATIVE INVENTIONS TASK SHEET
You are about to participate in an activity designed to help you practice your creative skills. The
following explanation of the process includes tips that you might find useful:

1. You have been given a card with the name of an object on it. Your object is unique to
you; no one else has received a card with its name.

2. When you are instructed to do so, you will find a partner and compare objects.

3. You and your partner will “invent” one or more new objects or ways of doing something
based on the combination of the two objects.

Example: If your card reads “grocery store” and your partner’s card reads “skateboard,”
the two of you might mentally invent a skateboard-like device to ride when grocery
shopping in a hurry. Then you might take the creative process a step further and invent a
skateboard course at a local park with “aisles” set up for people with different levels of
skill at skateboarding. Another alternative might be special knee and elbow pads,
patterned after those worn by skateboarders, to be used by grocery shoppers to prevent
injuries when they are hit by carts.

4. You are to be as creative as possible and generate as many ideas as you can.
Practicality is not an important issue, and you can go far afield with your ideas if you like.
Try not to become frustrated if the task seems difficult at first. If the two objects that you
are working with suggest some mundane ideas, try for more unusual or interesting ones.

5. After ninety seconds you will find a new partner and complete the process again. You will
continue to switch partners and repeat the ninety-second process until you have had a
chance to work with six different people.

6. Later you will share your favorite invention with the total group.

COMPETENCY MODEL | Learning Sessions by Competencies

AIESEC in the Republic of MACEDONIA | Faculty of Economics | Krste Misirkov bb | 1000 Skopje | Republic of Macedonia
www.mk.aiesec.org | e-mail macedonia@aiesec.net | tel + 389 2 328 68 51 | fax + 389 2 311 87 01