Dear collaborative discussion friends,
This week we are highlighting a new activity in the updated toolkit. This activity helps participants become aware of how taboos can limit creativity. While they may be appropriate in some situations, taboos can also stop us from thinking of potential solutions or innovative ways of approaching an issue. It is often necessary to identify and move beyond taboos to unleash our creativity and find solutions to a particular problem.
This activity is contributed by Jack Byrd Jr., Professor of Industrial Engineering at West Virginia University and President of the Interactivity Foundation, Cuda Zmuda, Stern Fellow at the Interactivity Foundation, and Eric Schmucker, Visiting Fellow at the Interactivity Foundation. It is one of the many activities in the Creative Collaboration Module.
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This week's activity:
Activity 2.9 – Challenging Taboos to Enhance Creativity
Understanding how taboos can restrict our creativity
This activity uses a playful exercise to demonstrate that challenging taboos is sometimes the best way to solve a particular issue. Participants are presented with a fun challenge and work both individually and in groups to generate solutions. They then share their ideas with the full group to see if anyone was able to find the solution by thinking outside the limitations of taboos. Participants then discuss the limits taboos place on our imagination.
Prepare for the Activity
Share the Ping Pong Challenge shown below as a handout or on a shared screen.
Organize participants into small groups (4-6 ppl). This activity works best if you don’t introduce the learning goals in advance.
Introduce the Ping Pong Challenge
As a full group, review the Ping Pong Ball Challenge:
An eight inch long metal pipe is embedded in concrete at one end. The pipe is perpendicular to the ground, facing upward. A ping pong ball is at the bottom of the pipe. The ping pong ball fits loosely into the pipe.
You have the following tools available to you:
A one-foot length of rope (0.1 inch in diameter)
A metal file
You need to remove the ping pong ball from the pipe with the following restrictions:
You have no other resources available to you.
You cannot move or bend the pipe.
The ping pong ball cannot be damaged.
Answer any clarifying questions participants might have, but do not provide additional information.
Individually Generate Ideas
Invite each participant to individually write down their ideas.
How are they going to remove the ball from the pipe?
Facilitator Tip: Restrict the use of devices and internet searches during this challenge. If participants indicate that they know the answer, request that they actively listen but not participate in the next steps.
Break into Small Groups and Discuss Ideas
In small groups, ask participants to share their ideas. Invite the other participants to build on each idea as it is shared.
Explain to each group that they must arrive at a single best solution to share with the full group.
Facilitator Tip: As the participants work through their idea sharing, observe: Did they help build on each other’s ideas? Did any participants suggest an idea that could be considered a taboo?
Present Solutions to the Full Group
Select one participant from each small group to present their final solution to the challenge.
Have participants in the full group evaluate each idea presented with a thumb’s up, thumb’s down, or thumb’s sideways vote. Tell them the criteria for their vote should be:
Did the group adhere to the rules?
Would the solution work?
Explore Taboos as a Full Group
If no group came up with the solution, reveal that the most effective solution is to urinate in the pipe and let the ping pong ball rise to the top.
Discuss the following questions as full group:
What’s your reaction to this solution? Does it make you feel uncomfortable? Did any of you think of this but might have been afraid to voice it in the discussion?
Talking publicly about urination is generally frowned upon or considered taboo. What else do you consider to be taboo?
Record a list of the taboos shared by participants on the board, flip chart, or shared screen and then discuss:
Are these taboos universal?
How do we know when our imagination is restricted by a taboo?
Debrief as a Full Group
Come back together as a full group and discuss the following questions:
Let’s review our list of taboos. What purpose do these taboos serve? Who or what decides that these topics are off limits?
What are the trade-offs associated with taboos?
How can identifying taboos open up possibilities or imagination?
In addition to these debriefing questions, the full description of Activity 2.9 Challenging Taboos to Enhance Creativity includes reflection questions, a practice journal prompt, and additional resources to help participants dive deeper.
Dive Deeper by Pairing Activities Together
Taboos are just one of the many assumptions or biases we internalize. Start with Activity 2.9 as a fun way to introduce participants to the process of uncovering these hidden assumptions and biases. Then use Activity 3.3 Awareness of Context, Bias, & Assumptions to help participants dive deeper into this process by practicing how to suspend their assumptions in a discussion and reflecting on how knowledge of their own and others’ biases affects the conversation.
If you try out this activity, please share with us what you think:
We hope this toolkit activity helps participants gain a deeper understanding of how taboos can limit imagination, thus enabling them to challenge these limits and generate creative solutions to problems.
Upcoming Events
The National Conference on Dialogue & Deliberation 2023 will take place from October 13-15 in Atlanta, Georgia. The Interactivity Foundation, including the Collaborative Discussion Project, will be holding sessions during this event and we look forward to seeing you there. The cost to register is $580, with a discounted rate of $300 for students. For a limited time, the NCDD Member Rate is available to everyone! Get $100 off regular registration by clicking “Have a Promo Code?” (located under today’s subtotal in your cart) and entering “100-off”. Students can get $60 off the student registration cost by entering the promo code “Student-deal”. Register now and save! All are welcome! Learn more and register here.
The Interactivity Foundation is organizing a 3-part interactive, small group conversation series, exploring Who are We The People — and who is being pushed out? The events will be held on October 20, November 3, and November 17. Invite your students! Register here.
Looking forward to collaborating,
Ritu Thomas & the Collaborative Discussion Team