Describe Your Creative Method

Time and talk aims to facilitate a realisation of your own perspective and depth of understanding

on a particular issue or topic. This can be useful in a variety of situations, from making a decision

of what to eat for dinner, starting a new skill or tacking a problem space. The aim is to prove to

yourself that you know more than you think, while it forces your mind to flow with ideas and

thoughts.

The method works, just as suggested in the name by timing and talking. Requiring two

participants, one individual will be the timer while the other will be the talker. The timer starts 5

minutes on a clock and ensures that the talker continuously talks for the full time period.

Additionally, the timer is making notes on what the talker is saying to make sure their golden

words are not lost. The timer’s jobs essentially could be completed by the talker themselves,

however the purpose of this method is to give the talker no other obligation or responsibility other

than to talk and sustain their train of thoughts. It is vital for the effectiveness of this method that

the talker does not stop for the full 5 minutes. If this becomes challenging, there is no obligation

to stay precisely on topic however if their thoughts drift completely it is up to the timer to keep

them somewhat on track.

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Visualise Your Method

Justify Your Method

When?

Time & talk would be most effectively used in a situation when either a problem space or topic

seems unfamiliar or confusing to you as well as being highly effective when you get stuck in any

situation. Additionally, when feeling overwhelmed by a space being discovered this method

allows you to further comprehend your own pre-existing knowledge and understanding that will

set you on a positive path.

How?
The time & talk method forces you to voice and communicate your thoughts. As mentioned

above, this is ensured by the encouraged focus on continuous talking which is reinforced by the

5-minute timer which adds an additional pressure.

Why?

Time & talk is based off the ideas behind exploratory talk. While presentational talk focuses on

how dialogue is communicated and what words are used in what sequence, exploratory talk

rather allows the communicator to organise their thoughts in their head (Mercer & Hodgkinson

2008 p65). This action provides an opportunity for the individual to “try out ideas” and “to hear

how they sound” (Mercer & Hodgkinson 2008 p65). The concept of exploratory talk originates

from the definition of explore, to “travel through (an unfamiliar area) in order to learn about it” as

it facilitates a two-dimensional journey. On one hand, the method ventures into an unknown topic

or problem space that you are unsure about or have little knowledge and experience in. On the

other hand, the exploration is internal as the act of talking allows you to hear your thoughts and

order them in a way that makes sense to you and allows you to progress.

The time limit of 5 minutes is based off the concept that the first ideas are often the worst. This is

referred to as the Einstellung effect when solutions and ideas are based off of pre-existing known

answers (Oetting, 2016). Oetting (2016) additionally comments on the concerns surrounding

“design fixation” when individuals struggle to part from their first ideas. Dotson (2015) further

describes first ideas as “off-the-cuff, expected answers” which is precisely what the 2-minute

stage of time & talk aims to sift through. Ultimately, by the time the talker has reached the 3- or

4-minute mark they have been forced to not only explore the first, unoriginal and predictable

ideas however have now also ventured into their perspective and their own true creativity.

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Reflect on How Your Method Might Work (or has worked) in Practice

The method of talk & time was effectively utilised throughout the BCII experience. Before delving

into its impact during the Assessment 3 journey, I would like to point out an element of the

Assessment 2 process that proves its power.

On Tuesday all students were required to present a 2-minute pitch of their creative method that

they have devised. Following the experience, many students reported that they felt very

unprepared and unconfident in their idea prior to the pitch. However, after discussing the idea for

2 minutes and communicating their thoughts to another party the method had suddenly clicked in

their brain and they were able to formulate the foundation of a solid idea. This experience was

additionally eye opening for me and hearing this feedback from my peers further cemented my

faith and confidence in time & talk. The pitch for this assignment allowed students to deepen

their own understanding of their idea, and hence set them on a successful path and invigorate

them with passion and ambition rather than confusion and frustration.

Further, this method was effectively utilised in Assessment 3. We decided to implement time &

talk when we experienced a slump in our work. We had a wide variety of ideas and has little

guidance as to which direction we wanted to continue. With the help and guidance from our tutor,

we moved to another clear table and started discussing our ideas away from the laptop screens.

Once we began talking and using this method, we realised that we were struggling in our

problem space of workplace culture because we as a team lacked familiarity in this environment

and hence cannot draw upon firsthand experience. Time & talk managed to illuminate what we

do know, which changed our overall attitude and encouraged us to explore a new perspective of

the problem space.

While this method was seen as highly effective and proved significantly helpful in both

Assessment 2 and 3 processes, some limitations were highlighted in practise. The main

drawback was that 5 minutes, while sounds short can actually be quite time consuming

depending on the number of individuals taking part. This could cause a problem if someone is

making a quick or simple decision like what to eat for dinner. Additionally, when working in

solution spaces, individuals often get tired and drained from the process. While ‘exploratory talk’

is highly effective many also dreaded the actual action.

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Reference list
Dotson, A., 2015, ‘Practical creativity: Your first idea is never your best idea. Unless it is’,

Creative, Richmond.

Mercer, N., Hodgkinson, S., 2008, ‘Exploring Talk in School’, Sage Publications, London.

Oetting, J., 2016, ‘Why your first idea might be your worst idea’, thinkgrowth,

https://thinkgrowth.org/why-your-first-idea-might-be-your-worst-idea-1d7850765371.