4 Responses

1. Try Amazon.co.uk, or the Mall on this site
   Over the past few years, I have found the Amazon.co.uk website to be a great source of training books – especially when building a library of training games (uh, hum… I mean, exercises!) Its better to build a library of various books to call on in times of need.

   Happy reading!!!

2. Web Sites
   Try here:

   http://www.mindtools.com/

   http://www.brainstorming.co.uk/contents.html

   http://www.ozemail.com.au/~caveman/Creative/Techniques/index.html

   http://www.brainstorming.org/workshop.html

   garry.platt@wgrange.com

3. A website to try
   Go to http://www.thoughtpath.com which is a website sponsored by Synectics a company which specialises in the process of creativity and innovation. Their website is http://www.synectics.com and Thoughtpath can also be accessed through their website.

4. Creativity exercises
   Try this to spark some creative thinking.

   1. Take a topic, goal or problem.

   2. In small groups have people come up with ideas for it by answering the question:
   “What would _______________ do?”

   In the blank you insert the name of a famous person such as Tony Blair, Anne Robinson, William Hague, William Shakespeare, Chris Tarrant, Cilla Black, Michael Barrymore, Michael Jackson, Guy Fawkes, Robin Hood, Joan of Arc, Napoleon Boneparte, Jeremy Beadle, Prince Phillip, Carol Vordeman, David Beckham, Julius Ceasar etc. The people can be fictional as well as real.

   It’s fascinating how the ideas take off in different directions when you change from one name to the other.

   Another idea for helping people to be more creative in their thinking is to do things that help bring out the “playful child” in their personalities (the source of creativity). This can be silly games or something as simple as having a joke-telling session (with some rules about the types of jokes allowed) or having people sit on the floor or lie on their tummies while generating ideas. It works!